Huihan Liu: My Journeys to Tibet Catalog 2016

A MOMENT IN TIME MY JOURNEYS TO TIBET

Huihan Liu

Tibet has a long and rich history as a flourishing center of Buddhism and learning, as well as periods where it was a strong regional military power. However, despite this history, and due to its remoteness and isolation, it remained until the mid-20th century a “Forbidden Land” to Westerners, a mythical Utopia far above the troubles of the modern age. Today, the lands of Tibet’s historical kingdoms encompass not only the actual territories of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, but also parts of neighboring Gansu province, Qinghai province, Sichuan province and Yunnan province.

When I first visited Tibet in 1987, travel was difficult and slow via unpaved dirt roads. I was fast captivated by its splendid landscape and the hospitable people who live on the roof of the world! Having grown up in faraway southern China, I never imagined that I would someday have the chance to explore Tibet. The mark that first encounter left would lead me to take seven more trips to Tibet during the following twenty-nine years.

Over time, I have seen many different parts of Tibet: from the northern Qinghai-Tibet plateau to the western Himalayan range, from a nomad’s tent in a pasture to the Potala Palace and Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, and from Tibet’s northern gateway of Mt. Tanggula to the southern gate of Rongpu at the foothills of Mt. Everest.

My passion for Tibet has made me strive to paint Tibetan subjects for many years. I am fascinated by the chance to paint whatever I can see. I can’t tell whether I go back in order to paint, or I paint in order to go back. At the same time, I feel like I don’t have time to lose, as the modern world’s impact on traditional Tibetan culture grows year by year.

I am very excited and honored that Trailside Galleries is hosting this special showcase for me. With much appreciation, I hope that each painting in the show will faithfully represent a moment in time as seen through my eyes, and that each painting will help preserve the beauty of Tibetan culture today and for future generations.

Huihan Liu

All images © 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Huihan Liu

A M O M EN T IN T IM E M Y J OU R N E YS TO T IB E T AUGUST 1 – AUGUST 31, 2016 AR TIST’S RECEPT IO N T HURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016 5:00PM – 8:00PM JACKSO N, WYO MING

VIEW THE COMPL ET E EXHIB IT IO N AT TRAIL SIDEGALLER IES.COM

JACKSON HOLE 130 E. Broadway, PO Box 1149, Jackson, WY 83001 | (307) 733.3186 SCOTTSDALE 7340 E. Main Street, Suite 120, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 | (480) 945-7751

ANTICIPATION 30 x 15 inches, oil on linen $15,000 In October of 2004, on the road from Qinghai to Lhasa after crossing Mt. Tanggula pass into Tibet Autonomous Region, I took a short lunch break near the rustic town of Nagqu. I encountered a woman holding a baby in the front door of the house. What drew me were her facial expressions and the baby’s curious gesture. A cold, breezy and greyish day reflected on their skin tone and contrasted with the mud-cracked wall of the building.

CURIOSITY 12 x 9 inches, oil on canvas $3,800 I met a little girl dressed in a beautiful costume during the 2001 Tibetan New Year festival in the town of Xiahe, Gansu Province. Her beautiful turquoise necklace provided a wonderful accent to her smile and rosy cheeks.

PILGRIMS GATHERING 36 x 40 inches, oil on linen $42,000 In 2004, I visited the Shigatse-Tashilhumpo Monastery. Founded in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama, this historic and culturally important monastery is located in Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. I saw these pilgrims casually sitting on the steps outside of the main chanting hall. Their worn clothing suggests they came a long way to the holy place for making wishes. To make this pilgrimage, these people must have traveled more than a thousand kilometers on foot. The arduous journey can be seen in their tired posture and fatigued faces. Their traditional garments all have different designs that reveal their diverse origins; some from the pasture, some from villages and others from small towns.

This piece is about individual characters coming together to form a unity.

MORNING INCENSE AT JOKHANG MONASTERY, LHASA 24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas $19,000 The Jokhang was founded during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo. The oldest part of the temple was built in 652. The last renovation was done in 1610 by the fifth Dalai Lama, following the Gorkha Tibetan War in 1792, and it become an exclusive place of worship for the Tibetans. During the Cultural Revolution in China in 1966, there was no worship for a decade. In 2000, the Jokhang became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an extension of Potala Palace. The temple is considered the “spiritual heart of the city� and is the most sacred in Tibet. Barkhor, the market square in central Lhasa, has a walkway for pilgrims to walk around the temple which takes about 20 minutes. On a summer morning in 2004 before sunrise, I walked down to the Barkhor square. I witnessed pilgrims already circling around Jokhang Temple. A fire flared up from a burning stove on the square, billowing a whitish cloud of smoke through the air which reached the Dharma wheel and its flanking twin deer statues that crown the pediment of the golden roofs. The backlit light against the beautiful silhouetted shape of architecture was the inspiration for this piece.

ON THE ROAD 24 x 30 inches, oil on linen $21,000 I documented this scene during my first Tibetan journey to Lhasa city in the spring of 1987 which was about ten years after the Cultural Revolution in China. During the Revolution, Tibet had remained a forbidden snow covered landscape for most Westerners. During the time I visited, Lhasa was quite a peaceful, though rustic city.

Villagers in Tibet customarily traveled together in caravans which was a popular mode of transportation on the dirt roads. I encountered these pilgrims having a break on the road, making a meal of Tibetan tea and tsampa (roasted barley flour). Their belongings, worn and torn, suggest that they must have crossed almost the entire country on foot to reach the holy city.

PILGRIMS MAKING WISHES, LHASA, TIBET 30 x 24 inches, oil on linen $21,000 As Lhasa is the most holy place for Tibetans, and prayer is a daily routine, many people can be seen every dawn performing their religious rituals. Here, they count a total of 108 beads on a rosary string in a clockwise manner on their hands, before raising their hands above their heads, then pushing forward and stretching the whole length of their bodies on the ground. Continuing, they rise and begin the process again until they have completed the cycle a thousand times, the number necessary to achieve the first initiation or the first step towards enlightment.

I was amazed by their meditative concentration and hand gestures. A worn prayer flag hanging behind the stone wall lent beautiful emotional impact to the piece.

TIBETAN SADDLE 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas $5,500 Tibetan saddles typically have iron covers inlaid with precious metals on the pommel and cantle. Although the saddles have a slightly different design from region to region, they generally come with padding and colorful lacquer work over a leather covering. The saddle is put on a Tibetan rug to cover the horse for cold weather protection. This painting depicts a common scene I witnessed in 1998 in the town of Maqu in Gansu province. When people come to town, their horses just casually wait outside the rustic buildings.

RONGBUK GLACIER-THE FOOTHILL OF MT. EVEREST 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas $4,500 On a summer morning in 2004, we left Tingri town early approaching the Roungbuk valley, which is about 16,340 feet in elevation. Rongbuk monastery is claimed to be the highest monastery in the world.

We arrived there about 3:00pm and an overlook provided a spectacular view of the Himalayan range.

The weather was a mix of sunny skies, rain, snow and gusty winds that swept the rocky tundra. The peak of Mt. Everest was almost faded into the misty clouds with only a hint of light on the glacier. Amazingly, birds were flying in the sky and I just instinctively took out my camera and staring taking snap shots of this incredible moment.

YAK HERD 11 x 14 inches, oil on canvas $4,800 Yak are a common herd animal on the Tibetan plateau. Tibetan nomads move seasonally, seeking better pastures.

During my visit to Maqu pasture in Gansu province in 1995, I was amazed to see such a herd on the road.

A JOYFUL MOMENT 11 x 14 inches, oil on canvas $4,800 This piece captures a moment from a trip to Namco Lake in Northern Tibet in 2004. Namco Lake is a mountain lake in the county of Nagqu, about 15,479 feet above sea level. I arrived late and met these nomad families in the evening light.

My first trip to Tibet in April, 1987.

Street in Lhasa.

Second trip to Tibetan Region in Sichuan province in August 1995.

Visit to a nomad’s family tent.

The third trip to Tibetan Region in Gansu Province in July, 1999.

Maqu pasture.

Sketching while inside nomad’s tent.

Maqu pasture, 1999.

Second visit to Lhasa, fourth to Tibet in 2004. Morning incense at Jokhang Monastery.

The fifth trip to Tibet Autonomous Region was in 2006. The shot was taken at Namco Lake while visiting a nomad’s family.

This picture was taken during our sixth trip to the Tibet Region in Gansu province in 2009. People were gathering to celebrate the Tibetan New Year festival in town of Xiahe.

Visiting Tibetan family during Tibetan New Year holiday festival in 2013.

Town of Xiahe, Gansu Province.

Huihan Liu Huihan Liu was born in Guangzhou, China in 1952. He was trained at the prestigious Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art, receiving a BFA in 1975. After graduation, he taught at the academy for several years before continuing with the graduate program. In 1987, he immigrated to the United States, settling in the San Francisco Bay area. Here he continued his art studies at the Academy of Art College earning a Masters of Fine Art in 1993.

Like many of his contemporaries, Huihan was highly influenced by the academic French and Russian schools. After the death of Dictator Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) in 1976, whose Cultural Revolution had barred Western influences and stifled creative expression for years, came the real birth of Contemporary Chinese art. With the end of the Cultural Revolution , many Chinese artists such as Huihan finally had access to Western books and magazines and yearned to travel abroad and experience western culture.

Hiuhan has since spent the last thirty years as a painter, illustrator and teacher. His wide range of subject matter includes figurative, still life and landscape pieces. Â His figurative paintings often depict the Tibetan people and their lifestyles and for this particular show, he has produced a body of work solely focused on Tibetan subject matter. Over the last three decades, Huihan has travelled extensively to Tibet, his paintings providing a sensitive chronicle of the many cultural changes that have taken place in the region. He considers his paintings impressionistic realism; a combination of primary field study and reference, compositional arrangement, color design, accurate detail and spontaneous brushwork and texture.

His wife, Weizhen Liang, is also a successful painter in her own right and is a member of the American Impressionists Society and an artist member of the California Art Club. Together they have traveled the world seeking inspiration for their studio paintings.

Huihan Liu is a member of the California Art Club and Oil Painters of America, which in 2016 awarded him the Gold Medal for the Master Signature Division. He teaches workshops around the country at venues that include the Fechin Art Workshops and the Fredericksburg Artists School.

JACKSON HOLE 130 E. Broadway, PO Box 1149, Jackson, WY 83001 | (307) 733.3186 SCOTTSDALE 7340 E. Main Street, Suite 120, Scottsdale, AZÂ 85251 | (480) 945-7751

JACKSON HOLE 130 E. Broadway, PO Box 1149, Jackson, WY 83001 | (307) 733.3186 SCOTTSDALE 7340 E. Main Street, Suite 120, Scottsdale, AZÂ 85251 | (480) 945-7751 WWW.TRAILSIDEGALLERIES.COM