Yang Zhesan – Chinese Painter

About the Artist

Yang Zhesan is a Chongqing landscape painter whose art is rooted in “tradition as the source, nature as the teacher”. A student of the celebrated painters Jiang Youqiao and Yan Jiyuan, he has painted for more than fifty years — his vigorous, free-flowing brushwork praised by the great master Guan Shanyue himself.

Artist Introduction

Yang Zhesan (杨哲三), art name Danyi, was born in 1949 in Chongqing into a scholarly family. His father taught him calligraphy from the age of six, and stories of his ancestors’ artistic pursuits filled his childhood. From the age of thirteen he studied traditional Chinese painting under Jiang Youqiao, Yan Jiyuan and the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute professor Yang Zhuyi. His works won early praise from masters: Yan Jiyuan wrote of his teenage “Ten-Thousand-Li Yangtze” scroll that “its conception is valuable”; the celebrated painter Guan Shanyue, viewing his sketches in 1983, remarked “well painted, fine technique — the landscapes of Sichuan are truly beautiful”. In the 1970s he exhibited works such as “Spring on the Jialing River” and later “Red Crag Dawn”, which entered the national exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. His painting “Rafting Out of the Gorge” won a bronze medal at the International Golden Goose Competition and was shown at the Chinese Art Centre in New York. He won the “Outstanding Achievement Award among 50 Contemporary Landscape Painters” at the 6th National Contemporary Landscape Exhibition in 2009, and has exhibited in Japan and throughout China. He is a council member of the Chongqing Overseas Friendship Association, Vice-President of the Feng Yuxiang Poetry and Calligraphy Academy, and Vice-Chairman and Secretary-General of the Jiangbei District Artists and Calligraphers Association. His publications include “Selected Landscape Paintings of Yang Zhesan” and “Yang Zhesan: A Chinese Artist of Collectible Value”.

Works Appreciation

Application Scenarios

Yang Zhesan’s landscapes — of Chongqing, the Yangtze and the great mountains of southwest China — suit studies, halls and galleries, and are regularly traded at auction. His long career, master lineage and enduring regional following make his works a solid choice for collectors of traditional landscape painting.