Page 131 - 当代艺术夜场（一）

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES 艺术家简历

After moving to the United States, he became the first Asian painter to sign a contract with the
world's most authoritative MARLBOROUGH Gallery in the U.S. He has held solo exhibitions
in Washington, New York and Tokyo, and his works have participated in many fine oil painting
auctions in Hong Kong and China, and his work "Poppies" set the highest price for his works at
auction with HK$3.87 million.
In 1984, Chen Yifei's oil painting "Memories of Hometown", which was created with the material
of Zhouzhuang, a water town, was exhibited in New York's Hammer Gallery, along with 37 other
works of his. It was given to Comrade Deng Xiaoping, and was passed down as a good story
from all walks of life. It even led to the development of tourism in Zhouzhuang.
Waterfront landscapes, musical figures, classical ladies, and Tibet were the main subjects of
his brushstrokes. As early as 1985, the New York Times described Chen Yifei's "painting style
as a blend of realism and romanticism, reminiscent of the masterpieces of European masters."
In 1983, Dr. Hamer, owner of the Hamer Gallery, in introducing Chen Yifei to the world, wrote
that "his paintings are close to poetry because he is merely indicating rather than affirming." In
1984, Art News magazine in the United States characterized Chen Yifei as "a romantic realist
whose work exudes a strong sense of nostalgia, and the atmosphere of silence and stillness
that pervades it is particularly moving."
As a businessman, he set up the "Chen Yifei Studio" in 1992 with the filming of "Old Dreams
at Sea", which was the prototype of the Yifei Group. The group is a multi-functional group of
companies in the visual industry, including apparel, film, media, internet, home furnishing,
environmental art, modeling and cultural agency, "VISION" and "Tatler" magazines, etc. These
entities revolve around Mr. Chen Yifei's These entities are centered around Mr. Chen Yifei's view
of "big art" and "big vision", injecting cultural and aesthetic concepts into the operation of each
company.
The most distinctive feature of Chen Yifei's oil paintings is the serenity and peace that pervades
the images, and the traditional Chinese aesthetic that permeates the realism. Whether
depicting the scenery of the Jiangnan waterfront or the vivid and evocative portraits of women,
Chen Yifei stands out among the many painters who represent women, sorrowful, mournful,
elegant and poignant, a classical beauty comes from his paintings.
He passed away in 2005.
Major Exhibitions: 2016 "The Starting Line of the Master" Chen Yifei Sketches Exhibition,
Chen Yifei Studio, Shanghai; 2015 "Gathering" Chinese Modern and Contemporary Art since
1930s, Wanlin Art Museum, Wuhan; 2014 "Visual Repertoire" Chen Yifei Case Study Series
Exhibition, Long Museum of Fine Arts, Shanghai; Century of Dreams: One Hundred Years of
Chinese Era, China Art Palace, Shanghai; 2013 "Taste of Elephants", Long Museum Realistic
Oil Painting Collection, "Passing on the Fire - Chen Yifei Documentary Exhibition (1960-1980)";
Revolutionary Era, Thematic Creation since Yan'an, Long Museum of Fine Arts, Shanghai;
2002 New Works Exhibition, Galerie Patric Trigano, Paris 1999 Chen Yifei Solo Exhibition,
Marlborough Gallery, New York, USA; 1996-1997 Chen Yifei Retrospective, Shanghai Museum,
China Art Museum, Beijing; 1992 Chen Yifei Retrospective, Hong Kong International Art Fair,
Hong Kong; 1985 Chen Yifei Solo Exhibition, Cochrane Art Museum, Washington, D.C., USA;
1983 Chen Yifei Solo Exhibition, Hammer Gallery, New York, USA."