Muli Tang

Muli Tang (Simplified Chinese: 汤沐黎, pinyin: Tāng Mùlǐ) (born 1947, Shanghai) is a Chinese painter and poet currently residing in Montreal, Canada. He is the eldest son of celebrated Chinese film director Xiaodan Tang and brother of conductor Muhai Tang.

Tang started painting at the age of six, and received his first international art award at age twelve. [ [http://apps.mni.mcgill.ca/announce/mulitang.htm Biography of Muli Tang on the Montreal Neurological Institute website] ] During the Cultural Revolution, Tang was assigned to work in a dairy-farm commune outside Shanghai and then as a designer for the Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition. [COHEN, J.L. (1987). "The New Chinese Painting: 1949-1986". Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-2355-6]

Tang completed a Master of Arts degree at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing in 1980. He won the Chinese government scholarship for advanced study abroad through its first nation-wide competition. He then received a British Council Fellowship to attend the Royal College of Art in London, England. Subsequently Tang was selected by the prestigious Peter Moores Foundation in 1983 as one of the fifteen most outstanding artists working in Britain, alongside Lucian Freud. In 1984 he obtained a second M.A. degree from the Royal College of Art.

From 1985 until 1989, Muli Tang was artist-in-residence at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He won numerous awards from art competitions in the New York region.

He became a Canadian citizen in 1993, and currently lives in Montreal with his wife and two daughters.

Major Works

In 1972 Tang was commissioned by the health service to paint a work about acupuncture's usefulness as an anesthetic in surgery. Art officials were dissatisfied with the painting submitted by a health worker the preceding year, and waived guidelines to allow Tang to paint in the evenings, after he completed his daily farm work. The spareness of Maoist slogans in the result, "Acupuncture Anesthesia" (针刺麻醉）, was considered very daring by the art world of the time. [Andrews, J.F. (1994). "Painters and Politics in the People's Republic of China: 1949-1979." University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07981-7. pp.357-58.] "Acupuncture Anesthesia" is currently part of the collection of the National Gallery of China and was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and in Bilbao in 1998 as part of the "China: 5,000 Years" exhibition. [Andrews, J.F. and Shen, K. (1998). "A Century in Crisis: Modernity and Tradition in the Art of Twentieth-Century China." Guggenheim Museum Publications.]

In 1976 Tang began work on "On the March" (转战南北), commissioned by the Shanghai municipal government to mark the first anniversary of Mao Zedong's death. He completed the painting in 1977. The work was exhibited at the New York Asia Society Museum in 2008 as part of its "Art and China's Revolution" exhibition. [Chiu, M. and Zheng, S. (2008). "Art and China's Revolution". Asia Society, New York, in association with Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN 978-0-87848-108-8.]

"King Chu Bidding Farewell to His Concubine" (霸王别姬) constituted Tang's graduation piece from the Central Academy of Fine Art and remains in the Academy's collection. It was exhibited at the National Gallery of China in 2005. The painting graces the cover of "Shi Ji" (史记） by Si Ma Qian （司马迁）, a book on ancient Chinese history published in 1997. [Si, M. (1997.) "Shi Ji". ISBN 7-80622-305-3.]

In 2001 Tang was selected by the Parliament of Canada to paint the official portrait of the Honorable Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott. The painting was unveiled at a formal ceremony on Parliament Hill on June 3, 2002. [ [http://www.parl.gc.ca/Sites/Collections//fine_arts/prime_ministers/pm_thumbs-e.htm The House of Commons Heritage Collection: Prime Ministers' Portrait Gallery] ]

In 2003 Tang published his first volume of poetry, "Selected Poetry and Paintings by Muli Tang". [Tang, M. (2003). "Selected Poetry and Paintings by Muli Tang". ISBN 7-5320-9223-2.]

tyle

Tang won accolades for the graceful, sensitive realism of his works. He has been particularly productive in portraiture; among his subjects are Canadian prime ministers and recipients of the Order of Canada. Tang has traveled through more than thirty countries, immersing himself in the experience of various cultures and studying artistic masterpieces and renowned scenic locations. [ [http://www.mulitang.com Selected Paintings by Muli Tang: Artist's Official Website] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.mulitang.com Selected Paintings by Muli Tang: Artist's Official Website]
* [http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/art.asp?aid=558 Muli Tang at the Art Renewal Center]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tang_muli.html Muli Tang on Artcyclopedia]
* [http://artists.robertgenn.com/artlisting.php?id=3217 Muli Tang Art Listing at PaintersKeys.com]