Cao Yong (1962-2023) Chinese/American, Hand Embellished Giclee. Titled "My Balcony." Comes with Certificate of Limitation & Authenticity, signed by the artist and explaining his motives. Depicts a stunningly crisp vista looking down at the city of San Francisco with Coit Tower seen prominently.  

Frame: 49 1/4 x 39 1/4 in.

Sight: 39 1/4 x 29 1/4 in.

#2386. 

Cao Yong was born in Xinxian, Henan, China in 1962, and began training in painting when he was only 11 years old under the artist Yu Ren. His family were part of the upper bourgeois class, and his childhood was very harsh during the Cultural Revolution. At 16 he took the highly competitive National Entrance Exam of Arts Universities, scoring the highest marks in the surrounding five provinces, but pressure from the government led all universities to reject him because of his family background. A year later he took the exam again and appealed directly to the newly appointed local officials of the Ministry of Education under Deng Xiaoping, finally gaining admittance to Henan University. He excelled in art classes and received his BFA in 1983, immediately accepting the position of Art Professor at Tibet University, becoming the youngest person to hold the position in history. He spent seven years in Tibet, eventually devoting an entire year to living alone in mountain caves of Ali, West Tibet, so he could copy the remains of ancient Tibetan wall paintings of the Guge Kingdom. In 1989 he exhibited his Tibetan paintings in Beijing, where he met his future wife Aya Goda. His images were deemed inflammatory and he was subsequently arrested by Chinese authorities, who burned seven of the paintings in a public demonstration. He fled the country along with Goda shortly thereafter, spending several years in Japan. In 1994 he immigrated to California, where his intense work ethic and tremendous artistic freedom led to his most prolific period. His large and extremely detailed landscapes became world famous, and he frequently created giclees and prints of his works that had numerous hand-crafted embellishments, making each one personal and unique. His keen eye and incredible journey are on vivid display at the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale, California, showcasing his inspirations from his many later travels through Asia, Europe, African, and the Americas. On June 25, 2023 Yong died suddenly at a hospital in Chengdu, China during an exhibition tour, a highly appreciated artist who had returned in triumph to a country that had once shunned him.