Good morning

Karl Mårtens painting

Karl Mårtens was born in San Francisco 1956, and grew up in the vicinity of Drottningholm, outside of Stockholm. At the age of 16 he moved to Switzerland and from there to Canada, and eventually back to San Francisco. After 24 years away from Sweden he returned to Sweden at the age of 40.

"Weather in Spain this autumn is incredible.. Warm and sunny"
Vladimir Volegov

Watercolor by 林經哲 (Lin Ching-Che)

Zhang Daqian (張大千, 1899-1983), original name Zhang Yuan (張爰) and pseudonym Daqian, was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. He is also regarded by many art experts as one of the most gifted master forgers of the twentieth century. He excelled at all types of paintings, and is especially famous for his landscape, as well as lotus paintings.

Gleb Goloubetski painting

Arnau Francisco Pon (Spanish painter, 1886-1953)

Willem Haenraets painting :

My name is Willem Haenraets. I was born on the 9th of October 1940 in Heerlen, which is a town in the south of the Netherlands. When I was 16 years old, I went to the Art Academy in Maastricht.

The sixties

Four years later I received a scholarship from the Belgian Government, to study at the,Belgian National Institute for Fine Arts in Antwerp, where I had my own atelier and model. In that time I had my first exposition. With the earned money I bought a Vespa Scooter and drove to several picturesque places in the neighbourhood, especially the Harbour of Antwerp. It was there , I met a ship-owner, who delivered me many commissions, in the shape of portrets of many people. Unfortunately, the ship-owner died and I left Antwerp and went to Paris, where I stayed a couple of months. On Place de Tetre I painted portrets from the early morning till midnight, so I could buy a house in Bergen, Holland, afterwards,where I lived with my first wife, Hannah. In this time I made a lot of paintings, which I sold In galleries and artmarkets. Then a drama happened, Hannah died in a car-accident, leaving me behind with our 6 weeks old daughter, Hester.

The seventies

After a chaotic period I decided to return to Heerlen, where I moved into a residence in a little castle, Kasteel Terworm and threw myself upon my work. I sold my paintings in Holland and Germany. At the end of the 70th, I met my second wife , Thea with her little daughter Susan.. Together we got a son, called Bram.

The eighties

Halfway the 80th I conceived the idea of making prints of my paintings. This caused a lot of alterations, as well in the sphere of money, as on the domain of art-fairs and exhibitions. .Regular I received an invitation from publishers to come to Art-fairs in the United States , England and Germany. I signed the limited editions on the art-stands in the Convention Center of New York and Los Angeles. While my lithographies were shown at the Expo, my original paintings were exposed in a gallery on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. My work became known all over the world and I held an exhibition in Nagoya, in Japan. It was a great succes. The Japanese especially like the romantic pictures, in soft colours.

The nineties

In this period I was approached by an owner of a gallery in the Stokstraat of Maastricht.

Together we went through a lucrative time, holding a beautiful exhibition in Galllery Renoir, every two years. Because of a disease of the gallery-holder this cooperation had to be ended.

2000

In 2003 we bought a house in Spain, Hondon de las Nieves, where the municipality asked me to expose my paintings in the Casa de Cultura of the village. It was a nice coming in.

At the moment I work with publishers, who distribute my work all over the world, in the form of litho's and gyclee-prints. My original paintings are being sold by myself and gallery-owners.

On You Tube you can see a little movie from me , called film Willem Haenraets

Theresa Troise Heidel painting

"I'm a watercolor artist who works often on location. I believe in drawing as the basis of good painting, not the kind of tracing that comes from using a projector. Art must be sincere, visceral and from the heart."
Theresa Troise Heidel

关维兴水彩画/中国
Watercolor by Guan Wei Xing/China

Guan Weixing was born in Dunhua County, Jilin Province, China in 1940.
In 1960, when Guan Weixing was still a first grade student in Luxun Fine Arts Academy, Eugen Popa, a Romanian Professor, broke a rule in order to accept Guan into his oil painting training class. And in 1962, he was graduated a master.

The recently completed huge-sized watercolor "Villagers viewing opera" (200cm x 130cm ) vividly depicts dozens of simple and honest villagers, with different characters and various expressions of extreme life likeness. In October,1998, Guan's solo exhibition held in Beijing was second to none in the field and got myriads of recognition. Nowadays he is regarded as one of the most authoritative and influential watercolorists.

In 2005, Guan Weixing held a solo exhibition for the first time in USA at the invitation of Ambleside Gallery, and it was a great success. The viewers moved to tears were even more than those at home. The local TV station produced a DVD introducing his art and his painting process, the radio station interviewed him, and a writer edited a book for his works. Some comment goes like this,”Mr. Guan doesn’t belong to China, or America. He belongs to the world. He is the master of art in the world.” The viewers collected many of his works at high prices. During the exhibition, one of his works, “Aged Man” won the award “Former President Award” of the 85th National Watercolor exhibition, and because of that Mr. Guan was honoured as the member of American National Watercolor Society. He was respected and well beloved by American people.
In 2007, Mr. Guan Weixing went to America to hold his exhibitions in New York, Houston and Greensboro. Just like before, his works were also highly praised and the viewers strongly hope they can enjoy more of his exhibitions soon.

Now Mr. Guan Weixing is represented in the US by Ambleside Gallery

At present Guan Weixing is director of China Fine Arts Association, vice president of Chinese Watercolor Association, juror of National Watercolor Exhibition, and titled national-level master of fine arts.

Watercolor by 李升权