Mian Situ
BIOGRAPHY
Mian Situ, b. 1953, Canton, China
Born in Southern China, Mian Situ’s received his formal art training in his native homeland of Guangdong, formerly Canton. During his schooling, he experimented with various artistic styles such as impressionism, post-impressionism and expressionism. He was also deeply influenced by the 19th Century European Academic Realism that traveled to Russia and was eventually imported to China. His academic training is a result of western influences that were prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, and available only to talented young Chinese. After teaching at the institute for six years, Situ moved to Canada where he became a citizen and lived for ten years before reaching the United States.
Situ’s paintings clearly reflect his upbringing in the rural countryside of his native China. His deep-toned impressionistic paintings of the backcountry often focus on people going about their daily lives in their small villages and farming communities. Despite leaving China in 1987, the rural countryside life of his youth is one that is still deeply rooted within him. Situ’s paintings often combine elements of the young and old, which he sees as symbolic of the passage of time. He endeavors to capture the dignity and quiet beauty of the traditional way of life and dress that is eminently disappearing. Situ’s artistic versatility is also evident in his exquisite portraiture, as well as his more recent works inspired by western historical themes and American landscapes.
Education
• BFA, MFA, Guangzhou Institute of Fine Arts, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Oklahoma City, OK, 2018
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Los Angeles, CA, 2001-2017
• National Museum of Wildlife Art, Western Visions, Jackson, WY, 2014
• Trailside Galleries, East Meets West, Scottsdale, AZ, 2006-2014
Selected Publications
• Trailside Galleries, Mian Situ-Colors of the Shaoshu Minzu, April 2013
Selected Press
• Western Art Collector, September, 2017
• Art of the West, July-August, 2016
• Western Art Collector, April, 2016
• Western Art Collector, April 2014
• Western Art Collector, March, 2013
• Southwest Art, May, 2012
• Art of the West, January/February 2011
• Western Art Collector, December, 2010
• Southwest Art, December, 2009
• Art of the West, May/June, 2007
• Fine Art Connoisseur, January, 2006
• American Art Collector, September, 2006
• Art of the West, April, 2005
• Western Art Collector, October, 2007
• Western Art & Architecture, Fall/Winter, 2008
Affiliations
• California Art Club
• Oil Painters of America-Signature Member
Selected Collections
• Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA
Awards
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West Purchase Award, 2018
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Artist’s Choice Award, Los Angeles, CA, 2017
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Purchase Award, Los Angeles, CA, 2002, 2009, 2015
• Autry National Center, Gene Autry Memorial Award, Los Angeles, CA, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Patron’s Choice, Los Angeles, CA, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Thomas Moran Memorial, Los Angeles, CA, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Artist’s Choice Award, Los Angeles, CA, 2003
• Oil Painters of America, Gold Medal 2000
• Oil Painters of America, Gold Medal, 1999
• Oil Painters of America, Best of Show, 1995
• Oil Painters of America, People’s Choice Award
• Carmel Art Festival, Best of Show, 2000
• California Art Club, Artist’s Choice Award
• Arts for the Parks, Top 100