LIU CHUAN · A TRADITIONAL BIOGRAPHY

The ceramic art of Shiwan dates back to the Chinese Neolithic.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, when the city of Guangzhou was a foreign trade port, Shiwan become the main ceramic production area and consolidated this position during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Finally, in the last one hundred years, their decorative products are increasingly appreciated by collectors.

From among the great contemporary masters Liu Chuan is outstanding.

Liu Chuan, also known as Liu Yongchuan was born in 1916 in a family that from generation to generation worked on earthenware in Shiwan, Province of Guangdong.

At 12 he begun his career at a local workshop working hard and with determination, filled with the spirit of "labor omnia vincit improbus".

Every night, he would practice what he had learned during the course of the day, perfecting his technique.

At 15, he presented the first work of his authorship and at 18 became known by the work "General Jiangfei". Since then he became master of many Earthenware Co-operatives of Shiwan. Little by little, he developed his own style conveying it in his works, that have always had great impact.

From these works, the figurative statuettes of "Li Tie Guai, The Hobbler", one of the Eight Immortals, that of "The Thin Immortal" and the "Arhat under a banana leaf" deserved great appreciation at the London Exhibition. Today, Liu Chuan is regarded as the greatest contemporary ceramics artist.

After 1949, Liu Chuan, equally mastering the full range of glazing techniques characteristic of Shiwan, maintains that the small dimension objects should be worked with ingenuity, and the figurative statuettes in an hyperbolic fashion. To him, this hyperbolic way must be adapted to reality, to the theme's necessity and the visual aesthetics of the object to create and obey the esthetical principles, heightening the communicative strength of the work.

Liu Chuan's works are full of wonder, so filled with life that seem to contain a soul. "The secret of perfection is in contrast", he said.

Liu Chuan is frequently visited by foreigners who wish to exchange experiences with him and his works are sought after by collectors.

For more than 70 years dedicated to the artistic life of ceramics, Liu Chuan became world known and deserved the honourable title of "Artisan artist" by the Ministry of Light Industry of the People's Republic of China in 1997. In the whole Guangdong Province only two persons were worthy of this honour.