Before this foreword, you already saw a “Tribute to Dr. Yuhua Wang” as recorded in the United States Congressional Record. That congressional record stated: “Dr. Yuhua Wang…has been recognized as a great artist and sculptor.…[S]he has received several commendation certificates for excellent work performance….Dr. Wang has meticulously and delicately applied fine-brushwork and oil colors on hand-sculpted coral and cobblestones which have become treasures of the world….[H]er lotus flower paintings are unsurpassed…Dr. Wang’s skills in the creation of colors, paintings and sculptures have reached the acme of perfection in their exquisiteness, elegance and beauty….Dr. Wang, who takes great pleasure in helping others, is a selfless person whose moral character is noble…Madame Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Dr. Yuhua Wang, an outstanding artist…”

Professor Stephen Farthing, who is the Rootstein Hopkins Research Chair in Drawing at the University of the Arts in London and who is also a R.A. (Royal Academician), praised Professor Yuhua Wang in his short foreword. He said that the space Professor Wang’s paintings occupy was only opened up in Western culture in the 20th Century. He also said that Professor Wang’s paintings very elegantly bring two forces together—the force that rejects perspective and the force of photorealism. He complimented Professor Wang’s paintings for reaching across cultures. Denis G. Antoine, Ph.D., Dean of the Ambassadors of the Western Hemisphere, said that the color forms created by Professor Wang are pioneering and without comparison, and such paintings unleash our blissful emotions.

Color indeed is one of the basic elements that form this world of ours. Especially in Western paintings, rich colors are mixed together and marvelously contrasted in order to depict the spirit and form of the myriad things in the external world. It is colors that especially evoke feelings deep in the hearts of people. The sorrows and joys of life are all contained in colors. Painting colors that express natural beauty and provide people with inexhaustible enjoyment has been the goal of all artists for thousands of years. However, how to depict the realness of nature and at the same time beauty that surpasses nature has been a threshold facing all artists. Only by crossing this threshold can one truly enter the state of artistic mastery on the highest level.

Professor Yuhua Wang of the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University in the United States is an expert in the field of creating colors and has a remarkably unique style of her own. During her eight years as professor at Auburn University, she has created superlative artwork of unique colors and has thereby made an outstanding contribution to that university and to the development of art in the world. She has been highly commended by the United States Congress, senators, and members of the House of Representatives as well as by the president and vice-president the university and the dean of the college where she is a professor.

Broadly speaking, the world of colors is limitless. Everything in the world that can be seen is made up of the combination of colors. Colors and light variations express the melody of spirit and matter in life, producing effects that are both beautiful and ugly. In the changing world of colors, there is nothing more extraordinary than the different types of cobblestones. Through the ages, cobblestones have undergone movement of the earth’s crust, have been washed by mountain floods, moved by flowing water, and hit and scraped by other cobblestones. As a result, they naturally lost any edges and corners they once had and developed their own special, irregular forms. There are also cobblestones that evolved from water beating against sand over the ages, causing the accumulation and eventual hardening of sand. Additionally, since the constituent elements of cobblestones differ, the colors of cobblestones likewise differ, resulting in countless combinations of gorgeous, variegated colors. Therefore, cobblestones have become objects that reflect the exceedingly fantastic and infinitely varied world of colors. Anyone who can depict in a perfectly true-to-life way the ever-changing colors of cobblestones has reached the pinnacle of brushwork.

The cobblestones that Professor Yuhua Wang hand-sculpted from light-weight material and painted have, for the first time in the world, truly enabled people to see the beauty of cobblestones. These creations of hers are not only genuine-looking, they are even more beautiful than real cobblestones. Their spots, streaks, watermarks, weathered appearance, reflecting light, and hues are all lifelike and exquisite. In all of their myriad variations, these cobblestones capture the spirit and form of real cobblestones yet surpass the beauty of natural ones.         

When people who do not know the background of these cobblestones first see them, they often ask, “Where could stones of such beauty be found?” They have no idea that such genuine-looking, rare stones were created by the hands of Professor Wang. None of her cobblestones duplicates any other cobblestone in form, lines, color, or extent of weathered or aged appearance. Such beautiful stones cannot be found in the world of nature. Each cobblestone is in and of itself a meticulously and realistically painted work of art. From each stone’s delicate spots and lines, shades of color, and smooth or rough surface, the viewer can somehow sense the countless times that stone has been impacted, squeezed, buried under soil, eroded by different kinds of water, exposed to the hot sun, or blown by cold winds. Such are the cobblestones that are the artwork of Professor Wang.

Because the artistic skills of Professor Wang are so deep, she has become a great artist of our time. That is also why her modern paintings have a unique style to them. Their lines flow smoothly and freely. Their diverse and unpredictable color combinations can express bold intensity, overflowing enthusiasm, traditional elegance, inspiring vitality, rustic charm, or majestic splendor. Those paintings are truly a feast for the eyes. Deeply embedded within them are feelings and wondrous skills. Her modern paintings are very sophisticated and should be carefully viewed. Actually, a magnifying glass would reveal that each of the many different parts that make up one of her modern paintings is a work of art in and of itself with its own unending appeal. This thoroughly proves that Professor Yuhua Wang’s color application in modern paintings is another area where she has attained consummate artistic mastery.                        

People know about the Mona Lisa, which took Leonardo da Vince three years and six months to complete. People also know about a famous sunflower painting by Vincent van Gogh. Those two paintings became the most precious works of art. Likewise, when art connoisseurs are shown the meticulous, realistic, fine-brushwork creations and the freehand brushwork paintings of Professor Yuhua Wang that have been collected by Superb Art Museum of America, they carefully observe them and are filled with joy and admiration. What more is there to say other than those works are the highest-level artwork of unique colors and the highest-level ink and wash paintings in the entire world.

Take, for example, her work entitled Yuhua. The leaves were painted with bold strokes, giving them a sense of natural charm. The stem was painted from top to bottom with one vigorous stroke of the brush, producing a gracefully jagged effect. The flower conveys the sense that is was painted with ease. It does not have the form of a flower but appears like a flower. This adeptly created work is not tainted by the slightest artificial brushstroke. In all of these aspects, Yuhua embodies the apex of artistic accomplishment.

The ink and wash paintings of Professor Wang should also be introduced. Because she has profound skills in fine-brushwork with close attention to detail and in freehand brushwork, her ink and wash paintings also have many remarkable attributes. They are boldly arranged yet lack the slightest trace of affectation. They have an air of ease and smoothness and convey a sense of complete naturalness. They express loftiness and broadmindedness and are imbued with deep charm and liveliness. Those works of art by Professor Wang can indeed be called ink and wash paintings of the highest order.

This book contains several of her lotus flower paintings, which are part of her ink and wash paintings. Ruyu Guo, a profoundly skillful painter in China of the fine-brushwork school, said the following about Professor Wang: “The lotus flowers painted by Yuhua Wang Compassionate Mother are the best in the world. She has an amazingly wide variety of techniques that she applies in an unpredictable way. It is hard to imagine that there is someone in this world with such adroit artistry. In her brushwork, she merges charm, strength, hues, scholarliness, graceful jaggedness, vitality, self-cultivation, and morality.”

There is the Chinese saying, “the writing mirrors the writer.” This saying is very apt with respect to Professor Wang, since in her case the artwork mirrors the artist. The accomplishments of Professor Wang are a reflection of her noble moral character, her profound practice of Buddha-dharma, and her carrying out the principle of benefiting living beings based on compassion. Because of the great respect people have for Professor Wang, those that know her call her “Compassionate Mother.”

International Arts Publishing