Shizhong Yan

Shizhong Yan was born and raised in the coastal city of Qingdao, China. Influenced by his father who was an architect, Shizhong fell in love with art at a young age. He studied under various well known local artists and at the age of sixteen he was accepted by Central Academy of Fine Arts Affiliated School, often referred as the cradle of fine artists, where he studied for four years. When culture revolution swept China, Shizhong never gave up on his artistic dream. He was exiled worked manual labors in the countryside, but still took every minute he could to paint the world around him. When cultural revolution ended, h was one of the first students that were accepted by China Academy of Fine Arts's graduate program. He continued his study under one of the most well known artists in China, Mr. Quan Shanshi. Shizhong studied in-depth the styles and techniques of Russian, European as well as American Impressionist masters, and was influenced by artists like Fechin, Degas, Cezanne, Sargent, etc.

In 1998, Shizhong and his family moved to United States, where he began a new chapter of his life as well as artistic career. Shizhong now resides in Illinois. He has four collections of artworks published, and was published by countless magazines and newspapers. Shizhong has had many solo and group exhibitions in China, United States, Japan, France, Australia, Canada, Taiwan and Hongkong. He has received many awards and his paintings are collected and loved by collectors all over the world.