East-West fusion: An American scholar's view on Liu Wanming's art

In March 2025, Martin Joseph Powers, an Emeritus Professor from the University of Michigan and Chaired Visiting Professor at Peking University, visited the China National Academy of Painting. During his stay, he explored Chinese artist Liu Wanming's studio and was deeply impressed by his painting "The Charm of Ink Painting Album."

"Liu Wanming is totally in command of both the Chinese tradition and the European realist and naturalist tradition and fuses them, as the word 'Zhong Xi Rong He' (Fusion of East and West) was meant to imply," Professor Powers remarked. 

Liu's art, rooted in the philosophy of "Read, then paint," merges the precision of the Song Dynasty with the fluidity of the Yuan Dynasty. Specializing in flowers, birds, and wildlife, he employs traditional Chinese techniques while capturing nature with an observant eye. Whether on a grand scale or in delicate sketches, his works reflect a seamless harmony between mankind and nature.