A Young Painter: The Life and Paintings of Wang Yani-- China's Extraordinary Young Artist

by Zheng Zhensun, Alice Low

Examines the life and works of the young Chinese girl who started painting animals at the age of three and in her teens became the youngest artist to have a one-person show at the Smithsonian Institution.

Genres: Art, Biography, International

80 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 1991

Reviews

[Ninja Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the fact that this book was about Wang Yani’s childhood and that it talked about how she started with scribbles into more of what she was actually trying to draw. Like in the book it mentions that when you’re young, you have innocence and a liveliness. And it really shows that in her paintings. I also like how it mentions that paintings usually show your emotions; because like any form of art dancing, singing, knitting, crocheting, poems. Any of those things and more your emotions can be seen through them in some shape or form of passion. I love how it expresses that strongly in the book about painting

[Nicole Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the story of Wang Yani and loved looking at the photographs of her early work as well as how she progressed into her teen years. Her creativity and attention to detail is remarkable, even at such a young age when she started.
I also found the back of the book interesting as it explained the art of Chinese painting, and how different it is compared to how we would paint as Americans. Everything from the brush, the paper and even the ink concept.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the archived copy on openlibrary.org, but if you can get it in paper, please do take a look. I consider this almost worth five stars; the text is long but worth reading & interesting. Good back matter, too. I prefer the girl's early work, but will google her now to see what she's done since she was 15. Mostly, I'm amazed how much her father did (well, really, didn't) do for her.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible true story about a young painting prodigy and how her extraordinary gift was nurtured by her artist father. This lovely picture books reminds us that children can express their gifts in many ways and that every child deserves education in the fine arts. This informative picture book traces Wang Yani's career from age 2 to her teen years.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about the early life and work of the Chinese prodigy artist Wang Yani.

[Amanda Walz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an interesting book. It not only share some about Wang Yani's life, it shares about her paintings. I think this book is very inspiring, it made me want to go and paint. :)