Yanithe Brush of Innocence

One of the prodigies of the contemporary art world, Wang Yani had produced 4000 paintings by the age of 6 and now aged 14 has been exhibited in China, Japan, West Germany and the USA. This illustrated volume introduces the reader to every aspect of the remarkable young artist and her work.

Hailed in her native China as a prodigy, Wang Yani, now 14, made the paintings reproduced in this catalogue between ages three and 12. They are being shown in an exhibit now traveling the U.S. Her remarkable paintings of monkeys combine exuberant childish innocence with precocious observation of attitudes and emotions. Her expressive landscapes--splashes of ink, color washes and loose brushwork--reveal the influence of traditional Chinese masters as well as contemporary painters. There are also charming pictures of horses, roosters, cats, fish, children, dancers, egrets, flowers. The specific originality of her images, as analyzed in supplemental essays by a team of art historians and psychologists, may be more evident to Eastern than to Western viewers. On balance, one is left with the impression of a talented, developing artist struggling to find her own path and individual voice.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is a catalog of an exhibition, organized by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, of the work of child prodigy Wang Yani, a 14-year-old Chinese girl who began painting at age three and by age four had mastered the skills and themes of traditional Chinese painting. The catalog, which displays work she did from age three to age 12, offers four essays, all excellent and all with helpful notes and references. Most enlightening are the first by Wai-Ching Ho, which details Yani's life and work, and the last by Lynn T. Goldsmith and David H. Feldman, which compares her with other child prodigies in art, most notably Klee and Picasso, and discusses the importance not only of innate ability but of nurture and cultural milieu to the gifted child's artistic development. Enhanced by 77 color plates, this inspiring book will please a wide variety of readers, and, given the very reasonable price, most libraries should acquire it.
- Patricia R. Hausman, Coll. of William and Mary Lib., Williamsburg, Va.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.