Personal stories: Breathing new life into ancient craft

Voronsky Vasily, a Russian artist and collector of paintings [Photo by He Keyao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Voronsky Vasily - Introducing Chinese to Russian painters

"Chinese citizens have a richer taste in art then I thought," Voronsky Vasily, a Russian painter and collector, said.

The 55- year old man started to paint in 1976 and this is the first time that he has participated in the ICIF. Apart from his own painting, he also brought many art pieces of different contemporary Russian masters to the exhibition.

"I don’t know Chinese people’s taste, so I displayed many different styles of works and wanted to see what they like," Vasily said. "What surprised me is that the general public here is very knowledgeable about art, not just experts and artists, I mean common people."

Voronsky likes celebrated Chinese painter Liu Dacheng’s work and learned to draw peonies in traditional ink and wash years ago.

"Famous Chinese painters, such as Qi Baishi, are well-known worldwide, yet few Chinese people know contemporary Russian painters. I hope more and more people in China get to know Russian art through cultural exchanges like this."