“Since ancient times, the Chinese have valued literary talent and education as the foremost qualities. For a literati artist, proficiency in poetry, calligraphy, and painting are all essential. Among contemporary artists, there are few who excel in both literature and art, and Mr. Liu is undoubtedly one of a kind. We admire him, not only for his literary talent but also for his painting.
We like to hear him discuss his profound understanding and vivid portrayal of flowers because flowers are living entities; painting them is not merely a matter of form but rather the expression of their spirit. This spirit must be derived from a deep understanding of the essence of various flowers and meticulously refined. It is a truly rare to see.”
--Jay Xu, Director and CEO, Asian Art Museum (San Francisco)
“Liu Yong's work undeniably captures the ever-changing aspects of time – from dawn to dusk, from sunny days to rainy, windy, and snowy ones. His portrayal of various branches and clusters of flowers exhibits a diversity of forms and remarkable beauty, each finely detailed and exquisite. His depictions of delicate flowers without stiff structure can be likened to the hidden secrets passed down from the likes of Xu Chongsi and Yun Shouping, yet at times, even surpassing them.”
--Zhang Longyan, President Emeritus, National Taiwan University of the Arts
“Liu Yong continuously refines his art; he continuously absorbs learnings from others, confronts nature, studies nature, constantly listens to nature’s sounds. And then through a spiritual understanding, he transforms these into individualized expressions and visual images. … This type of originality in expressive techniques completely breaks through the structure of traditional ink art. He uses an even more free, an even more subjective energy to confront nature and express nature. He expresses one’s own understanding of nature and one’s own creation of nature.”
--Jia Fangzhou, curator and art critic
“Liu Yong’s imagination is extremely rich. He has the big picture and also has the details, with a very freeing emotion. Not all artists can think in both these ways simultaneously. … Poetry and prose’s narrative methods, like sisters, appear in the paintings, giving us a fresh perspective.”
--Liu Xilin, former Academic Director, National Art Museum of China
“He is not only painting. His thought process is very astute and very open. I think he’s already in his own world of freedom – I do what I love, I paint however I want, I don’t care about other people’s comments. This is what I believe is worth us learning from: unconstrained, but not harming anyone else’s interests, rather expressing one’s own aesthetics to one’s heart’s content. … In general, he is relatively abundant in subject matters, and his aesthetics aren’t limited to one source. He is inspired by all aspects of society, all aspects of the world, and therefore his works have different faces. However, his foundation in traditional Chinese painting is extremely solid.
--Ren Daobin, professor, China Academy of Art
“I feel that Liu Yong’s works have a characteristic worth highlighting, which is that no matter what he does, the works all have a very intense and very distinctive sense of emotion. … They all use emotion to express the true feelings within his own inner world. This is something that all artists and art critics ought to learn from. … This is the interaction of cultures, as well as the soul roaming and seeking its roots. His paintings make us understand, and that’s why they are a link on the chain that connects cross-strait history and culture.”
--Lang Shaojun, PhD supervisor, Chinese National Academy of Arts
“Mr. Liu is very familiar with tradition and uses it flexibly. He stands out in how he merges literature and painting. Literature and painting also merge in both real and imaginary ways, linking sight and thought, a kind of transformation of time and space.”
--Cui Yongnian, PhD supervisor, Central Academy of Fine Arts
“One could never find traditional ink stroke techniques in Liu Guosong’s work; he purposely deconstructed ink strokes. In Liu Yong’s work, however, we can see traditional ink strokes and contemporary ink art come together. … This distinguishing feature of Liu Yong is very much worth our attention and study.”
--Shang Hui, Executive Editor, Art Magazine
“If we don’t view from the perspective embraced by emotions and feelings, we cannot understand. If it’s not the embrace between the tradition of ink strokes and the emotional spirit behind it, then how could he so passionately utilize both? This is also how I understand many Taiwanese artists. When they express the spirit of the home country and the memory of history, they often have more weight, more energy, more enthusiasm than mainland Chinese artists.”
--Deng Pingxiang, art critic and Vice Chairman, Hunan Province Art Association
“Considering the tradition of literati paintings, Liu Yong might be a model of our contemporary times. His landscapes, birds and flowers, realist style, freehand style, and genre paintings don’t stick to one pattern. Whatever he wants to paint, he paints. And whatever he paints, it’s exquisite. … This type of traditional literati spirit—whether in Liu Yong’s literary works or art works, or even his public speaking and other forms of art like drama—is like a style of the Wei Jin era.”
--Zheng Chong, President, Zhejiang Cultural Publishing Co.
“Liu Yong studied deeply for decades and invented his “spraying and rubbing technique.” He uses it to compose three-dimensional lightness and darkness, the deep and tender dreamscapes of ink and water. He uses it to express life’s profoundness, luxuriousness, and brightness.”
--Shu Jianhua, Director, Silicon Valley Asian Art Center
“I would like to use five phrases to describe his paintings in summary. First, there is literature within art, and art within literature. Second, there is West within East, and East within West. Third, there is interpretation within realism, and realism within interpretation. Fourth, there is modernism within tradition, and tradition within modernism. Fifth, there is emotion within scenery, and scenery within emotion. … In Mainland China and Taiwan, as well as in the Chinese-American art world, Liu Yong is an emblematic master of culture and arts.
--Si Shunwei, President, Zhejiang Art Museum