WORLD’S BEST WATERCOLOR ARTISTS: LI, LIAO, LEBEAUT AND VILKEVICIUS
Watercolor artists from China, Taiwan, France and Lithuania win top prizes in Category 3 of the 2018 AMERICAN ART AWARDS.
This year the American Art Awards (www.AmericanArtAwards.com), juried by the 25 Best Galleries & Museums In America (listed below), had online art images in 50 categories submitted from artists in 59 countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela.
The 1st Place to 6th Place winners in all 50 categories will be revealed in the news about a category a day — stretching into November, making this one of the longest winner announcements of any art competition in the world.
Xuhui Li, currently living in Beijing, China, graduated from the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University (Decorative Painting Art advanced program) in 1997. In 2017, he earned the certificate in the Oil Painting advanced program from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Now Xuhui is a member of the National Watercolor Society of the United States.
Xuhui liked painting from early childhood. In the 1980s, he focused on movie poster ideation and painting. In 1987, when he was 25 years old, his work won awards in the oil painting competition of the five northwestern provinces in China. Later, he transitioned to an architectural designer for 25 years, but his love for art has never changed. During this time, he integrated the rich artistic language into the architectural design which reflected the spiritual power of art.
In 2016, he returned to painting. The accumulation of life experience makes his works mostly realist themes, that use realistic techniques to focus on the inner spiritual world of the characters. In his creation, he has empathy for the characters and touches the hearts of the audience.
The protagonist of the work “The New Scarf Left by Mom” is a Yi nationality orphan funded by Xuhui. This little girl is wearing a new scarf left by her mother. The nostalgia for her mother, her fear of reality, her desire for love, and the broken wall with the cracks shows the tearing state of the girl’s heart. The home behind the broken wall indicates a beautiful memory of the girl’s parents when they were alive.
From 2017 to 2018, many of Xuhui’s works have won numerous awards in various large-scale exhibitions in China and exhibited in major art galleries across the country such as Beijing, Hangzhou, and Jinan. With the great interest in the art market in the United States, in 2016, Xuhui visited art galleries and museums across the United States, as well as the art districts in various cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Miami, and Atlanta. He hopes to introduce his work and have more communications with artists outside of China.
CATEGORY 3. WATER COLOR — HUMAN FIGURE
1ST PLACE XUHUI LI CHINA yvonneli426@gmail.com “New Scarf Left By Mother” 30x43" Watercolor on paper.
2ND PLACE-TIE CHIN FA LIAO TAIWAN https://www.facebook.com/100005646961055/posts/814890362042522/ “Old Man” 28x40cm Watercolor on paper.
2ND PLACE-TIE SÉBASTIEN LEBEAUT FRANCE www.sebastien-lebeaut.book.fr “Summer Rain” 76x56cm Watercolor.
3RD PLACE SÉBASTIEN LEBEAUT FRANCE www.sebastien-lebeaut.book.fr “The One Who Forgive” 76x56cm Watercolor.
4TH PLACE ARUNAS VILKEVICIUS LITHUANIA VilkeviciusArunas/photos/ “Rita” 20x12" Watercolor on paper.
5TH PLACE SÉBASTIEN LEBEAUT FRANCE www.sebastien-lebeaut.book.fr “In Her Thoughts” 76x56cm Watercolor.
6TH PLACE ARUNAS VILKEVICIUS LITHUANIA VilkeviciusArunas/photos/ “Melka” 21x13" Watercolor on paper.
This year’s 25 Best Galleries & Museums asked to vote on art were:
BEST IN ALABAMA — ALABAMA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER
BEST IN ARKANSAS — FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM
BEST IN CALIFORNIA — REVOLVER GALLERY
BEST IN COLORADO — COLORADO FINE ARTS CENTER AT COLORADO COLLEGE
BEST IN FLORIDA — LIK FINE ART MIAMI + LIK FINE ART KEY WEST
BEST IN ILLINOIS — TRICKSTER ART GALLERY
BEST IN KANSAS — BIRGER SANDZEN MEMORIAL GALLERY
BEST IN KENTUCKY — E&S GALLERY
BEST IN LOUISIANA — NEWCOMB ART MUSEUM
BEST IN MASSACHUSETTS — BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY
BEST IN MISSISSIPPI — THE OHR-O’KEEFE MUSEUM OF ART
BEST IN MISSOURI — UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI MUSEUM OF ART AND ARCHEOLOGY
BEST IN NEBRASKA — KIECHEL FINE ART
BEST IN NEVADA — THE METROPOLITAN GALLERY OF LAS VEGAS ART MUSEUM
BEST IN OHIO — LEE HAYDEN GALLERY
BEST IN OKLAHOMA — JOSEPH GIEREK FINE ART
BEST IN OREGON — JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM of ART
BEST IN PENNSYLVANIA — JAMES A. MICHENER ART MUSEUM
BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA — MARY MARTIN GALLERY OF FINE ART
BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA — SOUTH DAKOTA ART MUSEUM
BEST IN TEXAS — ART ON 5TH
BEST IN UTAH — THE LEONARDO
BEST IN WASHINGTON — MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART
BEST IN WEST VIRGINIA — WEST VIRGINIA STATE MUSEUM
BEST IN WISCONSIN — MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART
Enter art at www.AmericanArtAwards.com
