73-year-old Chang Xiufeng, also known as "Grandma Vincent van
Gogh," displayed over 100 of her paintings at a special charity
exhibition in Hong Kong on Sunday.
All the proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to a charity
program repairing school buildings in mountainous areas on the
mainland.
Chang Xiufeng hails from the central province of Henan and cannot read and write.
She lived in a small mountain village in Henan until 2003, when
she flew to Guangzhou to visit her son.
To show her young granddaughter what hawthorns looked like, she
began drawing with crayons belonging to the little girl.
She discovered she could draw all kinds of colorful country
scenes, even though she has received no professional painting
training.
Artists say her paintings are modest, pure and touching, bearing
a kind of resemblance to the works of Vincent van Gogh.
Her son spread her story though his blog and she soon became
known as "Grandma van Gogh."
The original Vincent van Gogh lived from 1853-1890 in Holland.
He was a post-impressionist painter whose early works, like The
Potato Eaters, portray peasant life in somber, dark colors.
His later works are characterized by bold rhythmic brush strokes
and vivid colors. They include a number of self-portraits, a series
of Sunflower paintings and the famous Starry
Night.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2007)
