Tinyan Chan
Tinyan was born in 1942, in Go Yew (Guangdong), China. He was the youngest of a family of artists. His eldest brother Sheung was a famous portrait painter in Hong Kong, and was Tinyan’s instructor and mentor during his early years. At the age of sixteen, Tinyan was successfully admitted to the Mid-Southern Academy of Fine Arts. Three years later, he enrolled in the prestigious Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. In his youth he spent much of his free time observing and sketching scenes along the Pearl River. These sketches would prove to be invaluable inspiration for his future work.
in 1957, the city of Guangzhou, China held an exhibition of nineteenth century arts, which included a display of exquisite sketch work from the famous German artist Adolph Menzel. His skills distinctly captured the light and shadow, and his ability to portray themes of ordinary, everyday life into such extraordinary pictures of art inspired Tinyan. Deeply moved by his first encounter with western works of art, Tinyan found himself filled with inspiration and imagination.
In 1965, Tinyan was offered a position in Nigeria, West Africa to work as the chief designer for the United Nigeria Textile Company. His responsibility was to design cloth patterns which were exported to many countries in the world. The simple village life Tinyan enjoyed in Africa left him with a sense of tranquility that remains intrinsic to his art. Eventually, he was able to save up enough money for his next venture, which was to go to France to study western arts. In Paris, he was accepted into L’Ecole National Superieure des Beaux-Arts where he was able to further hone his artistic skills.
In 1968, Tinyan immigrated to Canada to start his career as a professional artist. This was a major turning point in his life. With his experience in China, Nigeria and France, which immersed him in both ancient and modern impressionist and contemporary works of art, he became confident in creating his own style. The juxtaposition of the four seasons on Canadian landscape greatly influenced Tinyan’s work during this time. His paintings explored the beauty of spring flowers, summer landscapes, autumn leaves and winter snows.
“If we knew where springtime went, we would beckon it to return home” - Huang Tingjian
achievement
In the last 55 years in Canada, Tinyan has established himself as one of the leading landscape artists of the country. Since the early 1970s, he has held more than one hundred solo exhibitions in major cities of North America. In 1981, he won an honorary award in the United Kingdom’s International Artist Colour Competition with the famous piece “The Cherry Blossom” . In 1983, he was honoured to become the first Chinese artist to be elected by the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) as a senior member. He has been featured in numerous publications and television broadcasts. In 2011, the extent of his achievements were acknowledged when he was the recipient of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by FCA. This award is presented in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the world of art and the support of the FCA. One of Tinyan’s lifelong dreams came to fruition in 2012, when the Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts featured a solo exhibition, which included one hundred and six of Tinyan’s most celebrated creations from his private collection. The exhibition was a great success and well attended by government officials, art teachers, students and the general public.
Sixty five years ago, Tinyan was an art student from a humble beginning. During his lengthy venture though the international art community, he has been steadfast in commitment and insistent on perfection. Much admired by art collectors and regarded as a master painter of the highest calibre, Tinyan feels greatly rewarded by being able to share his work with the world. He looks forward to more bright and colourful years to come.
Bob McMurray, the Federation of Canadian Artist’s Chairman for the Member Recognition Awards Committee presented the "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Tinyan Chan on April 17th, 2011. Tinyan is the first Asian-Canadian to receive this award in the Federation’s 80 year history.
“Tinyan Chan’s 55 Years Retrospective Exhibition” 2012 Guanzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guanzhou China.