Quan Sun

Saskatchewan NAC Auction House Biography and Notes

Quan Sun is a Chinese visual artist who lives in both Los Angeles and Shanghai, China. She was born in 1942, Shanghai. Her mother traveled across the South Sea in her early 20's to become a principle in a university in Malaysia. Later she would return to China, giving all her gold to sponsor her husband's studying in Germany while she gave up her career to raise their children. As the youngest of five children, growing up in a wealthy family in Shanghai, Quan Sun was surrounded by nannies, drivers, and cooks. Often home sick, Quan Sun would use this time to draw, sketching everyone around the house. Her artistic pursuits were firmly supported by her parents which led her to the most authoritative art university in China - The Central Art Academy of China. After the cultural revolution erupted in 1966, she and her classmates were sent down to the country side for military training. These six years of hardship in the beautiful rural landscape of China inspired the young artist, and would later become one of her favorite subjects to paint. She often painted the farmers and their simple, yet harsh life. It is also during this time she met and wed a very talented young soldier, Hu Shi. Hu would become one of China's most influential artists of his time, and later to be called the Picasso of the East. Like her mother, Quan Sun sacrificed her own passion to support her husband's artistic pursuits during their marriage of fifteen years and did not paint a single piece. Her solo work began in 1985 after they divorced. In 1990 she moved to America with her second husband and her daughter, Lei Shi. Her artwork was then discovered and represented by London Contemporary Art, Bruce MaGaw Graphics, and Wentworth Gallery among others. She continues to paint today in her 70's with more vigor and vision than ever before.