Su Yu

Honestly,it’s not always easy for me to appreciate the works of young painters without relying on my past experiences and artistic preferences. For one thing, I have no reason to overthrow the already established value judgments; for another, the experience-tested judgments are indeed more convincing. From this perspective, I like Su Yu very much! I'm very proud of him. With the capabilities of independent thinking and judgement as well as a sharp and tenacious mind for art, he shares a clearly defined art value and a conscious self-construction awareness. Respects are shown to traditional spirits and language values in terms of artistic expressions, with the realistic criticism and warm compassion pervading in spiritual and emotional expression. Inspired by the real world, all his works are credibly based on emotions, disdaining to sugarcoating or illustrating the reality in a cheap and vulgar way. The reality he perceives is also what he respects, which is regarded as the basis of his artistic creation and expression. Without exaggeration, misinterpretation, and affectation, he controls the tone of his own art with the same attitude to life, and seeks the touching pieces of art in ordinary life. With his mind beyond the secular world, he looks up at the stars, while walking solidly on the ground. Starting from reality and his own heart, he wins himself dignity with his life's beliefs, his passion for painting, his uncompromising will, as well as his diligence for artistic works.

The future of a young artist is defined by artistic pursuits, artistic thinking and judgment abilities, artistic values, persistence, and stress-handling capability. Most importantly, talents must serve as the foundation of all these factors. You will do nothing but sigh in front of a genius. Two physiological reactions are noticeable when Su is painting, staring eyes and sweating hands. His studies in painting were barely decent. His basis of painting derives from the unprofessional basic education, as well as his passion for painting from childhood. His zest for shapes and colors as well as the worship for masterpieces are an outlet for his hormones as a little boy. His overall strength amazes me, forcing me to dismiss the cliché of measuring the level of paintings from the level of education. The truth has been repeated over and over that practice makes perfect, and I’m a loyal believer. But I have more faith in the cream always rises to the top! His style of drawing presents a tangible and interesting trend, and the color is calm and brilliant. The sense of casual ease can be felt in the scene. And most importantly, he has begun to tell his own stories with his talents. That's right! I am talking about you, Su Yu, the talented.

Previously, I have praised Su as a genius. There are two kinds of people, who practice diligence redeems stupidity, and who easily can get things within reach, while Su is the combination of the two. The same spirits, in one’s youth, can be felt from Liu Xiaodong and Zhao Bandi, my school mates. After many years, Su Yu, another young man with similar talents, can also create overwhelmingly stunning works effortlessly. Chen Danqing, a famous Chinese painter, once spoke highly of him as as a big shot. Two years ago, he sketched at a demolition site at a heat, with the emphasis on the spirit and shape, as well as the exhibition of complete flexibility. Merry and dizzy, he smoothly swung his brushes with bright colors, which already seemed quite proficient and professional. The continuous accumulation of life experiences in recent years has greatly improved the dimension and depth of his artistic thinking. The power of his works and the expression of the actual meaning are more powerful and clear. With more profundity in the content of his works, he tries touching upon all aspects of life. The language ability of painting is naturally promoted by the artistic thinking and the formation of self, full of vitality, the power of life and the diligently striving vitality. With faiths, feelings, ideals, and responsibilities, he fully realizes the traps and temptations in his art career, with the courage to abandon current secular interests in face of everything. As a positive force, he is also a rare active factor in the current social and artistic ecology.

The problem of art, is first of all, the problem of human beings. Wherever there is life, there is a problem. Artists use their own perceptions to find pain points, discover problems and ask questions, providing the artistic creation of visuality and thinking space with his most natural and unique artistic ontology language. In this sense, Su Yu is a young artist with great potentials, which is in line with the contemporary figurative art concept. The Centre for Chinese Contemporary Figurative Art will be rejoiced to introduce such an artist!

Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world. 

Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history. 

By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.

Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.

Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.

​​Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.

Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.

While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.

Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.

Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.

Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.

Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.