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March 19, 2009 -- His long, arduous journey took him from Tibet where he learned how to express his artist's soul, to the United States, where he created his inspiring "Freedom". Cao Yong's dedication to art, his spiritual and interpretive view of the beauty and tragedy of the world have brought him to a place of prominence in the realm of impressionist painters. He's been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Leadership Foundation of the U.S.. He was the fourth person of Chinese origin to win the honor. The others are action movie star Jackie Chan, renowned forensic analyst Dr. Henry Lee and Elaine Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Labor. In today's The List, we meet the artist, who once said "painting is my life. Being an artist is my fate".
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Chinese people know Cao Yong from his oil painting "Cheer, Tibet". The 23 people depicted there are art-lovers who gathered in Tibet in the 1980s. In the solemn work, one person seated on the floor seems out of place in the sacred ambience. That was Cao Yong.
Cao Yong said, "I was assigned to be assistant professor of Art at the University of Tibet. But my real interest lies in Tibet's history, culture and nature."
During his seven years in Tibet, Cao Yong immersed himself in the spare beauty of the remote and isolated land. He embraced the distinctive Tibetan culture. In order to copy the remains of ancient Tibetan wall paintings, Cao Yong, accompanied only by a horse and a hunting gun, lived alone like a primitive, in mountain caves for nearly a year.
Cao Yong said, "My experience in Tibet is like a whiff of life for me. Sometimes, when we want to go deep into something's essence and verity, we need to fully devoted ourselves to it. And the devotion sometimes starts with a tough situation. And only in that situation, you can realize its profundity."
His legendary adventure endowed him with a deep understanding of the connection between Man and Nature, as well as between the secular and spiritual. The result can be seen in his remarkable series "The Split Layer of Earth: Mount Kailas".
Life presents opportunities and challenges. His chance encounter with a Japanese girl led Cao Yong to love and to a neighbouring country which he described as the gate to the mundane world.
Cao Yong said, "I felt like a chimpanzee coming to the city. The stimulus of the fast-paced living conditions made me feel like I was living on Mars."
Despite frustrations, Cao Yong became a famous muralist. He was extolled by the Japanese press as "a genius" upon completion of several monumental dragon murals.
Then goaded by the saying "second-class painters stay in Japan. First-class painters go to America", Cao Yong emigrated to the United States.
The period that followed witnessed a tidal shift in Cao Yong's painting style. Compared with his Tibetan paintings, which are full of malaise, struggle and despair, his newer paintings evoked a sense of timeless romance amid the beauty that surrounds us all.
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