Autumn Sonata by Zhao Kailin

Provenance:
Odon Wagner Gallery, Toronto
Collection of a Prominent Estate, Toronto

Born in 1961 in Anhui, China, Zhao Kailin has come to be known as a master of contemporary realist painting. The artist claims he wanted to be a painter since the age of eight, when he was encouraged by his second grade teacher. Kailin enrolled at Beijing’s prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1991. He studied mostly traditional Western painting and was influenced by the figural work of Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and John Singer Sargent.
Drawing from the Western tradition of portraiture, combined with Chinese culture, Kailin creates portraits with a direct and alluring gaze from his seated subject. These paintings, including “Autumn Sonata”, are the artist’s most renowned works. Here, the sitter stares upward, above the viewer’s eye level. His subjects are usually female and often dressed in traditional Chinese attire and posing with musical instruments. Autumn Sonata is an example of the artist’s unique combination of a personal narrative with traditional portraiture and rich Chinese culture.

Zhao Kailin has shown works in solo exhibitions throughout China, Europe, North America, and Australia. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.