Master Au Ho-nien, born in 1935 in China’s southern province of Guangdong, is today widely recognized as a leading contemporary artist in Chinese painting. He is Hwakang Professor of Art at the Chinese Culture University, Taipei, a prestigious post and Taiwan’s highest accolade for an artist.
Master Au promotes the aesthetic traditions of Chinese culture through his numerous exhibitions and educational presentations. Since 1956, he has been invited to give one-man and joint art exhibits in some of the world’s leading galleries and museums, including the National Museum of the Republic of China, Taiwan; Tokyo Central Museum of Art, Japan; Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Germany; and Musee Cernushi in France.
Master Au’s paintings have been collected by numerous museums around the world, including the British Museum in England; San Diego Museum and Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in the U.S.; Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Hong Kong; Taiwan Museum of Art in Taiwan; Musee Cernuschi in France, and National China Museum in Beijing, China.
Master Au became a Fellow of the Chinese Academy in 1968 and Academician of the Chinese Academy in 1974. He received an honorary doctor of philosophy degree from Wonkwang University, Korea, in 1994 and an honorary doctor of arts degree from the University of Indianapolis in 1995. He has received the Global Overseas Chinese Culture Award, Golden Goblet Award of Chinese Art from the Chinese Art Association, and International Communication Service Award from the Government Information Office in Taiwan, and participated with honors in the French National Society of Fine Arts Biennial Exhibition at the Grand Palais Museum of Paris.
