Wang Yani is a Chinese art

Chinese art

Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...

ist who began painting at the age of two-and-a-half. Her work was exhibited in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 when she was four, appeared on a postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

 when she was eight, and she had a solo exhibition at a museum in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 when she was fourteen, and soon after, at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery joins the Freer Gallery of Art to form the Smithsonian Institution's national museums of Asian art. The Sackler celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2012....

 at the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, in a traveling exhibit organized by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....

 in Kansas City, Missouri. The Sackler exhibit included a painting done when she was three entitled "Kitty."

By the time she was sixteen, six different books had been written about Wang Yani. They told the story of an innocent girl who loved to paint monkeys, baboons, and cats, and who grew into a world famous young teen who painted as curators of the Smithsonian watched her create beautiful birds and flowers with her dancing brush.

Wang Yani also exhibited in Germany and grew to love that country in her middle teen years. Studying the German language and winning a scholarship to study art in Germany, in 1996 began to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. She has had many exhibitions in Germany since 1996, including the one shown in the first reference below.

She is married to photographer Wu Min-an.

External links

• Wang Yani
• ISBN 0-590-44906-0 (A Young Painter by Alice Low and Zheng Zhensun)
• ISBN 0-673-62547-8 (Wang Yani: Longing to Paint by Anne Sibley O'Brien et al.)