Dong Wen Jie

Dong Wen Jie "Angel" (born 1972) is a Chinese painter and designer, distinguished for her stylized and highly-detailed figurative paintings of Qing Dynasty courtlife. She is recognized as one of the most technically skilled painters of her generation and together with her husband, Xie Qiu Wa, have built a strong following in the West as representatives of the Chinese Neo-.

Dong's work focus on the feminine and an Asian ideal of aesthetic elegance and modesty. Her imagery is often suffused with a gentleness and romanticism reminiscent of the DaVinci Renaissance.

Dong was born in Baishan, China, educated in art at the Xian Art Academy, and painted from a Qingdao atelier for several years where her noted experimentation with pre-cultural revolution themes created a number of key works (The Peiling series 2002-2003). She currently resides in Northern China.

Dong's subtle use of color and form that dissemble emotion, departs strongly from the Chinese tradition of Socialist Realism, and was met with puzzlement by many of her contemporaries in China. With the opening of China to the West however, she found a growing appreciative audience overseas for her works and has also recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in her homeland. Dong has been characterized as an "Overseas Chinese" artist and she has held a number of exhibitions of her works in North America from 2002 to 2007.

Dong counts Chen Yi Fei, and her husband Xie Qiu Wa, as inspirations and continues to developed a strong name internationally for tortuously detailed figures lit with veiled shadows, a look that marries Asian traditions with those of Western civilization.

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