Paintings of Imperial Chinese leaders

Dowager Empress Cixi was the last Empress of China. I painted her as a young courtesan in modern dress. She is holding a small bouquet of flowers symbolizing her coquettish nature when young. As she grew older in the Imperial court, she became domineering and ruthless eventually becoming the first wife of Emperor Xianfeng Since he was a sickly man, he died at young age leaving no heir.  Cixi, effectively became the reigning monarch naming no successor until on her death bed when she named Zhou Yi a child of 4 as the emperor. He was the last of the Qing dynasty. His painting in this collection is of a young man with empty hands. His legs have become only sketches as if these had been cut off.

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I created this series at the time I was hoping to visit China and therefore I was doing some historical research. I was fascinated by the many dynasties that held sway over this population of serfs. These men and women were often composed of despots and cruel emperors. For example, the first emperor for the Chiang dynasty " Qin Shi Huang" was responsible for the terra cotta warriors that were so recently unearthed. While this treasure is truly remarkable this emperor was responsible for the death of tens of thousands. Subsequently we find the last douager-empress Cixi, a former courtesan through cruel intrigue holds the power of the throne for decades with a lavish lifestyle that only a powerful and ruthless leader could achieve. Her last act as empress was to appoint Puyi, a child, as the last emperor. Puyi would be raised by a court filled with self-serving courtiers and elderly courtesans who controlled his education and life. This unfortunate man eventually becomes a pawn for various factions that eventually lead him to cooperate with the ascendent Japanese Emperial government and thus he becomes a pawn in the hands of sworn enemies of his own people. Pui Yi spends many years after the Second World War as a prisoner first of the Soviets and then of the new Chinese Communist government. In this painting I paint him as young, wearing the imperial hat of emperors but in modern dress and with his legs as mere cartoons.