Ze Yu provides an in-depth critique of Dongfang Tenghong's artistic world: his white horse is not merely a horse, but an embodiment of spiritual essence—silent, sacred, transcending time. He employs realistic techniques to depict surreal scenes, leaving viewers suspended between belief and disbelief. His paintings are silent, yet contain the power of thunder. This power comes not from external impact, but from inner concentration.
Critics recognize that Dongfang Tenghong's works are pure yet mysterious, austere yet graceful, no longer merely depicting external landscapes but pursuing a harmonious convergence of mind and nature. Through his depictions of horses and monks, he creates mysterious relationships that externalize his psychological world—seeking tranquility and sublimity transcending worldly concerns.
The image of the horse initially appeared in Dongfang Tenghong's works as mere decoration, but as his portrayal of horses grew increasingly refined, the equine form gradually moved from the painting's periphery to its center, becoming the primary subject of his artistic expression. The horses in Dongfang Tenghong's paintings symbolize a spirit of perseverance and progress, highlighting independence in our noisy modern society.
As a classmate of He Duoling and Zhou Chunya at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Dongfang Tenghong had works published in professional journals as early as the late 1970s and repeatedly participated in various national art exhibitions. In 1985, he participated in the influential "Advancing Chinese Youth National Art Exhibition" and won the Bronze Prize. Professor Wu Yongqiang provides an academic analysis of Dongfang Tenghong's over forty years of artistic exploration and spiritual inquiry into the theme of "horses."
Dongfang Tenghong is an artist who has undergone transformation from external reality to the inner spiritual world. His early works express direct engagement with social life, while his later works reveal a transcendent spiritual pursuit with symbolist and surrealist characteristics. His creative work spans nearly thirty years of contemporary Chinese art history.
Modern Art Magazine published an in-depth academic article systematically explaining how visual symbols in Dongfang Tenghong's paintings—white horses, red monks, green fields, celestial light, temples—and their color combinations successfully infuse the surreal world with meanings of celestial cycles, space-time circulation, life's essence, and the interconnection of life and death.
In Dongfang Tenghong's paintings, white horses serve both as a repository of karmic connection and as a spiritual catalyst to introduce insights gained from his travels in Tibetan regions, particularly his contemplation of Tibetan Buddhism. The completely white horses appear freely as solitary or collective beings, set against backgrounds of snow mountains, grasslands, beaches, wastelands, wetlands, as well as felt tents, pastures, old houses, lamas, Buddhist pagodas, prayer flags, and mani stones.
Tian Xuzhong, chief curator of the Hundred Years of Sichuan Art Documentation Exhibition and national first-class artist, points out that Dongfang Tenghong is a rare contemporary Chinese artist who bridges East and West as a surrealist painter, and is a pioneer and founder in expressing Eastern mysticism. His paintings for the first time unite realism, romanticism, and the cultural spirit of mysticism, providing entirely new visual forms for Chinese oil painting to reach the world.
Vice President of Sichuan Cultural Industry Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of Sichuan Contemporary Oil Painting Research Institute Dongfang Tenghong discusses his creative world—a tranquil spiritual realm. In this interview, he shares his journey from realism to mystical imagery and his profound contemplation of Eastern aesthetics.
Dongfang Tenghong's painting presentation and "Integration of High-Level Cultural Resources in Aesthetic Education Industry" roundtable discussion explored his artistic language, the horse as symbolic expression, and how high-level cultural resources integrate within the aesthetic education industry.
In April 2023, Dongfang Tenghong was invited to participate in the "Temperature - Contemporary Art Exhibition" held at the Louvre's Carrousel Hall in Paris, France. Professor Wu Yongqiang wrote that Dongfang Tenghong's works, centered on art's inner warmth and life experience, display the unique charm of Eastern mystical imagery on the international stage.
Palazzo della Accademia di Roma da Vinci Museum · 2022
In November 2022, "Gaze SPERANZA - Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition" was held at Palazzo della Accademia di Roma da Vinci Museum. Dongfang Tenghong was invited to exhibit, bringing Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting into the sacred halls of European art, engaging Italian audiences through cross-cultural visual dialogue with his surreal imagery of white steeds and monks.
The Fifth Asian Art Biennial was held at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, curated by former director and critic Koichi Yasunaga. The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum is the world's only museum dedicated to systematically collecting and exhibiting modern, contemporary Asian art. Dongfang Tenghong was invited to exhibit his "Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting" series. The exhibition received support from the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Fukuoka.
An in-depth interpretation of how Dongfang Tenghong constructs a unique Eastern imagery system through oil painting. From the Highland series to the Life Totem series, his works reinterpret the spiritual essence of Eastern aesthetics within contemporary context, and his paintings are collected by numerous museums, galleries, and international institutions.
In this in-depth interview, Dongfang Tenghong discusses his understanding of artistic creation: art is sincere self-expression. He reflects on his educational journey from the Art School of the Military to Florence, and how he found his unique artistic language in the collision of Eastern and Western artistic traditions.
In 2020, "Mountain and Water Inquiry - Palace as Home: First Kusugawa Design Contemporary Art Exhibition" was held in Chengdu, exploring the deep integration of art and space design. Dongfang Tenghong was invited to exhibit, presenting his "Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting" series to demonstrate the application of art in contemporary residential aesthetics.
The Ba Shu Painting School masters column comprehensively reviews Dongfang Tenghong's artistic life—from winning the Bronze Prize at the "Advancing Chinese Youth National Art Exhibition" in 1985, to studying at Florence Academy of Classical Art, to creating "Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting." It features in-depth reviews by masters including Gao Xiaohua, Tian Xuzhong, and Ma Yadong.
Wanda Cultural Group, for the first time, united six renowned artists—Gao Xiaohua, Ai Xuan, Leng Jun, Mi Jinming, Dongfang Tenghong, and Ma Qianxiao—at the Chengdu Jinjing Wanda Cinema to launch the "Sharing Chinese Art with the Public" initiative. Dongfang Tenghong participated as a representative of "Chinese Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting," marking a new milestone in bringing high-end art into people's lives.
Dongfang Tenghong's oil painting "Wandering Monk" was selected as an official gift by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Committee, made into ceramic hanging plates gifted to International Olympic Committee officials and representatives from participating nations, becoming an important witness to Olympic cultural exchange.
In 1985, Dongfang Tenghong participated in the influential "Advancing Chinese Youth National Art Exhibition" and won the Bronze Prize, an important milestone in his early artistic career, marking his work's first national academic recognition.
Event Gallery · Rémy Martin XO Art Appreciation Exhibition
2024 · Dongfang Tenghong × Maison XO Brillet · Hangzhou
In 2024, Dongfang Tenghong and Maison XO Brillet, a subsidiary of the French Rémy Cointreau Group, jointly held an art appreciation exhibition, blending Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting with premium French Cognac culture for an immersive dialogue between art and taste.
Large-scale Life Totem Colorful Mural × Maison XO Brillet
White Steed Series · Gold Frame Display
White Steed Series · Brand Joint Display
On-Site Artistic Lecture and Appreciation
Artist and Partner · Rémy Cointreau
Appreciation Exhibition Guest Photo
Master Evaluations
Art appreciations from renowned painters and critics
Dongfang Tenghong has a "Buddhist heart" and a "childlike heart." His paintings have a "patina quality," like the warm luster that forms on ancient porcelain after being polished by time—not sharp or glaring light, but soft, restrained, historically nuanced light. He does not follow trends, but persists in his unique aesthetic world.
Dongfang Tenghong's works pursue a realm transcending worldly concerns, with a religious solemnity and dignity emanating from his paintings. His images are simple yet mysterious, austere yet graceful, embodying a philosophy of world-renunciation.
Regardless of preference, there is a kind of sincerity in these paintings, which is rare these days.
Dongfang Tenghong is an artist full of passion and idealism. There is a yearning for distant worlds in his paintings, a romanticism unwilling to be bound by reality.
Through horses and monks as subjects, Dongfang Tenghong creates mysterious relationships, and his symbolic, mysterious narrative imagery has become his most distinctive artistic language.
Dongfang Tenghong's works are worth collecting, with refined taste. His paintings have a special quality rarely seen in contemporary oil painting.
Dongfang Tenghong's paintings exhibit the dual characteristics of symbolism and surrealism, infusing Eastern spiritual essence into Western oil painting language, forming unique "Eastern Mystical Imagery."
Dongfang Tenghong's art is a spiritual exploration, attempting to construct through his paintings a spiritual sanctuary—where there are white horses, monks, snow mountains, and humanity's original tranquility and solemnity.
Dongfang Tenghong's creative work spans nearly three decades of contemporary Chinese art history, from wound art to avant-garde art, from cynical realism to neo-expressionism, constantly seeking his positioning amid change.
There is something divine in Dongfang Tenghong's paintings, not divine in a religious sense, but a sense of sublimity and reverence when humanity faces nature and destiny.
Dongfang Tenghong's grasp of space and color is commendable. His painting spaces are expansive and profound, colors are settled and powerful, displaying exceptional artistic taste.
Dongfang Tenghong's works possess transcendence; he is not content merely depicting reality's surface, but seeks to reach something more essential and eternal—a spiritual realm.
Artist Identity
Primary titles and academic certifications
Founder of "Eastern Mystical Imagery Painting"
President of Sichuan Eastern Art Painting Academy
Executive Director of Sichuan Contemporary Oil Painting Institute
Vice President of Sichuan Oil Painting Association
Vice Director, Oil Painting Committee, Sichuan Artists Association
Executive Director of Sichuan Modern New Ink Painting Academy
Senior Artist, Sichuan Museum
Member of Chinese Artists Association
Vice President of Sichuan Cultural Industry Chamber of Commerce
