Daniel Wall

What do you get when you blend Impressionism, the best-loved painting mode of Western art history, with the 2,000-year-old artistic traditions of the East? The vibrant and original “Intense Impressionism” of Daniel Wall.

Leaping from the wall with all the optical power of bright reds and golds, Wall’s many-hued still life paintings, florals, iridescent butterflies, vibrant cityscapes, and celebrations of American icons such as the Statue of Liberty and Old Glory have delighted art lovers internationally.

Daniel is a proud United States citizen, but his journey to the US was a long and colorful one. Born in a remote Chinese village in 1965, at age 4 he started drawing using the sticks of chalk and pencils that his aunt gave him. He passed the highly competitive entrance examination to get a scholarship to the local teacher’s college when he was only 16, and then went on to study fine arts at the provincial university in Shandong. He found work as an illustrator and the arts editor of a magazine, a job that sharpened his skills as a graphic thinker.

In 1995, Wall and his wife arrived in the United States to pursue their graduate degrees. He earned a Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Georgia Southern University, but instead of pursuing a career in this field, he pursued his lifelong passion and became a full-time artist. He quickly gained an audience for his accessible and life-affirming works. He traveled widely to gather his subject matter and new ideas for painting.

Daniel, like so many others, was enchanted by Impressionism, in particular the irresistible art of Claude Monet. To demonstrate the brushstrokes and use of light, he would imitate Monet’s technique. He realized that the realistic colors that Monet used to match what he saw hour by hour in nature could be boosted in intensity, making them more attuned to the intensity of life in our own world today. Combining Monet’s reliance on the palette knife to apply oil paint and the “dry-brush” techniques that are part of the training in calligraphy that all Chinese artists pursue, Wall began painting in the high-toned, exciting style for which he is renowned today.

Wall’s paintings are characterized by bold, gestural brushstrokes and dramatic use of impasto, which he applies with the palette knife rather than brushes, down to the tiniest details. “I use different colors and different shaped trees to make my paintings colorful and beautiful to inspire people to appreciate the beauty of life,” Wall says. “I want the bright colors to inspire people to feel that every day is a good day.”