The Daly House Museum is pleased to present Brandon Heritage en Plein Air, an exhibition of works by celebrated landscape painter Weiming Zhao of Brandon ‘s historic landmarks.
Weiming Zhao is a Brandon Manitoba based artist who has practiced plein air painting on a daily basis for 18 years. Instead of painting in a studio setting, Weiming takes his easel right outdoor almost daily throughout the four seasons, rain or shine. He hones his painting skills and artistic observation by a very disciplined daily outdoor painting regimen. For the past 18 years, Weiming has never spent a single day without producing one outdoor painting, and has created an impressive portfolio of over 6 thousand paintings, and has had over 20 solo exhibitions. Besides painting on a daily basis, Weiming also taught adult painting class at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, and has also taught many workshops. His paintings are collected by people across Canada, China, the United States, England, Scotland and Russia. 14 of his paintings are in Manitoba Provincial Art Collection. The artwork to be displayed in Brandon Heritage en Plein Air is a selection of 40 paintings showcasing many Brandon heritage sites throughout the city of Brandon painted by Weiming en plein air over the past few years.
In Canadian art landscapes have always played a significant role and influence. The word landscape originated from the Dutch word landschap meaning “region” or “tract of land”. The word acquired the artistic connotation of a picture featuring scenery on land around the 16th century. In the late 20th century, the definition of landscape in art grew to include urban and architectural landscapes. The buildings featured in Weiming’ s paintings in the exhibit opening April 9, 2022 are fine examples of this genera of landscape art.
“We are extremely excited and honored that Weiming is sharing his works of art as the museum’s premier exhibit as we celebrate the 140th anniversary of our historic site and its topographical history.” said Eileen Trott, Daly House Museum Curator. “Weiming’ s paintings are themselves a part of the city’s topographical record highlighting the influence we have had on the local geography or landscape including how we relate to our community’s heritage and memories of those locations.”
Daly House Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 am to noon and 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm to view the exhibit.
