Walasse Ting was born in China in 1929 and grew up in Shanghai, about 125 kilometres away. He studied for a short time at the Shanghai Art Academy before leaving China in 1946 for Hong Kong, where he exhibited a few watercolours at a local bookstore. In 1950, he travelled to France and arrived in Paris with little money and no connections. For six years, he lived as a struggling artist, taking in the city and discovering Western art for the first time, especially Expressionism and Picasso’s work. The Belgian artist Pierre Alechinsky, who found Ting sleeping on bare boards in a small attic, became an important influence and a lifelong friend.

Ting moved to New York in 1958, during the peak of Abstract Expressionism. He became friends with American artist Sam Francis, and the movement deeply influenced his art. In New York, unlike in Paris, Ting was able to paint and sell his work. His paintings from this time often featured bold, dripping strokes and were mostly poetic abstractions, similar to the style of Zao Wou-ki, a Chinese artist based in Paris.

Walasse Ting’s paintings of women, flowers, birds, and animals are known for their freshness, energy, and bright colours. His unique style creates a vivid, inviting world that celebrates the beauty of nature and appeals to anyone who shares his love for it.

In the 1970s, Ting developed his signature style, using Chinese calligraphic brushstrokes for outlines and filling large areas with bright acrylic colours. Later, he lived in both New York and Amsterdam, and, like Gauguin, often travelled to Tahiti to find the vibrant colours that inspired his art. After a severe brain haemorrhage in 2002, he could no longer continue his artistic work. He was moved from Amsterdam to New York where he passed away at the age of 80.

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