Karl Bang

Karl Bang was born in 1935 in Bong Ka, Shanghai. His father was a famous commercial artist. Karl’s neighbor and friend was also a remarkable painter who studied the European traditions of painting in France and Belgium. Naturally, Carl began painting at an early age and his work was strongly influenced by Western and traditional Chinese style.
During Mao Tse-tung’s Cultural Revolution in China, Karl was obligated to paint only the propaganda images the government demanded him to paint. However, in 1984 he was allowed to emigrate to the United States, where Karl was free to paint his one heart’s passion – beautiful women, goddesses, and the feminine archetype – from various races and cultures. This central theme to all of Karl Bang’s work is exquisitely developed and refined in each of his images. For Karl, painting women goes much deeper than their outer beauty. He sees women as epitomizing the gentler instincts of humankind – nurturing, gentility, truth, and inner strength.