Andrew Lui

Abstract artist Andrew Lui's ethereal work is rooted in history; that of his own in China and the world around him. Influenced by both the fluid lines and vivid colours of the French impressionist, Matisse and early Western abstract artists such as Kandinsky, Lui spent decades exploring both the agony and ecstasy of life through his paintings.

Originally from Canton, China, Andrew Lui (1951-2021) moved to Canada in 1972. His work integrates formal lessons learned from early Western abstract painting with his own personal and social lived experience. An artist, an intellectual, an art dealer, a master calligrapher, an architect, a poet, a businessman, a philosopher, he embraced his liminal position and fused both cultures in his art, as well as in his life.

Born in Guangzhou, China, Lui participated in the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a member of the Red Guard but escaped to Hong Kong in 1970. Making his way to Toronto, Lui studied at the Ontario College of Art before traveling to the UK, and Italy. His painting career started in the early 1980s and his work is now internationally exhibited. Lui is represented in multiple public, corporate and private collections in Canada, Europe and China: Musée d'art contemporain, Musée de Dijon, France, L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, Pallazo Strozzi, Florence, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke, Grimsby Art Gallery, Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Stratford, Stratford, Coburg Art Gallery, Rodman Hall Art Centre, Canadiana Foundation (Art Collection of Governor General of Canada). He is part of a large number of private and corporate collections, including HSBC of Canada, DKNY and Sun Life Insurance.