SEPTEMBER 2005--DAI SHUBIN
Lily Pietryka

Dear Friends of Mandarin Fine Art:

I am sad to share with all of you that one of our most talented and accomplished artists Mr. Shubin Dai died on August 14, 2005, of a failed liver transplant in Chongqing, China. He was 47 years old.

Mr. Dai graduated from the Chinese Art Institute, which is the most prestigious art institute in China, in 1986. He was a member of the Chinese Artists Association -- the most exclusive and privileged artist association in Mainland China. His oil and watercolor paintings won many national competitions and prizes and are widely collected and published in China as well as in Canada, U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and South East Asia.

His paintings "The Fence" and "Looking Back" were his most treasured and proud pieces. They are part of the Tibetan collections of Mandarin Fine Art Gallery.

The Fence	Looking Back	The Girl with the Red Scarf

Mr. Dai lived with his wife Cao Liu in Lhasa, Tibet. Ms. Liu is also an oil artist. Her "The Girl with the Red Scarf" is also part of our Tibetan collections. I was very much shocked and saddened by the news, and could only imagine how Cao felt about Mr. Dai's tragic death. When I spoke to her a few days after his death, she tried to sound strong but I knew she was struggling with what had happened. "I can't believe it all happened. He went so quickly. I watched him deteriorate and slip away... There was nothing I could do to stop that.... It all happened within a month's time. I still can't believe it. I wake up in the morning or middle of the night, I still wait for him to come home..."

Cao met Shubin six years ago when she was 21 years old and they were married last year. "Painting and Shubin were all I had and all I knew in life for 6 years. Now he is gone, I do not know how to go on with my life."

I ordered some paintings from Mr. Dai a month before his death. When I inquired about those paintings, Cao said: "There are really not many pieces of his paintings left. I do not want to let go of them now. I want to hold on to them." I fully understand and respect her wish.

The picture below was taken at their studio when I was in Tibet the past April. The person on the right is Mr. Dai, the person on the left is the author.

Let's keep Cao in our thoughts and prayers and hope she will be strong and go on and succeed with her personal and artistic pursuits in life.

Lily Pietryka