Cai Tiancong

Cai Tiancong (b.1975) is a professional artist and a member of the Fujian branch of the China Artists Association. Two monumental works in the history of Chinese painting, Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival from the Northern Song dynasty and Giuseppe Castiglione’s One Hundred Horses from the Qing dynasty, became the foundation for Cai’s ambitious reinterpretation. Over the course of several months, he recreated these masterpieces on a scale twice their original size, translating their imagery into the visual language of oil painting.

For Cai, the process was akin to a form of artistic discipline—a sustained practice through which he could experience firsthand the rhythm, structure, and spirit of these monumental compositions. Guided by a romantic yet deeply committed artistic conviction, he reconstructs the classical works with remarkable detail and vitality, giving familiar masterpieces a renewed visual presence while fulfilling a long-held artistic aspiration.