Here we offer the largest selection of original hand-made Chinese paintings and other art works on the internet. Hundreds of affordable, high quality Chinese fine arts by accomplished artists are ready for your selection. All of them are entirely hand-painted by up-and-coming Chinese artists living in China or overseas. A majority of the paintings offered are from artists we visit and work with on a regular basis. We maintain long-term relations with them and select the highest quality copies for the market. All copies are hand-painted and we do not offer prints of any kind or "factory-made" paintings.

Most of our paintings are shipped to you rolled. Smaller sized paintings may be shipped flat. Unless noted, all our ink paintings have been flattened, pressed, double backed (mounted on paper) and are ready for matting and framing. Please look at each paintings individual page for more details. Oil paintings are shipped rolled and ready for stretching. Services such as stretching or framing are optional as requested.

Although the Chinese hanging scroll format is very traditional in the eyes of westerners, we highly recommend framing all ink paintings under glass (smaller paintings) or acrylic (medium to large size paintings) for protection from damage. Displaying a painting in the hanging scroll format for extended periods of time, even for a few days may expose the painting to damaging amounts of dust, humidity, and other natural elements that will in a short period of time cause damage to the painting. The hanging scroll format is mainly used by collectors as a method to store a painting safely. The scroll is then unrolled to show the painting to friends & other collectors or hung for special occasions only. In China, scrolls are frequently hung in temples and public places but only when there is not a concern about the painting or calligraphy work being soiled and damage.

Dimensions listed are for the actual image area of a painting. If an ink painting is mounted with silk brocade borders, both the paintings actual image size, and its size with the silk borders will be listed on the paintings individual page. For instance: Actual Painting Size: 27" x 52", Painting Size with Silk Brocade Borders: 33" x 62". Oil on canvas paintings typically has 1" to 2" white borders so the actual canvas size of a 24" x 36" oil painting with its white borders may be 28" x 40".

Unless noted, each ink & oil painting purchased includes a Certificate of Authenticity, which notifies the painting picture, name of the artist, and other relevant information.

There are two main types of rice paper - Raw and Sized. The Raw paper, also known as Shuen is the thinner of the two, smoother and very absorbent. Sized paper is a bit thicker, textured on the painting surface and will not bleed. The different types are used for different purposes. Regardless of the type, all Chinese painting paper is very thin and special care should be used when mounting and framing.

Most but not all Chinese brushes are made from natural animal hairs. Brushes come in all shapes and sizes for different purposes. The range extends from hard fine-tipped points for intricate detail to soft broad ends for washing background. Some artists will even move astray from the conventional brush and use techniques such as finger painting, splattering, and daubing to produce different textures and visual effects. When all is said and done, it is not how the ink or color has got there, but how it affects the overall painting.

All of the colors are water soluble. Most vibrant colors are derived from either mineral or vegetable pigment. A mineral such as chalk or part of a plant such as red sandalwood is ground up and mixed with a binding agent to produce either a dry color chip or a ready-to-use color liquid. Other contemporary color tones such as ultra marine blue and copper green are man made.

All of our oil paintings are entirely hand painted by Chinese artists too. All of our oil paintings are painted on canvas using traditional Western oil paints and brushes. Many of our oil paintings are original works or original creations but some may be copied by the original artist, or inspired from other Chinese artists and prominent works of art (traditional Chinese and Western oil paintings of the late 18th-20th century as well as works done by contemporary artists).

Painting on silk goes back to ancient times. Its strength, durability, and texture make it a suitable for painting on with ink, color and other water-soluble media. The drawback of silk is that it is much more expensive than rice paper or linen canvas. Most contemporary Chinese artists paint on paper and not silk and most silk paintings available today are copies of older painting and not originals. Silk is an ideal material to print on, so many modern silk paintings are a combination of machine printing and hand painting. We typically do not offer paintings on silk.

Each calligraphy work offered is hand-painted. Some single word calligraphy are created by the artists in limited quantities therefore the actual calligraphy piece you receive may be slightly different than what is displayed on the web site.

We attempt to offer background information about our artists. If we have information for a specific artist, an artists link will be provided on a paintings individual page or for information regarding the artist of any painting we offer, please e-mail us for details. Office(At)Chinese5Art.com

We attempt as much as possible to translate all of the written characters & seals a painting might have whether it be as simple as the authors signature or as complex as a poem. However, characters do not always translate into English word for word. For poems and other written artistically written expressions we feel in translating the characters the original intent and meaning would be misguiding or even lost. In other instances there are characters and seals that are simply untranslatable.

Unless noted, all of our paintings are contemporary. Many of the paintings are undated or dated using the old Chinese calendar. In most cases we can estimate a paintings completion date based on the date we acquired it from the artist.

The cultures of China and other East Asian countries are rich in symbolism and art motifs. We like to provide information on various symbols, figures etc…In some paintings, we feel there isnt any explanation needed.

All of our paintings are in excellent condition and ready to frame but we post the below facts to avoid any misunderstandings.

Rice Paper Paintings

All of our paintings are rolled and properly backed for mounting and framing. Because of rice papers thinness, there are some minor details to expect when receiving a painting: 1) Many Chinese artists fold their paintings after completion. Even though all our rice paper paintings are flattened and backed, some folds and hairline creases may be slightly visible due to prolonged folding and/or ink rubbing on the creases, and/or paint flaking off a fold. Most fold lines cannot be seen from normal viewing distances or even upon close inspection. 2) Some of the corners and edges might be mildly creased and/or torn. These can easily be cut or matted out or may only be visible with close inspection. 3) The absorbency of rice paper in some instance causes minor color variations. This may be unnoticeable on the pictures we post, but noticeable if examined closely with the naked eye. Drips of water and/or ink can cause a "rain drop" effect, bleeding or other variations. This is not a result of a mistake or mishandling, but rather the result of the artist working on such sensitive paper. In other words, its part of the art. 4) With some paintings, a lot of water is used during the painting process. With time light brown water spots or water outlines may become visible. Once again, its part of the art. 5) The mounting of a Chinese painting is a wet process. When wet, the painting is attached to a backing paper for added strength and to flatten the painting and remove major imperfections and folds in the paper. Once mounted there may be small imperfections such as minor surfaces hairline creases and other variations that are usually not visible after framing and viewed from normal viewing distances. Our Chinese paintings are fine art on paper thus natural imperfections do occur. This is all part of the Chinese painting experience. 6) Tears in the painting. Unmounted Chinese paper is fragile and easy to rip. Most tears are small and occur during the painting process by the artist. Small tears in the painting paper are not uncommon and most are not visible after the mounting and framing process. If you have any questions about certain paintings condition, please email or call us and well pull the painting and inspect it for you. Office (At) Chinese5Art.com Oil Paintings Condition Oils painted on canvas is much more durable than rice paper paintings. Regardless, if there were any "major" imperfections, we will mention them on the paintings individual information page. If you have any questions regarding a specific painting or have any questions or comments please drop us an email. Office (At) Chinese5Art.com