Portrait 78-1, 1978 Oil on canvas, 100 x 75 cm. Private Collection, USA

INTRODUCTION TO MONGOLIAN ARTIS CHAOLUN BAATAR

By Mary Ann Hurst

This past year, as the recipient of "Special talent" visa status. Baatar will have the opportunity to bring his art to North American. Trained in European traditional oil painting methods in the Minority College, Central Fine Arts Academy Oil painting Department of Beijing,China. Chaolun Baatar received a solid foundation in the use of color, chiaroscuro, and other techniques of European masters.

His early works hearken to an old-world sensibility - oils paintings of pasture , country roads, fall foliage, portrait studies of elderly Chinese, ethnic minorities,young woman. At a certain point, his works took a determinedly Refuge in the marsh 1996, oil on canvas 162x130 cm. Mongolian view of the world . His most interesting works, in this author's mind,are semi-abstract images suggesting Mongolian interpretations of life -elongated white camels surrounding a yurt; red-clothed female figures hidden,except for the eyes,among yardage of clothing with the vast Mongolian grasslands stretching in the dist- ance behind; the skeleton of a yurt being prepared for its felt cloth covering; images of Genghis Khan riding straight-ahead at the viewer on horseback. Idealized images of Genghis Khan sometimes eerily evoked through the rendering of a face delineated among blended color and blurred background-suggest the power and magnitude of the Genghis Khan's,reign,and the pride of the Mongolian race.

Baatar regales visitors with historical feats of Genghis Khan,a current theme throughout much of his work. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum in Inner Mongolia is decorated by a fresco/mural painted by Baatar entitled The Gods' Favored One. Baatar makes his personal social statements. Though perturbed by the Han treatment of his minority, he maintains an evenhanded, positive mental attitude. Banter with his delightfully fetching personality, maintains be water working away at the stone . He has slowly worked his way to the west, via his art, to be a vocal proponent for the life and culture of Mongolia. Banter has, and continues to, experiment with many styles.

He is ever-evolving, always trying a new method to catch his Mongolian vision in his 2 - D medium. Once a style is gone, it is not repeated ( except for specifically commissioned works). His present style seeks find acceptance from a more international audience:a Mongolian cowboy,rendered in pink and purple hues, riding on horseback with hat down, could easily be the Marlboro Man painted by a Taos artist. A youthful blond in western clothing superimposed over a traditional Mongolian woman buried in color bursts, nearly becomes lost in the abstract brushwork and one might ask where the Mongolian soul has flown. The answer lies in the process of years of work and the the " globalization" of the artist himself. Baatar, as with all good artist, continually seeks a new sense of sophistication. Now that he has been physically removed from his culture, he faces new experiences that push him to bring this new world into his work. Old methods are no longer suitable, so, for now U.S. Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s provides much of the impetus for his current work. Baatar's stated goal is to keep the greatness of the Mongolian past alive for today and future generations.

By Mary AnnHurst March 1993 Beijing

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