杨明义，江苏苏州人，毕业于苏州工艺美术专科学校，1981年就读中央美术学院。1987年赴美留学毕业于纽约青年艺术学生同盟。1999年回国，现居北京。国家一级美术师、中国美术家协会会员。现任文化部国韵文华书画院副院长，海华归画院副院长，清华大学吴冠中艺术研究艺术中心研究员，苏州大学客座教授，李可染画院研究员，对外经贸大学奢侈品研究中心高级顾问。
    他首创新一代风格的水墨水乡中国画，创造性地表现江南水乡的浓郁韵味，形成了鲜明、独特的个人画风，深得国内外艺术界的高度评价和广泛赞誉，影响巨大。自上世纪80年代以来，在国内外亚、美、欧各地举办个人画展近40次，出版各类画册、文集40余种。他的作品多次入选全国美展和国际上重要展览。
    1982年作品《江南渔村》、《白兰飘香》入选中国首次赴法国春季沙龙画展，1989年他创作的水墨画《杭州西湖》被选印成特种小型张邮票，在华盛顿举办的二十届世界邮政博览会和中国杭州同时发行。1978年因创作《水乡的节日》一画在写生中发现周庄，并把周庄介绍给世人，被评论界称誉为“发现周庄第一人”，获得周庄荣誉镇民的称号。中国美术馆、中国国家博物馆、人民大会堂、江苏省美术馆、苏州博物馆、纽约大都会艺术博物馆、伦敦大英帝国博物馆等诸多中外美术馆、美术学院和美国前总统布什和夫人社会名人等私人收藏家收藏了他的作品。2006年4月15日，在法国朗布依埃市博物馆举行的“巴黎•中国美术周”开幕式上，杨明义代表中国美术家代表团把他的江南水乡作品送给巴黎朗布依埃市市长。2008年《姑苏瑞雪夜》入选法国卢浮宫国际艺术沙龙展，经法国美术家协会严格评选荣获特别独立艺术家大奖。并将此画捐赠给自己的家乡苏州博物馆永久收藏。

　　YANG MINGYI was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu province and graduated from Suzhou Art & Design Technology Institute. In 1981, he studied in China Central Academy of Fine Arts and pursued advanced studies in America in 1987 and graduated from Art Students League of New York.
　　He went back to China in 1999 and is living in Beijing. He is not only a national first class artist, member of the China Artists Association but also the vice president of both the CCAPC of Ministry of Culture of PRC and Returnee Painting Academy, researcher of the WU GUANZHONG Arts Research Center, Tsinghua University and LI KERAN Painting Academy, guest professor of Soochow University, as well as the senior advisor of UIBE LUXURY CHINA.
　　Pioneering at Chinese ink and water countries painting, which express his creativity on the strong flavor of Jiangnan water countries and show his unique painting style, won him high appreciation and great reputation from both domestic and foreign art industry, and made enormous influence. Since the end of the 1980s, almost 40 personal art exhibitions have been held and over 40 kinds of albums of painting and collected works have been published, while his works have often been elected to show on national fine arts exhibition and international significant exhibitions.
　　His works finished in 1982 Jiangnan Fishing Village and Michelia Fragrance were chosen to represent China for the first time to show on the France Spring Saloon Art Exhibition. His ink painting Hangzhou West Lake produced in 1989 was printed as special small postage stamp and published at the 20th World Post Exhibition held in Washington as well as in Hangzhou, China at the same time. He discovered the beauty of Zhouzhuang in 1978 when he was painting Water Countries Festival and since then people knew this town, for which critics praised him as the First Person who discovered Zhouzhuang and for which he won the title of Zhouzhuang honorary citizenship. His works were collected by many domestic and foreign art museums such as National Art Museum of China, National Museum of China, Great Hall of the People, Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum, Suzhou Museum, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and British Museum, by numerous fine arts academies and by the former president of United States Bush and his wife, etc. On the opening ceremony of Paris•China Fine Arts Week held in Rambouillet, France on April 15, 2006, YANG MINGYI on behalf of Chinese Artists Group gave his work Jiangnan Water Countries to the mayor of Rambouillet city. His work Suzhou Snow Night was elected to show on the Louvre International Art Saloon Exhibition of France in 2008, and upon the strict election of France Artists Association, he was conferred the award of Special & Independent Artist who donated this painting Suzhou Snow Night to his hometown Suzhou Museum for permanent collection.