The use of photos for subjects led some to put Han in the photo-realist school. The use of points of paint to compose an image led others to call him a "neoimpressionist."
透過相機取材，使得韓湘寧被列入紐約七○年代風行的「照相寫實」隊伍；而點描的畫法，又有人將之歸諸承續秀拉以來的「新印象派」。