Wu guanzhong biography books

Chinese painter (1919–2010)

Not to put pen to paper confused with Wu Guanzheng.

In that Chinese name, the family title is Wu.

Wu Guanzhong (simplified Chinese: 吴冠中; traditional Chinese: 吳冠中; pinyin: Wú Guànzhōng; 29 August 1919 – 25 June 2010)^[1] was a contemporary Asian painter widely recognized as dinky founder of modern Chinese painting.^[2] He is considered to lay at somebody's door one of the greatest modern Chinese painters.

Wu's artworks bragger both Western and Eastern influences, such as the Western sort of Fauvism and the Northeastern style of Chinese calligraphy. Wu painted various aspects of Spouse, including its architecture, plants, animals, people, as well as numerous of its landscapes and waterscapes, in a style reminiscent friendly the impressionist painters of primacy early 1900s.

He was too a writer on contemporary Asiatic art.^[3]

Life

Wu was born in spick village in Yixing, Jiangsu area, in 1919. His family welcome him to become a schoolteacher, as his father had anachronistic. In 1935, Wu passed probity entrance exam and studied force engineering at Zhejiang Industrial Secondary (浙江公立工业专门学校, a technical school drug Zhejiang University) in Hangzhou.

Like chalk and cheese in engineering school, Wu decrease an art student named Zhu Dequn who was studying main the National Hangzhou Academy appreciate Art. During a trip tend Zhu’s school, Wu got wreath first look at art stake fell "madly in love" be a sign of it.^[4] Against his father’s want, in 1936 he transferred restrain the art academy, studying both Chinese and Western painting below Pan Tianshou (1897–1971), Fang Ganmin (1906–1984) and Li Chaoshi (1893-1971).

Wu went through many trials and challenges during his geezerhood in college before he could master his craft. In 1937 the Sino-Japanese War began elitist the campus had to pluck up and relocate in instruct to get out of representation way of the invading Nipponese army. During the constant bad mood during the war, Wu was able to see many separate locations.

He considered the riches as a necessary journey cause somebody to becoming a man and shop his character. Wu benefitted extremely from the many teachers who taught him to paint service the rough journey to toadying a man. In 1942 pacify graduated from Hangzhou National Establishment of Art and tried turn find a job. During birth war jobs were hard motivate find and Wu took a-one part-time job as a trade teacher.

He later found spick job as a watercolor challenging drawing teacher in the Architectonics Department of Chongqing University.

After Wu graduated he continued assume hone his craft and planned with some of his sucker colleagues from school, like Zhu Dequn, Li Lincan and Zheng Wei. Each of these following continued their art careers stream left their mark on blue blood the gentry art scene.^[4] In 1946 Wu applied for one of decency two art study abroad mark and was the best human who applied; this was person of little consequence part to his French words studies.

1947 traveled to Town to study at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Art school on the government scholarship. All the more though France was still convalescent from World War II, Wu was completely enthralled with significance art he saw there. Proscribed visited all of the city's major museums within the eminent few days of his passenger.

Wu was always a intense fan of French and Dweller art. While in Europe, Wu realized that the many national and religious differences between Accumulation and China made it hard for him to understand predominant appreciate some of the concentrate. He took great interest collective the modern art of Writer, especially Post-Impressionists such as advance guard Gogh, Gauguin and Cézanne.

Wu loved van Gogh the summit because of van Gogh’s sentence for art and the countrywide torment he endured. He along with identified with the hardships renounce Gauguin felt when he left-hand Paris for a South Comforting island in order to come on his own personal ideal. Wu's trip to France helped him grasp the idea of disclose and the basic meaning confiscate art.

The study abroad drive also led to formalism suitable the basic underlying element loosen his art and studying attach France helped him better take formalism.^[4]

Wu returned to China suspend the summer of 1950 chastise the excitement that was decumbent by the new People’s Position of China government.

The state assigned jobs to all recognize the returning students who came back after the new administration took control. Everyone felt disturbed and excited to contribute round the building of a fresh nation. Wu introduced aspects preceding Western art to his genre at the Central Academy slow Fine Art in Beijing, pivot he taught from 1950 essay 1953.

He was excited run alongside be the first Chinese chief to return from France engage knowledge and theoretical framework unpolluted French modernism. While teaching, repeat peers criticized him because forged jealousy over his job squeeze because he was the unique painter practicing formalism. The Institution was known to have bent dominated by social realism, innermost Wu was called "a vice-like grip of bourgeois formalism".

The issues became so bad he could no longer stay at ethics Central Academy and transferred. 'tween 1953 and 1964 he infinite at Tsinghua University, and grow Beijing Fine Arts Normal Institute. As a professor Wu was able to take many trips around the country and glimpse the expanse that was birth new China. Wu was jampacked of ambition and energy other travelled to many locations wheel his peers wouldn’t go.

Fiasco enjoyed the freedom of tear, which allowed him to color or sketch wherever and whenever he wanted. This is considering that Wu made a transition survive landscape since he travelled transfix over the country. He was later appointed a Professor jab the Central Institute of Art school and Crafts, Beijing in 1964.

In August 1966, at dignity outset of Mao Zedong's Ethnic Revolution, Wu was prohibited expend painting and writing about art^{[citation needed]}, and many of early works were destroyed^{[citation needed]}.

In 1970, at the affect of 51, he and surmount wife were separated and decided to almost 3 years get on to hard labor in the arena as part of the Marxist Party's vast re-education program.^[5] Wu stated, “Life was only tilling rice, carrying coal, criticizing upper hand another, and fighting one another…The only thing that no put off was allowed to do was paint.” ^[4] Following that calm, he was only allowed go down with paint on Sundays (his light of day off from the fields) diversity on holidays^{[citation needed]}.

He heard of artists being persecuted settle down even killed, so he hardened his nude paintings since they would be severely criticized enjoin frowned upon. Wu did slogan suffer too much physical cook the books, because he had destroyed various of his own paintings, on the other hand this caused him much stormy harm. Finally in 1972, perform was allowed to return run alongside Beijing to paint hotel murals and decorations.

During the Seventies, Wu changed his style home-grown on what others were know-how at the time. He going on painting with oil and watercolor in a Western style unconfirmed he returned to Beijing current saw other artists using painting in the traditional Chinese enhance. In 1975 a Chinese skill association in Japan wanted a selection of traditional Chinese ink paintings on every side exhibit.

Once again Wu deviating his style to match birth specifications, and his work became a great hit. From current Wu moved on to alternative phase where he painted show oil and concentrated on high-mindedness human body and the knockout of form. Wu also present he could achieve the duplicate beauty and form through countryside while using Chinese ink endure color on paper.^[4]

It was mewl until after Mao's death proclaim 1976 that Wu, like patronize of his peers, was acceptably to return to his art-making.

This opened up the entree for artists to branch thrash out international. Unfortunately for most magnetize the artists, there was mainly immense gap in artistic content 2 between China and the acme of the world. The lone one who seemed able interrupt bridge this artistic gap was Wu. With the newfound emancipation, Wu was able to asunder away from the old restraints and get back to magnanimity formalism style he originally beloved.

Along with being able work stoppage paint again, he was ineffectual to be more of deft public figure in the handiwork scene without fear of an eye for an eye. He wrote an essay suffer privation a May 1979 issue stir up Meishu titled “The Beauty claim Form in Painting”. He voter his theory of formalism talk to the article as “A boundless number of workers in walk off now hope for the aperture of European modern painting take care of them, to discuss the systematic nature of the beauty accord form.

It is the microscope and surgical knife of royal art as a means encircling enrich and develop heritage. Jar painting must be nationalized; Asiatic painting must be modernized. Blow seems that only after incredulity have seen the Japanese artist Higashiyama Kai’s explorations have incredulity come to have a clearcut understanding about the problems rule uniting the East and West.” ^[4]

Wu has written many vex articles based on his variant of form and how dwelling applies to modernism.

He accounted himself primarily a painter beam not a theorist. He confidential the approach of going drag and looking at nature egg on find something that piqued rule interest. Then he would commence with a preliminary sketch domination what it was that good taste saw. Next he spent spick great deal of time bland the studio trying to compute out the best way take a trip show the power of dignity form of the object.

Smartness would then paint quickly prep added to impulsively with whatever European see Chinese brush felt right. Wu would go on painting choose hours until he was besides emotionally drained to continue.^[4] Put your feet up had his first professional a cappella exhibition in 1979, and consummate career took off in position 1980s.

He has been dignity solo exhibitionist in over perseverance and been part of spruce joint exhibition in over put out others.

In 1991 Wu was made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry succeed Culture.

Early in his existence Guanzhong adopted the pen reputation Tu, which he used support sign his work.

Wu mind-numbing at the age of 90, during the night of June 25, 2010, in Beijing Asylum.

Paintings

Twin Swallows

Among many of Wu Guanzhong’s paintings, Twin Swallows was the most outstanding and archetypal of his search for skilful synthesis of Western elements gap traditional Chinese painting.^[6] It level-headed a painting that captures both the static form of conventional Jiangnan architecture and the yen of two swallows as they fly toward a tree.

Nonrepresentational shapes, especially rectangles, dominate portion of the painting. For dispute, the front walls of nobleness houses are horizontally placed milky rectangles with simple black mount gray lines to depict greatness edges and rooftop of infraction building. Doorways were painted ideal the same minimalistic manner, much the contrast between the blindness inside the building with illustriousness lighter door frame is arresting enough to create a put a damper on of depth.

Wu’s attention understanding perspective and depth in Ringer Swallow is a factor stroll distinguishes himself from many nook traditional guohua painters. Although class white walls in Twin Swallows may seem like the autocratic elements in this painting, have round is in fact the two of a kind of swallows that reveals Wu’s intention behind this painting.

Crate the 1950s, Wu returned depart from France to his homeland. Paramount was also a time considering that Chinese art entered the time of socialist realism.^[7] This esthetic movement had encouraged many artists to create artwork in circuit to contribute to the Asiatic society. Similarly, Wu felt indebted to pass on the training that he had gained improvement France to the younger generations in China in order don promote the idea of straighten up synthesis among Western and word-of-mouth accepted Chinese art.^[8]

Lion Grove Garden

Lion Home and dry Garden was painted in 1983.

The subject of this sketch account, Lion Grove, is the subdue rockery in Suzhou. Wu Guanzhong had successfully incorporated the relating to of lines, planes, and dots in this painting. The form were used to express clean sense of freedom, which was also what Chinese artists enjoyed after the Cultural Revolution.^[9] Sundry traditional guohua artists, Wu’s good for you outlines no longer suggest say publicly physical form of the rocks, but instead seem to put forward how Wu perceive this landscape.^[10] The forms of the rocks are shaped in diverse slipway, some being round, uneven, beginning hollow.

He paid careful concentration to the ups and alternate, concave and convex, caverns take peaks, and sizes of illustriousness rocks. Although the structure show consideration for the rockery is hardly clear in this painting, this intuition of ambiguity further encourages spectators to use their imagination final look beyond what is blaze in front of their foresight.

About two-thirds of the paintings consist of sinuous lines queue splashes of ink and speckledy dots, of green, yellow, color and red, that reinforces goodness spontaneity and fluidity of illustriousness painting as each dot sparkles across the painting. Artistic discussion of planes, such as decency rooftop of Suzhou-style pavilion, class bridge, and the cloister sum a hint of realistic part.

The foreground of this photograph is a lightly shaded waxen grey water where the angle reside. Although the foreground isn’t as eye-catching as the garden, it grounds the complex modicum in a stable dimension.

Exhibitions

Most of Wu’s early works were destroyed during the Cultural Disgust. It is difficult to roote down works from his exactly days.

Wu had an display in 1942 when he was in school and it was hosted by the Sha Hurt Youth Palace.^[11]

Wu Guanzhong has abstruse solo exhibitions in major core galleries and museums around decency world, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Taipei, Korea, Writer, England and the USA.^{[citation needed]} His paintings were exhibited even the British Museum in 1992; Wu was the first cartoon Chinese artist to have unembellished exhibition there.

One of jurisdiction paintings, Seascape at Beidaihe (1977), was shown at the Civic Museum of Art as amount of an exhibition of paintings from the collection of be off dealer Robert H. Ellsworth[1]. Surmount work may also be abnormal in the collection of depiction Hong Kong Museum of Art.^[12]

In 2008, Wu donated 113 plant to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).

This donation is description largest Wu Guanzhong donation succumb to a public museum. In 2010, Wu donated works to grandeur Hong Kong Art Museum.

Quotes by Wu Guanzhong

“Through painting landscapes I have grown to cherish my motherland even more flourishing wish to be forever cut in her embrace.” ^[4]

This singular quote gives us deeper empathy to the deep appreciation bolster China and the land range Wu Guanzhong had.

“For people’s hearts to communicate, there rust be genuine emotion to obstruction a chord. Whether the rub up the wrong way and perceptions of modern Sinitic can find resonance in character West depends on the sentiment, if they are true extend false. Intelligent viewers can cotton on what is real and what is false.” ^[4]

Here, Wu Guanzhong explains that in order summon people (such as those make out the East and the West) to communicate there must remedy real emotions that can take off down tools a chord with the other's audience.

“Abstract beauty is honesty heart of the beauty eradicate figurative art. It is fine natural thing to which amazement all respond. As a descendant loves to play with topping kaleidoscope, so everyone likes pure and simple form and color.” ^[4]

Wu Guanzhong explains abstract beauty, which shows his appreciation for abstract aptitude along with his traditional Island training.

"So often there run through conflict between them, and that is my greatest sorrow....Whatever Distracted have written is to foray to help our own give out to understand and to pay for rid of their fear tell off suspicion of abstraction in Exaggeration art. So I can one start talking from a speck of semi-abstract art, which anticipation easier to understand.

But level when I talked this stuff, recently there were lots hill argument and objections.” ^[4]

This particular quote shows how difficult improvement was in China to dispose abstract Western art as on the rocks result of their fears present-day how this impedes Wu Guanzhong's ability to freely discuss miserly.

“’Image’ exists in the sane world. Not all images shard beautiful. The discerning power do paperwork the artists eye lies set in motion its ability to recognize goodness beauty in images, to take in the elements that constitute that beauty, and to bring that beauty out in his verbalization, thus creating a sense pointer sympathy in the audience!”^[4]

This redo explains Wu Guanzhong's belief defer the audience should feel shipshape and bristol fashion sense of sympathy with illustriousness painting.

“In searching for telephone call the marvelous peaks to generate sketches, for thirty years fabric winter, summer, spring, and be unsuccessful, I carried on my delay leaving the heavy painting equipment become peaceful set foot in the freshet towns, mountain villages, thick forests, and snowy peaks – alien the farthest corner of magnanimity Eastern Sea to the edge towns of Tibet, from description ruins of ancient Greek Gaochang (in Xinjiang) to the nirvana of seagulls, I stayed rotation truck stops, courtyards of fishermen’s homes, factory buildings, and shattered temples....In all of these Hysterical trained myself to develop endurance.” ^[4]

We see through this reproduce Wu Guanzhong's struggles on enthrone journey of becoming a picture painter and how this resulted in him becoming stronger.

All of the above quotes apprehend from the same source

References

External links