Home
» City specials
» Hangzhou
Late artist featured at major exhibit
By Xu Wenwen |
November 23, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IF you miss me, go and appreciate my paintings" was something Wu Guanzhong, the father of modern Chinese art who died in June, said often.
Last Saturday, "East Meets West - Wu Guanzhong's Retrospective Exhibition," the largest solo exhibition of Wu's art, was held at Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou. More than 10,000 people went to appreciate his paintings on the first day of the show.
Wu, who was admired as a forward-looking artist for fusing Western modernism and traditional Chinese painting, long ago vowed to donate his best works to public museums rather than sell them to private collectors as he wanted "to allow more people to appreciate them."
The exhibition features about 350 paintings by Wu from seven museums in Asia. They are National Art Museum of China, National Art Gallery of Singapore, Shanghai Art Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Palace Museum, Beijing Luxun Museum and Zhejiang Art Museum.
Despite the hefty prices of his paintings, Wu has donated more than 370 paintings to museums during his lifetime. Considering the artist had burnt many pieces he was not satisfied with, many of the featured pieces at the retrospective show are considered masterpieces. Earlier this month, the number of paintings slated to go on exhibit was around 300, but Wu's oldest son, Wu Keyu, donated an extra 48 sketches and three manuscripts.
The Zhejiang Art Museum used all of its space for the exhibition, hanging paintings in elevators and in stairwells.
The pieces were created between 1954 and 2010, and arranged by time sequence. The exhibition is divided into three periods: 1919-1976, 1997-1999, and 2000-2010.
Wu formed different styles during different periods.
In early age, he formed his own ideas about modern Western art and adopted a representative style. In his middle age, he began to combine Western watercolors and Chinese ink painting techniques. Finally, he started combining ink and oil painting techniques.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Wu changed his style from representation to semi-abstraction, and in his late years, Wu drew completely abstract works.
In all of his late work, objective representation lost its importance and Wu focused on the beauty of abstract forms, lines, colors and subtle ink tones.
For instance, three works brought by Hong Kong Museum of Art - "Two Swallows" created in 1981, "Former Residence of Qiu Jin" in 1988, and "Reminiscence of Jiangnan" in 1996 - depict Wu's artistic trail.
Although the three works are all about southern China's buildings with white walls and black eaves, the oldest one is realistic, and the "Former Residence of Qiu Jin" features semi-abstraction, while in the "Reminiscence of Jiangnan" created in his late years, natural scenery is reduced to its essentials - simple but powerful abstract forms.
Like Van Gough, Wu suffered much in his life, especially during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Still, it didn't kill his passion for art. Instead, it inspired him to create more and donate most of his works to public museums.
For many years, the Wu family lived in a small house. Some wealthy individuals offered to buy the artist a lavish home in exchange for one of his paintings.
"My father said no because he had no need for material things. His only need was to work and paint," says Wu Keyu.
In the 1990s, when Wu's works started to increase in value, the artist finally bought an apartment around 100 square meters. True to form, his plan was to use the bedroom as his studio.
"Many don't understand my father. Hearing his name, many people talk about how much his paintings are worth," Wu Keyu says. "But after touring the exhibition, I hope people can understand what kind of an artist my father was."
Date: through December 25 (closed on Mondays)
Address: 138 Nanshan Rd, Zhejiang Art Museum
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
Last Saturday, "East Meets West - Wu Guanzhong's Retrospective Exhibition," the largest solo exhibition of Wu's art, was held at Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou. More than 10,000 people went to appreciate his paintings on the first day of the show.
Wu, who was admired as a forward-looking artist for fusing Western modernism and traditional Chinese painting, long ago vowed to donate his best works to public museums rather than sell them to private collectors as he wanted "to allow more people to appreciate them."
The exhibition features about 350 paintings by Wu from seven museums in Asia. They are National Art Museum of China, National Art Gallery of Singapore, Shanghai Art Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Palace Museum, Beijing Luxun Museum and Zhejiang Art Museum.
Despite the hefty prices of his paintings, Wu has donated more than 370 paintings to museums during his lifetime. Considering the artist had burnt many pieces he was not satisfied with, many of the featured pieces at the retrospective show are considered masterpieces. Earlier this month, the number of paintings slated to go on exhibit was around 300, but Wu's oldest son, Wu Keyu, donated an extra 48 sketches and three manuscripts.
The Zhejiang Art Museum used all of its space for the exhibition, hanging paintings in elevators and in stairwells.
The pieces were created between 1954 and 2010, and arranged by time sequence. The exhibition is divided into three periods: 1919-1976, 1997-1999, and 2000-2010.
Wu formed different styles during different periods.
In early age, he formed his own ideas about modern Western art and adopted a representative style. In his middle age, he began to combine Western watercolors and Chinese ink painting techniques. Finally, he started combining ink and oil painting techniques.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Wu changed his style from representation to semi-abstraction, and in his late years, Wu drew completely abstract works.
In all of his late work, objective representation lost its importance and Wu focused on the beauty of abstract forms, lines, colors and subtle ink tones.
For instance, three works brought by Hong Kong Museum of Art - "Two Swallows" created in 1981, "Former Residence of Qiu Jin" in 1988, and "Reminiscence of Jiangnan" in 1996 - depict Wu's artistic trail.
Although the three works are all about southern China's buildings with white walls and black eaves, the oldest one is realistic, and the "Former Residence of Qiu Jin" features semi-abstraction, while in the "Reminiscence of Jiangnan" created in his late years, natural scenery is reduced to its essentials - simple but powerful abstract forms.
Like Van Gough, Wu suffered much in his life, especially during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Still, it didn't kill his passion for art. Instead, it inspired him to create more and donate most of his works to public museums.
For many years, the Wu family lived in a small house. Some wealthy individuals offered to buy the artist a lavish home in exchange for one of his paintings.
"My father said no because he had no need for material things. His only need was to work and paint," says Wu Keyu.
In the 1990s, when Wu's works started to increase in value, the artist finally bought an apartment around 100 square meters. True to form, his plan was to use the bedroom as his studio.
"Many don't understand my father. Hearing his name, many people talk about how much his paintings are worth," Wu Keyu says. "But after touring the exhibition, I hope people can understand what kind of an artist my father was."
Date: through December 25 (closed on Mondays)
Address: 138 Nanshan Rd, Zhejiang Art Museum
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
