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Art is for viewing, says China veteran
By Wang Jie |
January 25, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE 90-year-old master of 20th-century Chinese painting, Wu Guanzhong (pictured above), has emerged into the public spotlight for a retrospective exhibition of his works at Shanghai Art Museum.
Although Wu was said to be in poor health due to a bout of influenza, he was enthusiastic about the show and lively in answering questions.
The exhibition - titled "Wu Guanzhong: Works from his donation to Museums" - features 160 pieces varying from oil and ink-wash paintings to sketches that had been donated by Wu to five museums, including Shanghai Art Museum, Singapore Art Museum and Hong Kong Art Museum. The exhibition ends on February 20.
Wu is one of the few Chinese artists to have established a reputation both in China and the West.He is revered internationally for his work but his long life has not always been without hardship.
Born in Yixing in the culturally rich Jiangsu Province in 1919, Wu enrolled in 1936 at the National Arts Academy of Hangzhou where he studied both Chinese and Western painting.
In 1947, he traveled on a government scholarship to Paris to expand his art knowledge at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts.
On returning to China in 1950, Wu began introducing Western art techniques and philosophy to his students at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing.
But the academy was dominated by a school of Soviet social realism and he was branded "a fortress of bourgeois formalism."
Refusing to conform to political dogma, he was transferred from one academy to another, but continued to develop his own style.
This distinctive style blended Western techniques of abstractionism with the result that his art was Chinese in outlook and modern in conception.
Wu was severely criticized during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) and was sent off to Hebei Province to do hard labor.
Ironically at the same time, Wu's peers such as Zao Wou-ki and Chu Teh-Chun were becoming widely known in Europe.
Consequently, his recognition and honors at home all came late in his career.
His work was exhibited at the British Museum in 1992, the first such honor for a living Chinese artist.
Q: Besides the 87 artworks donated to Shanghai Art Museum, why did you donate your other works to Singapore Art Museum and Hong Kong Art Museum?
A: An artist has his or her own nationality, but I don't think this applies to painting. My art belongs to the world.
Q: Will you leave your artworks to your children?
A: I once told my children that I could leave them my house or money, but not my paintings. They are to be appreciated by the public.
Q: Will you continue to donate paintings to other museums?
A: I might not donate again, because I have nearly given away all my high-quality pieces.
Q: Are you still painting?
A: Due to my health, I have hardly done any painting after reaching the age of 83.
Q: What is the importance of inspiration to an artist?
A: For me, inspiration is akin to a woman's pregnancy which results in a child's birth. An artist cannot deliver without inspiration.
Q: You are well-known for tearing up your own paintings which, in the eyes of others, is a great pity and loss. Why?
A: I feel uncomfortable when I see inferior art on display at exhibitions. I therefore can't inflict on the public art that doesn't meet my standards.
Q: How did your name "I owe something to brush strokes" come?
A: It was the title of my autobiography and an exhibition. Compared to writing, I find the expressions that are possible through painting are weak.
Although Wu was said to be in poor health due to a bout of influenza, he was enthusiastic about the show and lively in answering questions.
The exhibition - titled "Wu Guanzhong: Works from his donation to Museums" - features 160 pieces varying from oil and ink-wash paintings to sketches that had been donated by Wu to five museums, including Shanghai Art Museum, Singapore Art Museum and Hong Kong Art Museum. The exhibition ends on February 20.
Wu is one of the few Chinese artists to have established a reputation both in China and the West.He is revered internationally for his work but his long life has not always been without hardship.
Born in Yixing in the culturally rich Jiangsu Province in 1919, Wu enrolled in 1936 at the National Arts Academy of Hangzhou where he studied both Chinese and Western painting.
In 1947, he traveled on a government scholarship to Paris to expand his art knowledge at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts.
On returning to China in 1950, Wu began introducing Western art techniques and philosophy to his students at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing.
But the academy was dominated by a school of Soviet social realism and he was branded "a fortress of bourgeois formalism."
Refusing to conform to political dogma, he was transferred from one academy to another, but continued to develop his own style.
This distinctive style blended Western techniques of abstractionism with the result that his art was Chinese in outlook and modern in conception.
Wu was severely criticized during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) and was sent off to Hebei Province to do hard labor.
Ironically at the same time, Wu's peers such as Zao Wou-ki and Chu Teh-Chun were becoming widely known in Europe.
Consequently, his recognition and honors at home all came late in his career.
His work was exhibited at the British Museum in 1992, the first such honor for a living Chinese artist.
Q: Besides the 87 artworks donated to Shanghai Art Museum, why did you donate your other works to Singapore Art Museum and Hong Kong Art Museum?
A: An artist has his or her own nationality, but I don't think this applies to painting. My art belongs to the world.
Q: Will you leave your artworks to your children?
A: I once told my children that I could leave them my house or money, but not my paintings. They are to be appreciated by the public.
Q: Will you continue to donate paintings to other museums?
A: I might not donate again, because I have nearly given away all my high-quality pieces.
Q: Are you still painting?
A: Due to my health, I have hardly done any painting after reaching the age of 83.
Q: What is the importance of inspiration to an artist?
A: For me, inspiration is akin to a woman's pregnancy which results in a child's birth. An artist cannot deliver without inspiration.
Q: You are well-known for tearing up your own paintings which, in the eyes of others, is a great pity and loss. Why?
A: I feel uncomfortable when I see inferior art on display at exhibitions. I therefore can't inflict on the public art that doesn't meet my standards.
Q: How did your name "I owe something to brush strokes" come?
A: It was the title of my autobiography and an exhibition. Compared to writing, I find the expressions that are possible through painting are weak.
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