Wu Guanzhong ARTS

Wu GuanZhong ARTS Li Jue aviva.indd 1 2016-07-09 9:07 PM When war came in 1937, Wu moved with the school to the far west – first to Yunnan, then to Chongqing, the wartime capital, where Lin Fengmian, who had spent several years in France, fired his most gifted students with a longing to go there. Wu, Zhu and the equally gifted Zhao Wuji (Zao Wou-Ki) set about learning French, and in 1947 Wu traveled to Paris to study at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts on a government scholarship. A favorite student of Jean Souverbie, Wu Guanzhong has told of his admiration for Utrillo, Braque, Matisse, Gauguin, Cézanne and Picasso, and especially for Van Gogh, to whose grave he has made pilgrimage. After returning to China in 1950, Wu Guanzhong introduced aspects of Western art to his students at the Central Academy of Art in Beijing. The Academy was known to have been dominated by social realism and Wu was called “a fortress of bourgeois formalism”. Refusing to conform to political dogma, he was transferred from one academy to another. At the start of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, he was banned from painting, writing and teaching, and in 1970 was sent to Hebei Province for hard labor. In 1973 Wu Guanzhong was one of the leading artists brought back from the countryside – on the initiative of Zhou Enlai – to decorate hotels and restaurants. To prepare for a large wall painting at the Beijing Hotel, Wu and several other artists traveled along the Yangtze River to sketch ideas and seek inspirations. Although the project was finally abandoned as a result of another political movement, Wu Guanzhong successfully completed the draft scroll The Yangtze River in 1974. Wu Guanzhong’s rehabilitation was marked by an exhibition of his works in 1978 at the Central Academy. Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) is one of the best known contemporary painters of In August 1966, at the outset of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, Wu was Chinese origin. He has painted various aspects of China including much of its prohibited from painting and writing about art, and many of his early works were architecture, plants, animals, people, as well as many of its landscapes and water- destroyed[citation needed]. In 1970, at the age of 51, he and his wife were separat- scapes in a style reminiscent of the impressionist painters of the early 1900s. He ed and assigned to almost 3 years of hard labor in the countryside as part of the has published collections of essays and dozens of painting albums. His paintings Communist Party’s vast re-education program. were exhibited at the British Museum in 1992, which was the first for a living Chinese artist. Wu Guanzhong was born in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, in 1919. In 1935, Wu passed the entrance exam and studied electrical engineering at Zhejiang Industri- al School, a technical school of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. A year later, under the influence of Zhu Dequn (Chu Teh-Chun), he transferred to the Na- tional Arts Academy of Hangzhou, studying both Chinese and Western painting under Pan Tianshou (1897–1971) and Lin Fengmian (1900–1991). Li Jue aviva.indd 2-3 2016-07-09 9:07 PM EXHIBITION This inaugural exhibition celebrates the opening of the Wu Guanzhong Gallery at National Gallery Singapore. Span- ning over 50 years of Wu’s career, this show features both oil and ink works, many of which will be on display for the first time in Singapore, including the artist’s personal favorite Twin Swal- lows. Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) was a major advocate and forerunner of synthesizing Chinese art and Western modernism. This show highlights his proficiency in both Chinese and West- ern art traditions, and his distinctive contribution to the discourse of modern Chinese painting. “To indigenize oil painting and to modernize Chinese painting,” he said, “are two sides of the same face.” 4 5 Li Jue aviva.indd 4-5 2016-07-09 9:07 PM LIFE Wu was born in a village in Yixing, Jiangsu province, in 1919. His family wanted him to become a teacher just like his father had been. In 1935, Wu passed the entrance exam and studied electrical engineering at Zhejiang Industrial School (a technical school of Zhejiang University) in Hangzhou. While in engineering school, Wu met an art student named Zhu Dequn who was studying at the National Hangzhou Academy of Art. During a trip to Zhu’s school, Wu got his first look at art and fell “madly in love” with it. So often there is conflict between them, and this is my greatest sorrow....Whatever I have written is to try to help our own people to understand and to get rid of their fear and suspicion of abstraction in Western art. So I can only start talking from a point of semi-abstract art, which is easier to understand. But even when I talked this away, recently there were lots of argument and objections. 6 7 Li Jue aviva.indd 6-7 2016-07-09 9:07 PM Against his father’s wishes, in 1936 he transferred to the art academy, studying both Chinese and Western painting under Pan Tianshou (1897–1971) and Lin Fengmian (1900–1991). Wu went through many trials and challenges during his years in college before he could master his craft. In 1937 the Sino-Japanese War began and the campus had to pick up and relocate in order to get out of the way of the invading Japanese army. During the constant movement during the war, Wu was able to see many different locations. He considered the adventures as a necessary journey to becoming a man and building his character. Wu benefitted greatly from the many teachers who taught him to paint and the rough journey to becoming a man. In 1942 he graduated from Hangzhou National Academy of Art and tried to find a job. During the war jobs were hard to find and Wu took a part-time job as a substitute teacher. He later found a job as a water color and drawing teacher in the Architecture Department of Chongqing University. After Wu graduated he continued to hone his craft and studied with some of his old colleagues from school like Zhu Dequn, Li Lincan and Zheng Wei. Each of these friends continued their art careers and left their mark on the art scene. For people’s hearts to communicate, there must be genuine emotion to strike a chord. Whether the feelings and perceptions of modern Chinese can find resonance in the West depends on the emo� tions, if they are true or false. Intelligent viewers can discern what is real and what is false. 8 9 Li Jue aviva.indd 8-9 2016-07-09 9:07 PM Abstract beauty is the heart of the beauty of fig� n 1946 Wu applied for one of the two art study abroad spots and was the best applicant who applied, this was in part to his urative art. It is a natural thing to which we all French language studies. 1947 traveled to Paris to study at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts on the government scholarship. Even though France was still recovering from World War II, Wu was completely enthralled with the art. He visit- respond. As a child loves to play with a kaleido� ed all of the major museums within the first few days of his arrival. Wu was always a tremendous fan of French and European scope, so everyone likes pure form and color. art. While in Europe, Wu realized the many cultural and religious differences between Europe and China. 10 11 Li Jue aviva.indd 10-11 2016-07-09 9:07 PM This was a difficult barrier for him to overcome to understand and appreciate some of the art. Wu found a great interest in the modern art of France despite his studying in European artistic traditions. He took a great liking to the Post-Impressionists like van Gogh, Gauguin and Cézanne. Wu loved van Gogh the most because of van Gogh’s passion for art and the internal torment he endured. Wu also felt the hardships that Gauguin felt when he left Paris for a South Pacific island in order to find his own personal ideal. Gauguin eventually died on the island. This trip helped Wu grasp the idea of form and GIANT PANDA the basic meaning of art. The study abroad trip also led to formalism becoming the basic underlying element of his art and studying in France helped him Replica, ink and color on paper better understand formalism. 12 13 Li Jue aviva.indd 12-13 2016-07-09 9:07 PM In 1975 a Chinese art association in Japan wanted some paintings to exhibit but Unfortunately for most of the artists, there was an immense gap in artistic ideas they wanted traditional Chinese ink paintings. Once again Wu changed his style between China and the rest of the world. The only one who seemed able to bridge to match the specifications and his work became a great hit. From here Wu moved this artistic gap was Wu. With the newfound freedom, Wu was able to break away on to another phase where he painted with oil and concentrated on the human from the old constraints and get back to the formalism style he originally loved. body and the beauty of form. Wu also realized he could achieve the same beauty Along with being able to paint again, he was able to be more of a public figure and form through landscape while using Chinese ink and color on paper.

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