Wu Guanzhong was born in 1919 in Yixing County, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in 1942 and studied at the École Nationale d'Arte école Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1946.
Wu Guanzhong returned to China in the autumn of 1950.
At 23:57 on June 25, 2010, he died in Beijing Hospital at the age of 91 due to ineffective medical treatment.
"In my life, I only value three people: Lu Xun, Van Gogh and my wife.
Lu Xun gave me direction and spirit, Van Gogh gave me character and gave me uniqueness, and his wife fulfilled my lifelong dream, ordinary, kind, and beautiful. --Wu Guanzhong
The color blocks in this work are concise and clear, the brushstrokes in the whole work are affirmative and clear, and the strong color block relationship is refreshing. There is no strong relationship between light and shadow in the painting, nor a strong shaping relationship, but only relies on irregular flat color blocks to express the pure color relationship between lotus and red lotus.
The artist uses a scraper and a brush to concisely summarize the image characteristics of the lotus flower, "far from the lotus, not like a lotus" well explained what is called: "The mountain is not high, there are immortals are names." The water is not deep, but the dragon is the spirit." This is a common trait in many of the artist's works, so I put it first and foremost.
Because of the artist's special experience, he has a personal experience of loneliness. On the road of painting art that combines East and West, he is lonely, and it is this loneliness that has made his unique artistic style.
The "bamboo forest and houses" in "Lijiang People's Home" can clearly see the summary of the relationship between light and shadow and modeling in the sketch, which is mainly the painting language of Western oil painting. The background of the distant mountains is directly summarized by the flat colors of near reality and far virtuality, which is mainly the painting language in Chinese painting. The whole work is calm and refreshing, with a dashing and cheerful pen, without dragging mud and water.
"Beautiful" is not "beautiful", "beautiful" is not "beautiful"!
Beauty is generally due to the delicate, soft, smooth rendering, or the preciousness of texture materials such as gold and silver, jewelry, jadeite, ivory, etc.; and the beauty is mostly due to the artistic effect of the image structure or color organization. ——Wu Guanzhong
The beauty of this work comes mainly from the artistic effect of the organization of the colors themselves. In addition to the more obvious image structure of the roof, the image structure of the foreground is relatively chaotic.
Although the image structure of the foreground is relatively chaotic, the sense of order of the picture image is integrated through the color relationship with a sense of layering and rhythm, so as to achieve an aesthetic balance of the picture image.
This is a more subjective painting process, the author is "calm and relaxed", and the work is "chaotic and orderly".
The beauty of this work is mainly due to the unique beauty of the characteristics of the image structure of the pine tree. The beauty of this Huangshan pine is pure nature, it is an objective existence. In the special environment in which it grows, it only needs to be artificially cared for, and does not require artificial subjective modification.
The artist only sincerely depicts the unique image structure characteristics of Huangshan Pine, showing its arrogant and tenacious quality of life. This work, even if it is changed to a monochrome, will be very beautiful. This beauty is intrinsic to Huangshan Pine and does not require many beautiful embellishments.
My paintings, one is to seek beauty, the other is to seek artistic conception, with these two I only start to paint.
Isolated pen and ink separated from the specific picture, its value is equal to zero. ——Wu Guanzhong
This water town landscape work perfectly illustrates the perfect combination of image structure and color organization relationship.
The old house in Jiangnan Water Town is like this. Small bridge flowing water people, white walls and black tiles, very distinctive. Even if it's a stick figure. At a glance, you know that it is a house in Jiangnan Water Town.
The image structure of the house is staggered and divided into the compositional space on the canvas, and the points, lines, and surfaces in the work seem to be a little more or less. Points, lines, and surfaces are each in their own right, and the pen is quite concisely summarized, and the colors are vivid, lively, and full of youthful atmosphere.
It is a very heavy mountain, and the composition of the full upper side makes the mountain look even heavier.
In this era of artistic freedom and complexity, artists can be different for the sake of style, and in that era of careful words and deeds, it is very rare for artists to be able to maintain their original intentions and insist on their own artistic path.
After returning to China in 1950, Wu Guanzhong devoted himself to the creation of landscape oil painting, combining Western oil painting with traditional Chinese painting to explore a unique artistic path.
His work has been controversial, he has also felt lonely, he has spoken amazingly, and his artistic speech is as sharp as "Lu Xun".
Now universities are engaged in integration, science and engineering schools are engaged in art colleges, art colleges, teachers to evaluate the title, students to get diplomas, all pay money to buy pages in publications and publish works.
Many artists around the world do not have degrees, diplomas and other titles, and what master of arts, doctor of art, are not as good as works.
——Wu Guanzhong
If I become the chairman of the China Artists Association, the first thing I will do is that the Association will be dissolved!
——Wu Guanzhong spoke at the commemoration of the anniversary of the founding of the National Art Museum of China in the 1990s.
The art association is very large, it is a yamen, raising many bureaucrats, many people have nothing to do with art, they rely on the state's money to survive, and then take this brand to grab money. ------——", Mr. Wu Guanzhong spoke in an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily at the age of 89.
I personally feel that for Mr. Wu Guanzhong's artistic remarks, it is necessary to look at the problem from a certain height of artistic thought, and if the ideological height is not the same, there will be a deep ideological generation gap.
I am an artist who has been blown out of the artistic fire by the pressure of survival, based on the limitation of the scope and height of the circle, the understanding of some things is still relatively superficial, and it is less than practice, and the artistic fire in my heart does not know when it can be ignited!
For Mr. Wu Guanzhong's artistic remarks, is there a feeling that "words are not shocking and endless"? What are your thoughts on this?
Wu Guanzhong's other oil paintings are appreciated.