Mr. Zhou Beixi (1913-2003), also known by his pen name Zhou Yuti, was a highly regarded painter in the Bashu School. With his exquisite painting skills and persistent pursuit of art, he has left a strong mark in the history of Chinese painting. Mr. Zhou's works are based on the themes of flowers, birds, figures and landscapes, and he is especially known for his ability to draw monkeys. His paintings are not only vivid, but also far-reaching, giving people profound artistic enjoyment and spiritual shock.
Mr. Zhou Beixi's paintings of flowers and birds are lifelike, he is good at capturing the charm of all things in nature, and expresses the form, color, dynamics and vitality of flowers and birds very realistically. In his paintings, birds flutter their wings, flowers are budding, and trees are verdant, as if vivid pictures leap onto the page, giving people a sense of pleasing to the eye. His grasp of the details is very good, and every feather and leaf has been carefully depicted, making the picture more rich and three-dimensional, as if people can feel the breathing and movement of the creatures in the painting.
In addition to flower and bird paintings, Mr. Zhou Beixi's landscape paintings are also unique. He is good at using the changes of ink color and ink, and integrates landscape elements such as peaks and mountains, rivers and lakes, pines, cypresses, and strange stones into the picture, and the composition is dense and majestic, full of poetry and charm. His landscape paintings are not confined to traditional techniques, but pay attention to the expression of inner emotions and artistic conceptions, giving people a sense of breadth and profundity, making people feel as if they are in the middle of mountains and rivers, and appreciate the magnificence and wonder of nature.
However, Mr. Zhou Beixi is best known for his monkey paintings. He has an in-depth observation and understanding of the living habits and morphological characteristics of monkeys, and is able to vividly express the naughty, clever, lively, and stubborn characteristics of monkeys on the picture. Whether it is a group of monkeys playing in the water or a lonely monkey foraging for food, he can use pen and ink to outline the demeanor and dynamics of the monkeys, giving people fun and inspiration. His monkey paintings not only have the fineness of the brushwork, but also have a sense of freehand and elegant, and are known as the "Monkey King of Shu", which has become a must in the Bashu painting school.
To sum up, Mr. Zhou Beixi is an outstanding representative of the Bashu School of painting, and his works have added a unique charm to the art of Chinese painting with their exquisite skills and rich imagination. Whether it is flower and bird painting, landscape painting or monkey painting, it shows his persistent pursuit and profound skills in art, giving people the enjoyment of beauty and enlightenment of thought, leaving a valuable artistic heritage and becoming an indispensable stroke in the history of Chinese painting. #周北溪#
