Hangzhou's West Lake is an art corridor that surrounds the lake and houses dozens of different art halls. Every time I come to Hangzhou, I will unconsciously stroll here, feel the atmosphere of art, and accept the baptism of art.
I remember that more than ten years ago, Shu Jianxin and a group of artists who walked from Jiangnan to Yunnan held the "Tiguan Brushwork: Miaoman Pu'er Painting Exhibition" at the Hangzhou Art Museum.
At the end of 2023, I learned in Beijing that the "Avenue of the Infinite Pole: Zao Wou-Ki's Centennial Retrospective Exhibition" will be held at the Art Museum of China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Zao Wou-Ki, a well-known Chinese and French painter, has created a unique artistic style by integrating East and West, and his works are systematically collected in more than 150 important museums and galleries around the world, making a unique contribution to the cultural exchange between the East and the West.
Almost at the same time, I also noticed that "Lang Zi Yuchang - Zhao Zhiqian Special Exhibition" will be officially unveiled to the public at the Zhejiang Art Museum on December 5. "Zhao Zhiqian Special Exhibition" is another theme exhibition of Zhejiang Art Museum in recent years, following the special exhibition of "Chinese Traditional Classics Series" independently planned and implemented by Wang Duo, Fu Shan, He Shaoji and other famous artists, and it is also the first time that Zhejiang native artists have appeared in this series. At the same time, I am very much looking forward to coming to Hangzhou to watch these two art exhibitions.
After the Hangzhou event with friends in Beijing, Shu Jianxin told everyone that we would stay in Hangzhou for a few more days to see these two important art exhibitions to be held in Hangzhou.
As soon as the words fell, friends expressed that they wanted to include this event in their plans, and collectively extended it for a day in Hangzhou to visit Zao Wou-ki's 100-year retrospective exhibition with us and accept the baptism of art!
Early the next morning, we collectively arrived at the Art Museum of China Academy of Art, which is located on the shore of West Lake.
On the way to visit, Shu Jianxin told everyone: "Every art museum has its own artistic attributes, and the China Academy of Art, as the artistic and cultural highland of Hangzhou, undertakes the important task of promoting and inheriting the 'Song Yun culture'. As the most important exhibition space of the academy, in a recent renovation, the Art Museum of China Academy of Art tried to integrate the 'Song Yun spirit' into the spatial aesthetics of the art museum. ”
As the flow of people entered the museum, we were all shocked, and the simple and restrained yet powerful design of the entire museum, in line with the artistic conception of Zao Wou-ki's paintings, coincided and complemented each other on the spiritual level.
I think that as an art museum that carries first-class works from the past and the present, its spiritual core should be aesthetics that spans the past and the present, and crosses the East and the West, and is in line with those eternal aesthetic concepts, and "Song Yun" is the source of energy that spans the past and the present.
"The Avenue of Wu Ji - Zao Wou-Ki's Centennial Retrospective Special Exhibition" is divided into six sections and multiple angles in the huge art museum, systematically combing through Zao Wou-ki's artistic explorations in different periods, exhibiting his oil paintings, ink paintings, watercolors, prints, porcelain paintings and related video documents, etc., important works include "My Home in Hangzhou", "Father's Garden", triptych "Tribute to My Friend Henry Michaux", etc., I found that many exhibits are from the collectors' personal collections!
My Home in Hangzhou
Father's Garden
Triptych "Homage to My Friend Henry Michaeu"
Homage to François
Diptych "Homage to Cézanne"
Our group carefully watched each of Zao Wou-Ki's works, and with the help of the text guide of the exhibition, we followed the footsteps of the master's artistic exploration.
Zao Wou-Ki's art draws on Chinese and Western cultural traditions, and it is not difficult to see that he received traditional Chinese education and calligraphy enlightenment since he was a child, and this education has penetrated the bone marrow and melted into the artistic genes.
After arriving in France, he was deeply influenced by Impressionism and paintings such as Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso.
The shock of the whole exhibition to our hearts is unprecedented, looking up at Mr. Wang's kind face, although we have never known him in life, but admiring his artistic creation, we always feel cordial in our hearts.
After viewing the exhibition, Shu Jianxin said with infinite emotion: "After watching Mr. Zao Wou-ki's art exhibition, combined with my decades of exploration experience on the road of art, I deeply realized that life is limited and the pursuit of art is endless!" ”
(Source: On the Ancient Tea Horse Road)
Artist Profile
Shu Jianxin, ancestral home in Qingzhou, Shandong. Former director of the Art Museum of China National Academy of Painting, director of the Chinese Painting Society, director of the China International Cultural Exchange Center, and national first-class artist; In 2010, he held "Danqing Yunnan Shen Yun Chuxiong - Shu Jianxin Chinese Painting Exhibition" at the National Art Museum of China; In 2015, he held the "Silk Road Danqing Tea Horse Ancient Rhyme - Shu Jianxin Chinese Painting Exhibition" at the National Art Museum of China.