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"...oil paintings are the foundation of my ink paintings, while ink paintings are the sinew of my oil paintings. The two are my lifelong companions, the obverse and reverse, or the two complementary facets, of my art. At the same time, colour and black-and-white are locked in a perpetual wrestle and a perpetual embrace in my works. They are like a see-saw, closely reflecting the painter's gamut of emotions." - extracted from "Direction Unknown" by Wu Guanzhong.
Wu Guanzhong, the great master of Chinese painting, has spent 60 years in exploring ways of reconciling Chinese ink painting and Western oil painting. His endeavour results in establishing a new aesthetics of Chinese painting, which demonstrates a crossbreed of Chinese spirituality and Western form.
From tomorrow (March 15) onwards, art lovers will be offered with a not-to-be-missed opportunity to appreciate a fine selection of Mr Wu's masterpieces at an exhibition entitled "Wu Guanzhong: A Retrospective". Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and organised by the Hong Kong Museum of Art (Museum of Art), the exhibition will be staged at the Museum of Art and run until May 12. On display, there are about 100 ink paintings and oil paintings as well as Mr Wu's most recent works selected from the major area of his oeuvre of art. They form a comprehensive retrospective on the artistic development of the artist. The exhibits also include Mr Wu's eight representative pieces to be donated to the Museum of Art.
Wu Guanzhong was born in 1919 in Yixing county, Jiangsu province. He began his formal training in Chinese and Western painting under the headmaster Lin Fengmian and Pan Tianshou at the National Hangzhou Academy of Art in 1936. In 1947, he went to Paris and further his studies in art in the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts. In 1950, after graduation, he determined to return to China and devote himself to serving his country with art.
Soon after he returned to China, he experienced a series of political movements, which brought an overwhelming impact onto his life and artistic career. During the Cultural Revolution, he was once forbidden to paint. Later he was allowed to paint once a week. However, owing to the limited resources of materials, he would paint on cardboards placed in a basket for collecting dung. He was thus teased as belonging to the "dung-basket school". Hardship of life, however, did not stop him from artistic creation. In the pursuit of the beauty of natural scenery, Mr Wu set off his sketching trips. He went to almost every corner of China to make sketches and later gained the compliment of "the painter who draws for the bliss". Today, Mr Wu's achievements in art have been recognized internationally and in China as well. His two pieces of works, "The Ruins of Gaochang" and "Old City by the Jiao River", gained him the record of the highest price paid for work by a living Chinese artist. In 1993, he received a gold medal from the Paris municipal government. And he is also one of the very few of the Chinese artists who could have exhibitions at the British Museum and the Musee Cernuschi in Paris.
Those who love Mr Wu's works must be glad to learn that the acclaimed artist has been in Hong Kong, and he will meet the art lovers and share with them his view of art.
On March 16, the coming Saturday, Mr Wu will conduct a special lecture on the modernization of Chinese ink painting at 2.30 pm at the Museum of Art. During the lecture, he will share his experience in the exploration of the possibilities of Chinese ink painting and his opinion on various issues about the modernization of Chinese ink painting.
On March 23, the next Saturday, Mr Wu will perform a sketching demonstration at 3 pm at the Sculpture Court of the Museum of Art. The great master will make sketches of the splendid panoramic view of Victoria Harbour, and the whole process will be video-taped for showing at the Museum of Art during the exhibition period. On top of that, an education pamphlet on Wu's sketching will also be published and available for collection at the Museum of Art.
Admission for the above two activities will be free and due to space limitation, both of the two activities will be limited to 150 audiences on a first-come-first-served basis.
The Hong Kong Museum of Art is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It opens from 10 am to 6 pm daily and closes on every Thursday (except public holidays). Admission Fee is $ 10 with half-price concession applicable to full-time students, people with disabilities and senior citizens aged 60 or above. Admission is free on Wednesdays. For enquiries, please call 2721 0116 or visit the Museum of Art's website at http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkma/
End/Thursday, March 14, 2002
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