Nancy and I just got a quick look at a fabulous exhibition
at the Asia Society of works by Wu Guanzhong—an amazing
painter we ‘discovered’ at the Hong Kong
Museum of Art during our trip to the Urban Age conference there last
November. (I am regretting more and more that I have not yet gotten to
write up our touring Hong Kong [although I did write up the conference proper: www.rickrubens.com/hk.htm];
it is really an incredible city.) I put ‘discovered’
in quotes, as it turns out Wu Guanzhong (吳冠中), who died at 90
in 2010, is an extremely famous
painter, considered by many to be the father of modern Chinese painting. His obituary in the Hong Kong South China Morning Post described him
as “one of the most important figures of 20th-century Chinese art”; and the NY Times just a few days ago ran an
article by Jane Perlez (“China
Extends Reach Into International Art”) which features
Wu and this exhibition.
We cannot wait to get back to the Asia Society to spend more time
in this great exhibition, Revolutionary
Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong, and I encourage you to do so as
well. It is on until 5 August 2012:
Revolutionary
Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong
24 April 2012 - 5 August 2012
725 Park Avenue (at 70th
Street)
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212-288-6400
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, with
extended evening hours Fridays until 9:00 pm (except for July 1 through Labor
Day, when it closes at 6:00 pm on Fridays).
The Museum Galleries are closed on Mondays.
Wu Guanzhong went to Paris
to study at the École Nationale
Supérieur des Beaux-arts in 1947. He returned to China in 1950, bringing
with him many aspects of Western art, but returning to traditional Chinese
themes and techniques as well. He was sent to a labor camp during the upheaval
of the Cultural Revolution, and many of his earlier works were destroyed; his career
did not actually takeoff until the late 70s.
Revolutionary Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong, organized by the Shanghai Art Museum (to which Wu donated 113 of his works in 2008)
and Asia Society Museum, displays
examples of his work from the mid-1970s to 2004, focusing on his works in the
medium of ink. As the Asia Society’s
website notes,
It is notable that Wu began to work more
extensively in ink in the 1970s in his mid-career—turning to a traditional
medium at a time when most artists looked to western art for inspiration. The
exhibition traces the development of Wu’s work during this period with a
thematic focus illuminating the rich historical legacy of ink painting in
China, and also representing his radical individual style steeped in his strong
belief in formalist principles. Wu pushed the boundaries of our understanding
of how a traditional medium of ink can be made new for a new century.
I have included the complete website description and the Asia Society’s
press release at the end of this piece.
Here are some wonderful images from the show:
This one captures some of the vitality that Wu
introduces with his use of color:
Pines, 1995, ink and color on
paper, 140 x 179 cm, Shanghai Art Museum.
This one, which is the image
in the full-page ad that ran in Friday’s NY Times, is wonderfully reminiscent
of traditional Chinese landscape painting, yet at the same time so different in
its modernity:
Pines and Rockes in the
Lao Mountains, 1987, ink and color on rice paper, Shanghai Art
Museum.
Lion Woods,
1983, ink and color on rice paper, 173 x 290 cm, Shanghai Art Museum
I particularly
enjoyed this cityscape:
Chongqing of the Old Times, 1997, ink and color on rice
paper, 145 x 368 cm, Shanghai Art Museum.
Here is one we loved from the exhibition in
Hong Kong:
Home of Man, 1999, ink and color on rice
paper, 69 x 69 cm, Shanghai Art Museum.
A Big Manor, 2001, ink and color on rice paper, 70 x 140 cm,
Shanghai Art Museum.
The Asia Society’s website description:
Revolutionary Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong
24 April 2012 - 5 August 2012
Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) stands as one
of the most important artists of twentieth-century China. Born in Jiangsu
Province, Wu studied art at the National Academy of Art in Hangzhou (today’s
China Academy of Art) and, from 1947, in Paris at the École
nationale supérieure des
beaux-arts. He returned to China after three years and taught at the Central
Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. His works were condemned before and during the
Cultural Revolution because his oil paintings did not comply with the political
interests of the time. In spite of this he continued to paint and emerged as a
national cultural figure whose works came to be celebrated inside and outside
China. He is also well known for his eloquent writings on art and creativity
that sometimes led to controversies and spawned heated debates among Chinese
artists and intellectuals. Wu Guanzhong created works
that embody many of the major shifts and tensions in twentieth-century Chinese
art—raising questions around individualism, formalism, and the relationship
between modernism and cultural traditions.
With a career spanning over sixty years, the selection of paintings in this
exhibition focuses on some of his best works in the medium of ink and spans the
decades from the mid-1970s to 2004. It is notable that Wu began to work more
extensively in ink in the 1970s in his mid-career—turning to a traditional
medium at a time when most artists looked to western art for inspiration. The
exhibition traces the development of Wu’s work during this period with a
thematic focus illuminating the rich historical legacy of ink painting in
China, and also representing his radical individual style steeped in his strong
belief in formalist principles. Wu pushed the boundaries of our understanding
of how a traditional medium of ink can be made new for a new century.
Landscape
Lion Woods, 1983, ink and color on rice paper, 173 x 290 cm, Shanghai Art
Museum
Wu Guanzhong often compared his revolutionary
approach to ink painting to the way a kite is navigated; not flying too far
from the ground. The use of ink and wash clearly reveals his solid grounding in
the centuries-old tradition of Chinese ink landscape painting. Monumental
mountains in Wu’s paintings echo the regal presence of mountain peaks in the
iconic landscape painting Early Spring by Guo
Xi (1000–ca. 1090), dated to 1072. Some other works by Wu show influences of
painters from the Song dynasty (960–1279) to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) in
the compositions and the types of brushstrokes he uses to add a variation in
texture and an atmospheric effect. However, he has also created works that are
fundamentally different from the tradition, particularly in his use of bright
colors, liberal use of wash, and radical compositions based on an interest in
formalism. This section comprises several examples of drawings from nature that
Wu produced during his sketching trips throughout China and paintings from the
late 1970s to 2000 that trace his constant reflection on tradition and
experimentation.
Architecture and the Everyday
A Big Manor, 2001,
ink and color on rice paper, 70 x 140 cm, Shanghai Art Museum.
Where traditional ink paintings emphasized the grandeur and majesty of the
natural environment over small-scale pavilions or other architectural elements,
the most distinct compositions that Wu created are found in those paintings
depicting rural yet grand homes and towns that emphasize a constructed,
man-made environment. Rather than including buildings as a small part of
painting, he extracted geometric beauty and a structural rhythm from
architecture. To Wu, whether artists are painting buildings, mountains, rivers,
grass, or trees, it is of primary importance that they paint with feeling.
Abstraction
Alienation, 1992, ink and color on rice paper, 69 x 138 cm, Shanghai Art
Museum.
In his later period Wu’s landscapes became more and more abstracted. Most
of these works are from after 1990 and show an intention to represent states of
being, emotions, and concepts over more realistic representation. For example,
rather than showing birds-eye or long-view perspectives usually associated with
ink landscape paintings, the works provide a closer view as if the viewer is
fully immersed in the environment. On this subject he has said, “I want to
express the transformations in space and time that occur in my mind. The many forms
I see with my eyes inspire the unpredictable transformations that I haven’t yet
seen.”
Quotes from Wu Guanzhong
Select Quotes of Wu Guanzhong from Abstraction
and Form, Meishu (Fine Arts) in 1992, translated
by Valerie C. Doran for the exhibition catalogue Revolutionary Ink: The
Paintings of Wu Guanzhong (New York: Asia
Society, 2012)
"The beauty of abstract form is extracted from concrete objects and
distilled according to the intrinsic qualities of the form. The art of root
carving retains certain concrete aspects, and it is considered very beautiful.
This is called transforming the common and useless into the marvelous and the
quality of abstract beauty is foremost in creating this effect. On the other
hand, we also see some artworks that transform the marvelous into something
common and useless."
"The relationship between semblance and non-semblance is in fact the
same as the relationship between concrete and abstract. What exactly
constitutes spirit resonance and lifelike motion (qiyun
shengdong) in Chinese traditional painting? Whether
in landscape or in flower-and-bird painting, it lies in the expressive
difference between motion that has spirit resonance and motion that does not.
Within this there is the question of the harmony or conflict between the
abstract and the concrete, and the factor of either beauty or ugliness that
hovers just beyond. The principle of analysis for form is the same as for
music."
"The fundamental elements of formal beauty comprise form, color, and
rhythm. I used eastern rhythms in the absorption of western form and color,
like a snake swallowing an elephant. Sometimes I felt I couldn’t gulp it all
down and I switched to using [Chinese] ink. This is why in the mid-1970s I
began creating a large number of ink paintings. As of today in my explorations
I still shift between oil and ink. Oil paint and ink are two blades of the same
pair of scissors used to cut the pattern for a whole new suit. To nationalize
oil painting and to modernize Chinese painting: in my view these are two sides
of the same face."
"Brush-and-ink is misunderstood as being the only choice for life and
the future path of Chinese painting, and the standards of brush-and-ink painting
are used to judge whether any work is good or bad. Brush-and-ink is a
technique. Brushwork is embodied within technique, technique is not embodied
within brushwork, and technique is only a means that serves the artist in the
expression of his emotions."
"Whenever I am at an impasse, I turn to natural scenery. In nature I
can reveal my true feelings to the mountains and rivers: my depth of feelings
toward the motherland and my love toward my people. I set off from my own
native village and Lu Xun’s native soil."
This exhibition has been organized by the Shanghai Art Museum and Asia
Society Museum.
The curators of the exhibition are Melissa Chiu, Asia Society Museum, and
Lu Huan, Shanghai Art Museum.
Asia Society Museum Staff
Melissa Chiu, Museum Director and Senior Vice President, Global Arts and
Cultural Programs
Marion Kocot, Director, Museum Operations
Nancy Blume, Head of Museum Education Programs
Clare McGowan, Collections Manager and Registrar
Adriana Proser, John H. Foster Curator for
Traditional Asian Art
Jacob M. Reynolds, Associate Registrar
Miwako Tezuka, Associate
Curator
Davis Thompson-Moss, Installation Manager
Donna Saunders, Executive Assistant
Special thanks to Zixuan Feng and Renny Grinshpan, Museum Interns.
Contact:
Elaine Merguerian 212.327.9271,
elainem@asiasociety.org
ASIA
SOCIETY MUSEUM PRESENTS FIRST U.S. RETROSPECTIVE OF ONE OF CHINA’S MOST
IMPORTANT ARTISTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
REVOLUTIONARY INK: THE PAINTINGS OF WU GUANZHONG
On
view April 25 through August 5, 2012
Media
preview and private exhibition viewing: April 24, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.
Wu Guanzhong, Pines,
1995, ink and color on paper, H. 55.1 x W. 70.5 in. (H. 140 x W. 179 cm),
Shanghai Art Museum.
Revolutionary
Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong celebrates the sixty-year career of Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010), one of China’s most significant and
admired twentieth century artists. This first-ever major retrospective,
organized in collaboration with the Shanghai Art Museum, traces the artist’s
development in the medium of ink painting from the mid-1970s through 2004.
Exhibition works represent Wu’s radical individual approach that integrates
European modernism and abstract expressionism with traditional Chinese ink
painting.
Wu
lived in tumultuous times; persecuted during the Cultural Revolution at a time
when western art was decried, he was forced to abandon painting and he
destroyed most of his works in oil. However, he persevered, continuing to paint
and draw even when he was sent to the countryside for hard labor and
reeducation.
“Wu
Guanzhong is one of the most important artists of the
twentieth century,” says Melissa Chiu, Asia Society Museum Director and Senior
Vice President of Global Arts and Culture Programs. “He revitalized and
reinvigorated Chinese traditional ink painting at a time when most artists were
turning to western art for inspiration. We are grateful to the Shanghai Art
Museum for collaborating with us on this exhibition, which celebrates his
legacy as a modern master who pushes the boundaries of our understanding of how
a traditional medium like ink can be made new for a new century.”
News
Communications Department
725 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021-5088
AsiaSociety.org
Phone 212.327.9271
Fax 212.517.8315
E-mail pr@asiasociety.org
Revolutionary Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong is
curated by Chiu and Lu Huan, Curator, Shanghai Art
Museum.
About
the artist
Wu Guanzhong, A Big Manor, 2001. Ink on
rice paper, H. 27 9/16 x W. 55 1/8 in.
(H 70 x Q. 140 cm), Shanghai Art Museum.
Born
in 1919 in Jiangsu Province, Wu Guanzhong enrolled in
the acclaimed Hangzhou Art School (today’s China Academy of Art in Hangzhou) in
1936. At the age of 27, he left to study in Paris at the École
National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where he studied
western painting traditions and methodologies. After three profoundly
influential years, he chose to return to China for patriotic reasons, to teach
at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Painting in oil, he developed
an original style that combined both traditional Chinese ink painting and
western techniques of watercolor and oil painting, and became a mentor to a new
generation of Chinese painters.
However,
his paintings, which were influenced by both western
art and formalism rather than the then accepted style of Social Realism, along
with his writings soon led to trouble with the authorities. As the Cultural
Revolution began in 1966, Wu destroyed most of his works before the Red Guards
searched his house and confiscated his properties. Wu was still heavily
persecuted during the revolution as a bourgeois formalist and was forbidden to
paint, write or teach for two years. He was sent to the remote rural
countryside and subjected to reeducation through hard labor. Yet in spite of
harsh living conditions, he continued to paint whenever he could, and
eventually was allowed to teach an oil painting class for the army in Hebei province.
Finally
in 1973, his living conditions began to improve when Premier Zhou Enlai commissioned him to paint a large mural in a Beijing
hotel. Wu was reunited with his family, and also around this time, began to
paint in ink. His resulting ink painting “Chongqing the Riverside City”
launched a new stage of his career in a country now more receptive to his
ideas. Somewhat ironically, Wu went against the tide in returning to ink at a
time when many of his students, most born in the 1950s, became greatly
interested in European and American oil painting and, they adopted subjects and
compositions of Western European art and experimented in styles as diverse as
surrealism and expressionism.
In
1978, at age 59, he had his first solo show since his return to China in 1950,
which traveled throughout the country. He continued to paint in ink, creating
landscapes distinguished by their expressive line and unusual application of
color. In 1985, an exhibition of his latest works was shown at the National Art
Museum of China in Beijing, followed by a solo exhibition at the British Museum
in 1992. Late in his life, he traveled widely throughout China and other parts
of Asia, as well as to Europe, to attend a series of his solo exhibitions and
to give lectures on those occasions. His prolific career as a writer on his
philosophy of art has produced numerous monographic publications in various
languages. Wu died in Beijing in 2010 at the age of ninety.
The exhibition
Revolutionary
Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong is organized thematically into three sections that
evoke Wu’s approach to the medium of ink and account for distinct genres of his
practice. Landscape, the first, emphasizes the ink and wash
painting tradition while showing the departure from tradition that some of his
work represents, for example, in the random use of color. The section comprises
paintings from the late 1980s and 1990s, representing views of high altitude
mountains in vertical format, or expansive horizontal landscapes, in which he
used ink to create an effect of flatness, in contrast to the traditional effect
of depth and vitality.
The
second theme in the exhibition is Architecture. Where traditional ink paintings
emphasized the grandeur and majesty of the natural environment over small-scale
pavilions or other architectural elements, Wu’s paintings depict rural yet
grand homes and towns and emphasize a constructed, man-made environment.
The
final section of the exhibition is Abstraction, representing Wu’s later period
in which his landscapes became more abstracted. Most of these works are from
after 1990 and show an intention to represent states of being, emotions, and
concepts over more realistic representation. For example, rather than showing
birds-eye or long-view perspectives usually associated with ink landscape
paintings, the works provide a closer view as if the viewer is fully immersed
in the environment.
Revolutionary
Ink: The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with
essays by leading Chinese and American scholars. The exhibition begins a year
of programming at Asia Society in arts and culture, policy and business that
explores China’s past as a window onto its present and future. For program
updates, visit AsiaSociety.org/nyc
Exhibition
funding
Support
for this exhibition is provided by the Take a Step Back Collection. Asia
Society also acknowledges the generosity of China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd.
Support for Asia Society Museum provided by the Friends of Asian Art; Asia
Society Contemporary Art Council; Arthur Ross Foundation; Sheryl and Charles R.
Kaye Endowment for Contemporary Art Exhibitions; Blanchette
Hooker Rockefeller Fund; National Endowment for the Humanities; Hazen Polsky Foundation; New York State Council on the Arts; and
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
About
Asia Society Museum
Asia
Society Museum presents groundbreaking exhibitions and artworks, many
previously unseen in North America. The Museum is known for its permanent
collection of masterpiece-quality works gifted by Mr. and Mrs. John D.
Rockefeller 3rd and a contemporary collection launched in 2003. Through
exhibitions and related public programs, Asia Society provides a forum for the
issues and viewpoints reflected in traditional, modern and contemporary Asian
art. Founded in 1956, Asia Society is a nonprofit educational institution with
new multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art cultural centers and gallery spaces
in Hong Kong and Houston, and offices in Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne,
Mumbai, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, and Washington, DC.
Asia
Society Museum is located at 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York City. The
Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. and Friday
from 11:00 A.M. – 9:00 P.M. Closed on Mondays and major holidays. General
admission is $10, seniors $7, students $5, and admission is free for members
and persons under 16. Free admission Friday evenings, 6:00 P.M. – 9:00
P.M.
The Museum is closed Fridays after 6:00 P.M. from July 1 through Labor Day.
AsiaSociety.org/museum
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