Classical Landscape Painting Appreciation Series -- Wang Lihua: Wang Lihua

Author: Wang Lihua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: A series of appreciations of classical landscape paintings by Wang Lihua, a renowned contemporary Chinese landscape painter. The collection includes 20 of his classical landscape works for everyone to admire. The traditional theories and techniques of landscape painting are a precious legacy left by our predecessors, fully exploitable and applicable in creation. However, they are ultimately limited. The world's famous mountains and rivers are diverse in form and style, offering endless sources of innovation. Today's talented landscape painters inherit tradition while seeking inspiration from nature to explore new themes, compositions, and artistic expressions, creating innovative approaches.
To infuse freshness into my works and align them with audience appreciation, I have explored new techniques. For instance, "negative space" holds a special place in landscape painting—it not only appears frequently in the works of past masters but is also extensively discussed in art theories. It is a crucial element in landscape composition, and I have placed great emphasis on its use in my creations. However, traditional negative space often lacks expressive brushwork. Over the past decade, I have conducted research and experimentation on how to make negative space more dynamic and vivid.
Life is the best teacher, so I have observed and studied the representation of negative space in real life. In landscape painting, negative space primarily consists of clouds, mist, sky, or water, with clouds and mist being particularly prominent. After rain, I climb mountains to observe the movement, posture, and dynamics of clouds, as well as the relationships between their ink, white, and gray tones in relation to the scenery. In spring and autumn, morning mist often blankets the fields and mountains, and I often set out early to quietly witness its transformations. Through countless observations, sketches, and creative attempts, I have experimented with using a large, soft brush and light, damp ink to depict clouds or mist in negative space. This approach preserves the overall sense of negative space and its importance in composition whileing it vitality and dynamism, seamlessly blending the brushwork with the painting.
Another example is the depiction of flowing waterfalls. Traditional landscape painting often relies on lines or negative space, lacking variation and formulaic in its expression of the dynamic, gushing nature of water. In Mount Siming, streams and springs are abundant, flowing ceaselessly with countless variations in form. Such scenes are difficult to convey solely through traditional techniques. Therefore, I employ a combination of lines, strokes, dry and wet brushwork, and selectively borrow techniques from Western painting to depict the texture and flow of water. This allows the water to be fully expressive, creating a close integration between the waterfall and the rocks.
Additionally, based on the characteristic of southern landscapes being densely forested, I have explored and applied new techniques in rendering forests. I have come to realize that creating landscape paintings that appeal to both connoisseurs and the general public requires constant nourishment from life. In the new era, landscape painting should maintain its distinct national identity while embracing new content, perspectives, forms, and techniques—all firmly rooted in the fertile soil of life. Only then can landscape painting bloom more vibrant flowers in the garden of art.
Wang Lihua
September 20, 2003