Zhao Wangyun: Complete Collection of Famous Chinese Painters

Author: Zhao Wangyun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Zhao Wangyun (1906-1977) was a native of Shulu County, Hebei Province. He served as a member of the Standing Committee of the China Artists Association, the first president of the Shaanxi Artists Association, the director of the Cultural Relics Department of the Northwest Military and Political Committee, a member of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress, a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture, among other positions. Under the influence of the May Fourth New Culture Movement, Zhao Wangyun actively promoted the New Chinese Painting Movement. Through his numerous rural sketches and Chinese painting creations based on real-life themes, he depicted the lives of working-class people, earning him the reputation as a pioneer and trailblazer in the reform of Chinese painting. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, with the support of General Feng Yuxiang, he founded the War of Resistance Painting Magazine and actively promoted the anti-Japanese campaign. After settling in Xi'an in 1942, he focused his artistic creations on the natural landscapes and diverse ethnic cultures of the Northwest, developing a majestic, profound, and natural artistic style. He nurtured renowned painters such as Huang Zhu, Fang Jizhong, and Xu Shuzhi, who are celebrated in the contemporary art world. Together with his students, Zhao Wangyun and they expressed the customs, landscapes, and spirit of the western regions of China in a vivid, fresh, and lively artistic style, forming a powerful force in the contemporary Chinese painting scene. In the early years of the People's Republic of China, when cultural construction was in full swing, Zhao Wangyun guided many far-sighted projects, including archaeological excavations and the preservation of cultural heritage sites. During this period, his artistic creations flourished even more, with his footsteps covering the Guanzhong Plain, the Qinling Mountains, the Hexi Corridor, and the Qilian Mountains, resulting in a vast number of works with a grand, lofty, and robust artistic style. In 1961, six painters from the of the former Xi'an Artists Association held a successful exhibition in Beijing, and Zhao Wangyun was hailed as the founder of the "Chang'an Painting School." In his later years, Zhao Wangyun's artistic creations reached even higher realms, with works featuring novel themes, profound meanings, a loose yet expressive form, an inwardly refined spirit, a transcendent and ethereal artistic atmosphere, and poetic and musical-like expressions—all regarded as the epitome of artistic perfection achieved through effortless mastery. Due to his pioneering role in promoting the depiction of real life in Chinese painting through his early works, such as rural sketches, and his foundational contributions to the Chang'an Painting School in his later years, Zhao Wangyun's achievements in establishing a new artistic tradition hold a significant place in the history of modern Chinese painting. The book includes over 180 paintings, a brief biography, an overview of his artistic characteristics, excerpts from his own writings on art and critiques by others, a concise chronology, as well as his signature seals and a catalog of his masterpieces.