Fine contemporary Chinese oil paintings by successful artists -- The Art of Ai Xuan

Author: Ai Xuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-07-01
Features: Ai Xuan, born in 1947, is currently an oil painter at the Beijing Art Institute. He has a deep passion for ancient Chinese architecture, painting, sculpture, and folk art. Beyond his broad interests, he seems particularly fond of the landscape paintings of Fan Kuan and Ni Zan in terms of creating artistic scenes. The works of Fan Kuan express the misty, tranquil, and vast wilderness described as "clouds and mist dimly veiling the wind and moon," while Ni Zan's works convey an "innocent and subtle" quality and a profound, serene atmosphere, which are more akin to Ai Xuan's experiences, cultivation, and temperament. He was inspired and gained insights from their landscape paintings and, combining his own artistic pursuits, explored in his oil painting practice, which was quite natural. His inner self is solitary and desolate. This likely explains why he directs his perspective toward the desolate and remote regions of Western Sichuan and the Tibetan Plateau. Regarding this, his friend, painter and critic Yuan Zhengyang, once described it well: "Before this, he had already traveled back and forth to these places several times. Driven solely by the charm of the Tibetan region, he painted portraits of Tibetans and scenes of grasslands. On a cold winter day, when Ai Xuan found himself once again amidst the snow-covered wilderness, his heart was deeply moved. He felt silence approaching him from all directions, and the oppressive silence of the distance. An indescribable sense of solitude permeated his entire being. It was as if he had returned to the beginning of time, with the biting wind tossing withered wild grasses. Ice cracked beneath his feet. From then on, the images of Tibetans and landscapes in Ai Xuan's paintings began to slowly be infused with new meaning.