Rongbaozhai Painting Spectrum: Volume 83 Part of Freehand Painting: Figures and Animals Part of Freehand Painting: Figures and Animals

Author: Li Keran
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-05-01
Features: Li Keran, who pioneered a new era in Chinese landscape painting, was also skilled in figure painting, especially in depicting cattle. "Pastoral Cattle Paintings" constitute a significant portion of his works. To gain a comprehensive understanding of Keran's art, one cannot overlook his remarkable achievements in this field. His landscapes, generally speaking, are grand, majestic, and radiate brilliance, resembling magnificent epics. His figures and cattle paintings, overall, are simple in form yet expressive in spirit, full of charm, more like lyrical melodies. Despite this, both share the same essence, cleansing the long-standing of "pursuing high simplicity and resulting in emptiness" over centuries. He inherited the tradition while integrating the strengths of Western painting, remaining close to life and true to reality while refining his works to a high degree. Therefore, Li Keran's art, encompassing landscapes, figures, and cattle paintings,ed the face of Chinese painting in the 20th century, revitalizing tradition and setting a precedent for future generations.