Jiang Guofang Oil Painting: Forbidden City Series

Author: Jiang Guofang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Jiang Guofang is an artist who entered the art college and received formal art education during the early years of China's reform and opening-up in the 1970s. He graduated with outstanding performance from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, China's top art institution, and was selected to teach at the same school. During his time at the academy, Jiang Guofang deeply felt the profound significance of using authentic European realistic techniques to create historical paintings. In the subsequent stages of his teaching and creative career, he gradually refined these techniques into a comprehensive system that aligns with Chinese characteristics for historical painting creation. Later, frequent overseas study trips provided Jiang Guofang with the opportunity to draw on the essence of his own nation's fine traditions while also broadening his perspective to grasp the pulse of contemporary art development.
Leveraging this opportunity, by the late 1980s, Jiang Guofang had shifted his focus from the attention to artistic language to the establishment and enhancement of a theoretical framework. Since the 1990s, Jiang Guofang's reverence for Chinese history and culture has shaped his artistic sentiment and pursuit. At the same time, his profound reflection and reevaluation of Chinese history and culture have undoubtedly contributed to the initial realization of a unique series of thematic paintings. In fact, how to use oil painting language and the creative form of historical paintings to depict the history of the Chinese nation and connect it with contemporary societal changes has always been a lingering and deeply pondered issue for Jiang Guofang, and the release of his "Forbidden City" series seems to be an initial conclusion.
In Jiang Guofang's "Forbidden City" series, the magnificent palaces, grand city gates and towers, and the intricate streets and alleys unfold a grand historical backdrop. However, the artist is not intent on restoring the authenticity of history or recreating historical scenes. Instead, he focuses more on portraying the conflicts and transformations of history, while also striving to project the creator's personal experiences and contemporary or cultural insights.