Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting Sketches. Volume on Figures

Author: Fan Di'an, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features:
Outdoor painting has almost become a rare topic. Today's art world endlessly discusses various contemporary art issues—from culture to imagery, from concepts to practices, and so on—yet rarely mentions outdoor painting. "Outdoor painting" seems to be synonymous with "student work," not worthy of being discussed in the context of "contemporary art." Even when discussing oil painting specifically, outdoor painting is either forgotten as an old topic or relegated to the corner as a secondary issue. In today's increasingly exquisite art books, collections of outdoor paintings occupy a small portion, if they exist at all, primarily serving as reference materials for aspiring artists. In reality, history has long proven that the value of outstanding outdoor paintings is independent and unique. They are the direct expression of artists facing nature, capturing their spontaneous emotions and creative talents, and reflecting the brilliance of cultural times. Their vitality and life force hold the same significance as "creative" works, allowing us to perceive the artist's cultivation, talent, and personality. The question is whether we can still value the worth of outdoor painting today, recognizing it as a part of contemporary art. Inspired by this, compiling a series titled Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting Outdoor Painting Collections—mainly gathering the outstanding outdoor works of oil painters from different generations over the past two decades—to reflect the rich diversity of Chinese oil painting and prompt the art world to recognize the charm and value of outdoor oil paintings—seems to be an essential academic endeavor.