Jiang Guofang Oil Painting -- Forbidden City Series

Author: Jiang Guofang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Jiang Guofang was one of the first artists to enter art academies and receive formal art education during the reform and opening-up period in the 1970s. He graduated with excellent performance from the highest art institution in China, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and was selected to teach at the academy. During his time at the academy, Jiang Guofang deeply felt the profound impact of creating historical paintings using authentic European realistic techniques. In the subsequent years of teaching and artistic creation, he gradually refined these techniques into a comprehensive system that aligned with Chinese characteristics for historical painting. 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 pursuit of artistic language to the establishment and elevation of a theoretical framework. Since the 1990s, Jiang Guofang's reverence for Chinese history and culture has formed the core of his artistic sentiment and pursuit. At the same time, his profound reflection and reassessment of Chinese history and culture have undoubtedly contributed to the initial realization of a unique series of painting themes. In fact, how to use oil painting language and the creative form of historical paintings to express the history of the Chinese nation and connect it with contemporary societal changes has always been a persistent and profound question for Jiang Guofang. 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 depict a grand historical backdrop. However, the artist is not intent on or restoring historical scenes but rather on expressing contradictions, historical transformations, and projecting the creator's personal experiences and contemporary or cultural insights.