Reflections on Life【Exhibition of Works by the High-Level Training Class for Character Painting (2005) of the Chinese Painting Research Institute】

Author: Liu Dawu, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Portraiture has the longest history among all painting genres in the history of Chinese painting. In the Neolithic era, during the Yangshao culture, human figures were already depicted in patterns on painted pottery. As a traditional subject in Chinese painting, portraiture has played a significant role in the long history of Chinese painting. On one hand, it fulfilled the social function of moral education in feudal society; on the other hand, it reflected the aesthetic tastes of traditional Chinese painting and embodied Chinese traditional culture. The development history of portraiture is the history of shaping human figures in different eras. Compared to other painting genres, portraiture has the unique ability to express its own time. Portraiture is an artistic creation centered on the theme of "human," and therefore, it should more accurately reflect people and embody the spirit of the era—this is the unchanging mission and responsibility of portraiture. Focusing on reality, human fate, and survival, and drawing inspiration and passion from them, are the main ways of contemporary portraiture creation. At the same time, expressing people's pursuit of ideals and a healthy, optimistic aesthetic taste in works reflects the spirit of the times in Chinese painting. The pursuit of unity between form and content, as well as between material and spirit in works, is the contemporary significance that modern portraiture seeks to achieve.