In Commemoration of Tang Yun

The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Tang Yun (1910-1993)， a prominent artist who was born in Hangzhou and moved to Shanghai in 1938. To mark the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the artist， Hangzhou-based Tang Yun Art Museum and Macao Art Museum jointly mounted a memorial exhibition in Macao on June 26. On display are more than 200 paintings， calligraphic works and some antiques out of Tang’s personal collection.

The exhibition in Macao is scheduled to continue until August 22. It will reopen in Hangzhou and run from September to October.

Tang Yun Art Museum is nestled comfortably on a niche between Nanshan Road and Long Bridge Park on the West Lake in Hangzhou. The lakeside villa-styled architecture houses Tang Yun’s private collection of 150 valuable artifacts and his own creations.

Tang Yun was born in Jewelry Lane in Hangzhou. He learned to draw and sketched a great deal around the scenic lake as a boy. Before 17， he dedicated himself to copying ancient masterpieces， an effective way of mastering the traditional art. He first established himself as an artist in Hangzhou by creating paintings on folding fans and got them sold at a fan shop in the city. As his paintings on fans were excellent and the shop priced them reasonably， his fans became an instant hit on the market. His reputation spread fast. Some people even mistook him for Tang Bohu， a great artist of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Tang Yun began to teach painting at a middle school in Hangzhou when he was 19. At 28， he migrated to Shanghai for greater opportunities. The young artist taught traditional Chinese painting at two distinguished art schools in Shanghai from 1938 to 1942 before he quit the teaching job and became a full-time artist. He held a number of successful exhibitions in Shanghai in the 1940s.

Tang Yun focused on landscape in his early years and turned to flowers and birds in the late 1940s though he occasionally came back to dabble in figures. After the 1970s， he became more impressionistic in his bird and flower painting. His masterpieces feature bold yet careful brushstrokes and his style indicates elements of both the northern and southern techniques. His large-size creations are celebrated for their stability. Two of his paintings are now in the Great Hall of People in Beijing (It is considered an honor and coveted recognition to be commissioned to create an artwork for the hall). A large painting of his hangs in the VIP room of the Shanghai Railway Station.

Tang Yun established himself in Shanghai not only as an inspirational artist of painting and calligraphy but also as a collector. A very valuable part of his collection is purple clay tea kettles made in Yixing， Jiangsu Province. The reputation of tea kettles made in Yixing traces back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). In the middle of the Ming Dynasty some scholars became curious about the craft and introduced innovative touches and ideas to the making of the purple clay tea kettles. It was these scholars who brought art to the production and turned these ordinary tea kettles into collectors’ items. In the Qing Dynasty， more masters appeared， adding more stylish touches and new aesthetics to the making of purple-clay tea kettles.

In Tang Yun’s collection are eight purple clay tea kettles based designed by Chen Mansheng (1768-1822)， a scholar of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) who changed the way purple clay tea kettles were designed. It is said that Tang’s fame as a collector is solely rested upon the eight masterpieces. Tang donated the kettles to the state. Today， they are housed at the museum on the West Lake. Ancient ink-stones are another big part of Tang’s collection.

Though Tang Yun served as a leader of various artist organizations in Shanghai after 1949， he was very proud of his ancestral roots in Hangzhou. More often than not， the artist proudly signed “Hangzhou native Tang Yun” on his artworks. His vision of art was largely attributed to his early-year experience with the graceful beauty of the West Lake and mountains in the lake area.

In June， 1981， the 71-year-old Tang， then chairman of Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Painting， came to Hangzhou to create a painting for Louwailou， a famous restaurant on the West Lake. The huge painting is now one of the best in the art collection of Louwailou.

However， this painting was not the first Tang created for the time-honored restaurant. As early as 1959， Tang Yun and seven other big-name artists gathered at the lakeside eatery and jointly created a few paintings for Louwailou. Many in the restaurant’s collection were destroyed during the 10-year tumult that lasted from 1966 to 1976.

Though Tang was proud of his hometown and the local people are proud of him， the city has never hosted such a big memorial exhibition for the artist before. The one scheduled for September and October this year will be the first of its kind to be ever held in Hangzhou. □