Wu Guanzhong:“the Eastern Matisse”

Text by Xu Kuang 許曠

Translation by Yu Lan 于蘭

Wu Guanzhong:“the Eastern Matisse”

吳冠中：“東方馬蒂斯”

Text by Xu Kuang 許曠

Translation by Yu Lan 于蘭

On the night of June 4th, 2017, the Beijing Poly 2017 Spring“Chinese Contemporary Art Auction” ended in Beijing at the Four Seasons Hotel. 93 works were auctioned and the volume of transaction reached 166 million yuan. Wu Guanzhong’s Red Lotus, painted in 1974, and Mount Kilimanjaro, painted in 1975, were sold at the prices of 32.775 million yuan and 32.2 million yuan, respectively, and were the two most valuable works sold.

Wu Guanzhong was born in Yixin City, Jiangsu Province. In 1936, he entered the Hangzhou National College of Art, studying western painting under the guidance of Lin Fengmian. After graduation in 1942, he started teaching at Chongqing University.

In 1946, Wu furthered his study in France with a scholarship provided by the Ministry of Education. He was enrolled in the National Academy of Fine Art in Paris and studied western art history at the Louvre.

In the autumn of 1950, Wu Guanzhong returned to China and taught at the Central Academy of Fine Art in the Architectural Department of Tsinghua University, as well as the Beijing Art Institute and the Central Academy of Art and Design.

He was of the last group of painters that were sent abroad in the old China and the first group of painters that came back to serve the new China. He has a thorough knowledge of both Chinese and Western art. He studied the ponds, lotus, and willow of Monet, the green forests of Cezanne, the scenery and characters of Vincent Van Gogh, the lyrical paintings of Utrillo, and the lines of Matisse. Being a distinctive and distinguished painter in both the field of oil painting and traditional Chinese painting, he is called “the Eastern Matisse.”

In 1991, Wu was made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In 1992, the British Museum broke the convention of only exhibiting ancient relics, holding a personal exhibition for the living painter Wu Guanzhong for the first time. In 1993, Musee Cernuschi in Paris held an event“Look to the World—Wu Guanzhong Oil Painting and Ink Painting Sketch Exhibition” and awarded him with the“Golden Medal of Paris.”

In 1999, China’s National Ministry of Culture held “An Exhibition of Wu Guanzhong’s Paintings.” In 2000, he became the first Asian artist to be awarded the Médaille des Arts et Lettres by the Académie des Beaux-Arts de l’Institut de France in the 200 years since the establishment of the institute.

In the eyes of Western people, the Chinese paintings of Wu Guanzhong contain the features and elements of Eastern culture. In the eyes of Eastern people, his paintings reflect the style and form of Western art—possessing a new aesthetic orientation of its own.

A few representative paintings by Wu Guanzhong are carefully singled out for the benefit of readers.

2017年6月4日晚，北京保利2017春拍“中國現當代藝術夜場”在北京四季酒店收槌，共上拍93件作品，實現總成交額1.66億元。其中，吳冠中作于1974年和1975年的《紅蓮》和《乞力馬扎羅雪山》分別以3277.5萬元和3220萬元成交，成為本場拍賣價格前兩位的拍品。

吳冠中，1919年出生于江蘇宜興。自1936年進入國立杭州藝專，在林風眠的指導下開始研習西洋繪畫。1942年畢業后，在國立重慶大學執教。

1946年，吳冠中獲教育部獎學金赴法國留學，就讀于巴黎的國立高等美術學校，同時在盧浮宮研習西洋美術史。

1950年秋，吳冠中返國。先后任教于中央美術學院、清華大學建筑系、北京藝術學院、中央工藝美術學院。

吳冠中是舊中國最后一批去法國留學的畫家，也是新中國第一批從西方回國報效祖國的畫家。他學貫中西，研究過莫奈的池塘睡蓮垂柳、塞尚的綠色叢林、梵高的風景人物、尤脫利羅抒情畫、馬蒂斯的線條，無論在油畫界，還是國畫界，吳冠中都是位個性鮮明、當之無愧的繪畫大家，被稱為“東方的馬蒂斯”。

1991年，法國文化部授予其“法國文藝最高勛位”。1992年，大英博物館打破只展出古代文物的慣例，首次為在世畫家吳冠中舉辦個展。1993年，法國巴黎塞紐奇博物館舉辦“走向世界——吳冠中油畫水墨速寫展”，并給他頒發“巴黎市金勛章”。

1999年，國家文化部主辦“吳冠中畫展”。2000年，吳冠中入選法蘭西學院藝術院通訊院士，成為法蘭西學院成立近二百年來，首位獲此稱號的亞洲人。

在西方人眼中，吳冠中的中國畫作品極具東方文化特征與特色，在亞洲及國人的眼中，其繪畫藝術又展現出西方藝術的情結與形式，有著全新的審美取向。

本刊特選取吳冠中的幾幅代表作，以饗讀者。

●Mount Kilimanjaro《乞力馬扎羅雪山》

● Red Lotus《紅蓮》

●The Giant Panda《大熊貓》