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(guó)現(xiàn)當(dāng)代藝術(shù)夜場(chǎng)”在北京四季酒店收槌，共上拍93件作品，實(shí)現(xiàn)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(wàn)元和3220萬(wàn)元成交，成為本場(chǎng)拍賣(mài)價(jià)格前兩位的拍品。

吳冠中，1919年出生于江蘇宜興。自1936年進(jìn)入國(guó)立杭州藝專，在林風(fēng)眠的指導(dǎo)下開(kāi)始研習(xí)西洋繪畫(huà)。1942年畢業(yè)后，在國(guó)立重慶大學(xué)執(zhí)教。

1946年，吳冠中獲教育部獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金赴法國(guó)留學(xué)，就讀于巴黎的國(guó)立高等美術(shù)學(xué)校，同時(shí)在盧浮宮研習(xí)西洋美術(shù)史。

1950年秋，吳冠中返國(guó)。先后任教于中央美術(shù)學(xué)院、清華大學(xué)建筑系、北京藝術(shù)學(xué)院、中央工藝美術(shù)學(xué)院。

吳冠中是舊中國(guó)最后一批去法國(guó)留學(xué)的畫(huà)家，也是新中國(guó)第一批從西方回國(guó)報(bào)效祖國(guó)的畫(huà)家。他學(xué)貫中西，研究過(guò)莫奈的池塘睡蓮垂柳、塞尚的綠色叢林、梵高的風(fēng)景人物、尤脫利羅抒情畫(huà)、馬蒂斯的線條，無(wú)論在油畫(huà)界，還是國(guó)畫(huà)界，吳冠中都是位個(gè)性鮮明、當(dāng)之無(wú)愧的繪畫(huà)大家，被稱為“東方的馬蒂斯”。

1991年，法國(guó)文化部授予其“法國(guó)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(huà)家吳冠中舉辦個(gè)展。1993年，法國(guó)巴黎塞紐奇博物館舉辦“走向世界——吳冠中油畫(huà)水墨速寫(xiě)展”，并給他頒發(fā)“巴黎市金勛章”。

1999年，國(guó)家文化部主辦“吳冠中畫(huà)展”。2000年，吳冠中入選法蘭西學(xué)院藝術(shù)院通訊院士，成為法蘭西學(xué)院成立近二百年來(lái)，首位獲此稱號(hào)的亞洲人。

在西方人眼中，吳冠中的中國(guó)畫(huà)作品極具東方文化特征與特色，在亞洲及國(guó)人的眼中，其繪畫(huà)藝術(shù)又展現(xiàn)出西方藝術(shù)的情結(jié)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》