An exhibition commemorating the 100th birth anniversary of famed Chinese artist Wu Guanzhong has been staged at the Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing since Friday.
Themed in "Art Nurtures Life," a total of 111 oil and color ink paintings selected from the collections of the Tsinghua University, the National Gallery Singapore, and the National Art Museum of China respectively, are displayed, covering different stages of the life of the late art master.
Among them, some are the latest donations of Wu Keyu, the eldest son of Wu Guanzhong, to Tsinghua University on July 1 of this year.
Other exhibits include documents about Wu, his pictures, articles, manuscripts and painting tools.
The exhibition offers a comprehensive look at the Chinese artist through interactions of graphic and textual narratives, exhibition planner told Xinhua News Agency.
An artist database on Wu Guanzhong was launched on the same day. The exhibition will last until May 3, 2020.
Visitors look at a painting of Wu Guanzhong at the exhibition "Art Nurtures Life, Celebrating 100 Years of Wu Guanzhong," November 1, 2019. /VCG Photo
Wu Guanzhong is considered to be China's most important painter of the 20th century. The late artist was a master at mixing the merits of Chinese and Western art.
Born in 1919, he was a native of Yixing, east China's Jiangsu Province, whose picturesque scenery, landscapes, architecture and people are frequently observed in his paintings.
In 1947 Wu went to France to study Western painting, where he was inspired by the works of Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, and Vincent van Gogh in particular, before returning to China in 1950.
He taught at Tsinghua's architecture department for few years in the early 1950s, and was later transferred to lecturing at the central academy of arts and design, now Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, for a decade until retirement in the late 1980s.
The works by Wu Guanzhong are in high demand in the art market, often appearing at auctions and selling for high prices. Through his outstanding creativity, many believe Wu was behind the contemporary transformation of Chinese painting.
(Cover image: A visitor looks at the works of Wu Guanzhong at the exhibition "Art Nurtures Life, Celebrating 100 Years of Wu Guanzhong," November 1, 2019. /VCG Photo)
(With input from Xinhua News Agency and China Daily)