[Photo provided to China Daily]
Art odyssey
Late ink artist Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) formed a close bond with Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Shenzhen, Guangdong province. He studied at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and donated dozens of his works to Zhejiang Art Museum. He visited Shenzhen more than once, holding solo and group exhibitions there to add momentum to the city's cultural vibe.
I Owe My Life to Art, an ongoing exhibition at Shenzhen Art Museum's new venue, through Sept 7, gathers paintings and documents in the collections of Zhejiang Art Museum and Shenzhen Art Museum, navigating Wu's art as a clue to map the development of 20th-century Chinese art.
Wu is highly acknowledged as a leading figure who integrated Western art styles with the aesthetic and philosophy of Chinese culture. After graduating from the China Academy of Art, he pursued further studies at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. The rich experiences allowed him to venture into a lifelong exploration in renovating the face of Chinese art. Adopting the spirit of modernism he was exposed to while in Europe, he also turned to Chinese cultural traditions to revive that minimalist brushwork style.
10 am-6 pm, closed on Mondays.30 Tenglong Lu, Longhua district, Shenzhen, Guangdong province.0755-2806-2004.
[Photo provided to China Daily]
Master painter
When his print exhibition was held in the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, in April 2023, Huang Yongyu, then aged 99, expressed his love of Yangzhou in a letter: "I want to go to Yangzhou myself so much, and feel its bustle. It is a great pity that I'm too aged and weak (to go there). … Life is full of happiness and regrets and that is the pity of it." He passed away two months later.
Now, For So Long, and Colorful, another exhibition dedicated to the works Huang made in his 90s, has opened at the same museum, showing paintings on paper and designs, as well as manuscripts, publications and documents. It runs until Aug 17.
The works show the many delights and surprises Huang experienced in this world, be it a tree in a valley or a pot of blooming daffodils. There are his takes on the ups and downs of life, the experiences of which empowered him to leave a diverse body of works.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 1 Yunbo Lu, Sanwan scenic area, Guangling district, Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. 0514-8277-3088.
[Photo provided to China Daily]
Lively world
The flower-and-bird motif in Chinese painting has been a favorite genre in which the fine brushwork depicts the vigor of nature to embody a philosophical take on life.
A Flourishing World, a long-term exhibition at Tianjin Museum, shows dozens of such paintings from the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). They are in the collections of Tianjin Museum and the Guangzhou Museum of Art.
Featured artists include monk Zhu Huairen from the 19th century, better known by his art pseudonym Xu Gu, and Zhao Zhiqian, a forerunner of the Shanghai School, a painting movement that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Works from the time reveal changing aesthetics redefined by booming commerce and urban culture.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays.62 Pingjiang Dao, Hexi district, Tianjin. 022-8388-3000.
