Enjoy Longevity by Practicing Painting and Calligraphy

AMONG China＇s 100 famous masters of painting and calligraphy over the past two centuries, at least 20 of them lived to be over 85. The longest-lived reached 109. Many who have reseateded the secret to longevity hold that there is a certain causal relationship between a long life and the long-term study of Chinese painting and calligraphy.     

Speaking in Black and White—Female Painter Qi Peng

QI Peng is trying to create a series of pictures on the theme of the Beijing Olympic Games in traditional Chinese ink and wash. However, even she herself is not sure if it is an appropriate way to fully capture the athletes＇ sportsmanship. ＂Perhaps I should try other means...oil painting,or multiple materials...＂ Qi Peng thinks aloud.     

A Catalogue of Artistic Firsts

Yu Chengsong has secured a unique position in Chinese art history by virtue of his groundbreaking creation of a new genre combining oil painting and woodcut. Also, applying the techniques of traditional Chinese painting, Yu has reworked portraits of famous people in Chinese and world history, works that have been hailed as landmarks in China＇s portraiture. His are representative works of the fourth wave of Chinese and Western painting art,     

Manzhong Norbusitar: the Lure of the Thangka简

正FORTY-six-year-old Manzhong Norbusitar is a national inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Thangka painting,a traditional Tibetan art form.The fourth generation in a line of Tibetan artists,he showed a strong interest in Thangka from a young age.Thangka painting involves highly skilled,geometric painting on cotton or silk and usually depicts a Buddhist deity,a ritual scene or symbol.Norbusitar learned the necessary techniques from     

Contemporary Landscape Painting

The landscape painting, along with figure painting and bird-and-flower painting, constitute the most important categories of Chinese paintings.     

Emotive Ink-Wash

Sprouting twigs reach for the sky, as birds glide through the treetops. Xu Jianwei's painting is the view from a window. Its deconstruction brings into relief skilful strokes that convincingly intimate flowers and birds. Xu paints birds in traditional style, while his manner of depicting branches links traditional brushwork with     

Paintings in Seclusion

THE modern metropolis is full of noise, and hustling bustling people who know neither where they come from nor where they are going, Blinkeredness may be a suitable way of describing the lives of urban residents. Even the city sky has a depressive color. But the colors in a painting can in some way bring an element of vitality to the monotony of urban life. Zhang Li creates his tranquil, and secluded world from amidst the noisy urban life,     

Refining Classical Art with Strokes

ORIGINALLY from Henan Province, He Gongzhou is a 51-year-old painter who now lives at the foot of the Fragrant Hills in the suburbs of Beijing. He learned the art of calligraphy at an early age, and gradually assimilated it into his classical painting creations. Specializing in painting figures in ancient costumes, his work is lifelike, concise and elegant.     

Zhang Jianbao：Strokes of Magic

The artist Zhang Jianbao mainly works in landscape and portrait painting. Opposing the idea of limiting one＇s style to that of a particular school he advocates ＂ a Great China＂ approach to creating works of Chinese painting, pursuing lively expression within strict principles. The result is works of generous, open vision and profundity of thought.     

An Aesthetic Combination of Poetry,Calligraphy and Phinting

TRADITIONAL Chinese painting is inspired by the imagery of Chinese poetry. Xiao Shu (1940- ) is an accomplished poet and painter. Adept at traditional calligraphy and seal cutting, his works combine poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal cutting. The poems he inscribes on his painted works endorse their themes.     

Wang Fumin： Seeking the Soul of Western China

<正>Wang Fumin locates his painting in western China, depicting the residents as his heroes and heroines.Such preference results in a unique quality of strength and spontaneity captured in his art,which fully interprets the soul of western China.     

Absolutely Chinese

Ink painting animation - an exquisite art form that ends up in a museum Little Tadpole Looking for Mummy Little Tadpole Looking for Mummy, China's first ink painting animation, was produced in 1961. With innovation in painting, photography and production technology, it was the first effort at 'animating' ink paintings. Fishes, shrimps, frogs and crabs in the film resemble those in Qi Baishi's works. By any shot, it's an animated painting of fishes and insects, one that is suffused with a taste of Chinese ink-and-wash painting.     

Tian Fengyin, a Chinese Soul with Western Colors

CONTRARY to color wash which, for many people, constitutes the essence of Chinese painting. Tian Fengyin＇s paintings take us back to the world of oil painting and its color contrasts. But beyond their form, the reality illustrated by these paintings is permeated with the character of northern China.     

Artist and World Citizen

FOR Chinese-American artist Chen Jinfang （Chen Tsing-fang）, painting is the work of head, heart and guts. He is determined to create 100 works depicting the Shanghai World Expo, an artistic legacy of the great event. Although now 75 years old, he lies awake at night thinking about his compositions. ＂Once an inspiration strikes, I have to get to work immediately,＂ he says. He bought 70 advance admission tickets, and goes to the Expo Park every few days, sometimes just for the afternoon, sometimes from morning till night.     

Back to the Northern Song

正An ancient Chinese painting is being showcased in a new way Take a boat into the world of a 1,000 yearold painting and you can not only see how people at the time lived alongside the river upon which you glide,but simultaneously feel the moisture and smell the humidity in the air.Unfortunately,such an experience is restricted to the virtual reality of the future.Except     

A Traditional Ink Twist

When speaking about traditional Chinese paintings, some critics on the mainland concur, saying, "Withtoo much adherence to tradition and emphasis on seclusion and meditation, ink and wash paintings havefailed to convey the modern spirit."But the status of Chinese ink and wash paintings is changing. The concept of ink and wash painting hasevolved from "Chinese painting" to "ink and wash painting" and then to "ink-wash art." Artists with traditionalhumanistic ideas strive to further develop in…     

A messenger of beauty-a sketch of a Japanese painter

The Sino-Japanese exchange of culture and painting reached its prime during ancient China's Tang and Song dynasties. However, in modern times, due to the sharp decrease in the exchange of painting between the two countries, we know little about each other's development.The Beijing International Art Biennale was held in this year's golden autumn, which included the Painting Exhibition of Takayama Tatsuo - one of the "Four Masters of Modern Japanese Painting". It is undeniable that the biennial event offers the general public a golden chance to have a close look at Japanese painting and appreciate its unique style and great charm from a closer distance.     

Zhou Hua’s Visions of Tibet

ZHOU Hua grew up in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, where she embarked on her painting career and has since worked as an independent artist. Her works are themed on personal observations of life in Tibet.     

Chen Jing ： Artist with a Poetic Palette

The artist Chen Jing graduated from Harbin Normal University＇s Faculty of Art and then went on to study atthe Faculty of Traditional Chinese Painting of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. She is a member of the China Association of Gongbi Painting, Gongbi is a traditional style of Chinese painting characterized by meticulous attention to detail and delicate brushwork.     

Moment of Seabirds in Flight

ALTHOUGH not intentionally Yu Jiantao’s paintings tend toexpress solitude and melancholy,a reflection of his introverted personality and solitary life.Yu followed his parents into the countryside in 1969,where they were forcedto labor and live a rural life until 1978,when the family returned totheir home city.This period of simple pastoral life left Yu with unfor-gettable memories and inspired him to take up a painting brush Asa self-taught artist,Yu has pursued his own path persistently andfruitfully.