艾中信

Biography

Born in Pudong, Shangahi in 1915, he is a representative figure of the first generation of painters trained by the pioneers of Chinese oil painting such as Yan Wenliang, Xu Beihong and Liu Haisu who studied in Europe in the twenties. Upon his graduation from the Art Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1940, he remained teaching in his school and studied with Xu Beihong. He was professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1950 and became head of the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1954. Later he became vice-president. He is now professor of the said academy, chairman of Wu Zuoren’s International Art Foundation, and councillor of the Chinese Artist’s Association.

The themes of his oil painting are manifold, strict in composition, rich in colouring and plain in brushwork. Like the painters of the elder generation, he attaches great importance to painting from life. He not only traveled extensively in China, but also went abroad for long creative investigations. From personal experience in natural sceneries, he acquired the most real sketches and creative inspiration and enthusiasm. His several 10-meter panorama paintings he created are powerful and surging forward with great momentum and vivid figures in detail. They reflect his unique talent of art, perseverance and sincerity.

He trained a great number of art talents. As an excellent art critic in China, he wrote many articles on art theories and art reviews, and as a well-known oil painter, he produced a large quantity of outstanding works of art. His art productions are plain and simple in style, and developed a school of his won in China modern history of oil painting. In 1962 he published an important academic article “On Oil Painting Style”, in which he made comments upon tens of contemporary well-known painters, exerting a great influence at that time.

His revolutionary historical paintings are also outstanding, including “Crossing the Yellow River to the East”, “Crossing the Yellow River at Night” and “Over the Snowy Mountain”, etc. These works are big compositions to express feeling through scenery. Brought up from the country, he has a natural love for nature and often shows the emotion of a poet. For this reason, in painting, he is likely to be mingled with feeling and sight and reach a self-less state. In the painting “Crossing the Yellow River to the East”, though the figures of individual fighters are not presented in detail, lofty revolutionary sentiments are fully expressed, giving one an earth-shaking feeling. The “Lyric historic painting” as such works are often called, are originated by him. He has all along held that one’s disposition should be true but one’s means flexible.