Zhao Wangyun Painting Art Research

In the Chinese Painting Reform Movement at the outset of the 20th century, Zhao Wangyun, deeply influenced by the democratic thoughts, actively participated in the reform campaign and, with his achievements in the exploration and practice of art dissemination, he became the vanguard and prominent figure in the art popularization progression of that time. Then, in the trend of "tracing the cultural source" and "tracing the roots in the west", he settled in the west of China, exploring the essence of the painting of Tang and Song Dynasty, and then created the new style in aesthetics based on west China. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, staying loyal to his artistic ideal, he eventually revitalized the Chinese western painting (which had hibernated for over one thousand years), promoted it to a new height, and mobilized and influenced the entire group the painting artists of west China, which established a firm foundation for the uprising of the modern "Painting School of Chang’an". Besides, with his unique artistic pedagogy, Zhao Wangyun tutored Huang Zhou, Fang Jizhong, Xu Shujie and several excellent artists. In his later years, after the suffering in the Cultural Revolution, his style changed to somber and natural, serene and peaceful, reaching towards another high level of artistic status and culminating to its completion.Through his lifetime, Zhao Wangyun persists to "confront the reality" and never ceases to be innovative in his artistic exploration, which is regarded to be a spectacular landmark of Chinese painting history in the 20th century, and provides an archetype for the development and revival of modern painting of China. When we examine Zhao Wangyun’s artistic life path, we also unfold the history of Chinese painting in the 20th century, from which we can experience and understand the aesthetic pursuit and social responsibility of Zhao and his peer artists, and the Zeitgeist and artistic characteristics around them.