The Study Of Wang Shuhui's Beautiful Woman Paintings

Wang Shuhui was a top Gongbi (meticulous brushwork) Zhongcai (heavily colored) figure painting artist in China's contemporary cultural arts. Especially she was skilled in Gongbi paintings of beautiful women. "The Romance of the Western Chamber", which is her masterpiece, has won high reputation both in China and aboard, which makes a great contribution to the development of Chinese Gongbi Zhongcai figure painting.Since the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the effect of character painting tended to reduce. The beautiful woman paintings, as a part of character painting also tends to a recession trend, when better and when worse, once growth and once decline. At the early stage of the 20th century, the character painting began to transform from the traditional figure painting in the late Qing Dynasty to a modern portrait. Wang Shuhui was one of the representative artists "inheriting the past and ushering in the future" in the painting creation practice. She devoted herself to the traditional techniques of excellence, and also had the courage to innovate. She achieved unity perfection in the painting techniques and in the performance of the contents. Her works reflected the Chinese nation's elegant, aesthetic and meaningful features. Wang Shuhui was also a representative artist who expressed the female emotional performance through female perspective. The figures in her works were lively, with line drawing clean-cut, and with elegant colors. Her works were out of the decadent style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and made a new generation of style, which was loved by readers both at home and abroad. Wang Shuhui learnt from the ancient, but she would not let the ancient limit herself. In her own words, that was "going by a roundabout route, but going its own way." What she pursued was pure China's classical aesthetic temperament, especially in the overall value orientation. In the "do subtle" meticulous color painting, in the pursuit of "an overwhelming majority" of artistically vivid, which make Wang Shuhui to be one of the most representative artists of modern Zhongcai figure painting. Her beautiful woman paintings were unique in the modern Gongbi character paintings. She made an everlasting contribution to the progress and popularization of beautiful woman paintings technique.This study analyses Wang Shuhui's artistic features of beautiful woman paintings through the performance methods of lines and colors, and through the art realm. The sources of Wang Shuhui's artistic thought were: 1) the study and succession of traditional paintings; 2) the understanding and soaking up of national culture; 3) the important influence of age and political factors to her artistic way. It was on the basis of succession to the traditional beautiful women paintings that Wang Shuhui grasped the new explorations of the paintings to the certain time. And she created a new scene in the beautiful woman paintings.The success of Wang Shuhui not only means the dormant for several decades of women paintings won a domestic glory, it also means that a new woman paintings style came into being. Her painting technique, experience and creative thoughts are the examples for people to learn. Wang Shuhui's artistic achievement shows a great value of the time, and has far-reaching significance. Her achievement has great significance to the future creation and study of Gongbi paintings.