Li Luo Public Oil Painting Study

This paper first introduces LiLuogong's experience in art, which includes the formation, development and termination (for political reasons) of his art style;then it discusses LiLuogong's pursuit in "formal beauty" and "nationalization" as well as the development and features of his teaching idea. Through the analysis of his existing works and the comparison with the style and idea of the overseas artists at his age, this paper specifically illustrates LiLuogong's "freehand brushwork painting", its historic value and practical influence, therefore further proves his status in the history of Chinese oil painting.According to the available material, LiLuogong's "freehand brushwork painting" came into being when he was in Shanghai, became mature when he came back from Japan. Although his freehand style was strongly against the 1950's mainstream art, which was quite political and formal, his attempt in nationalizing oil painting deserved to be valued. On the other hand, over viewing the Chinese and Western art tradition, he advocated "the harmony of Chinese and Western style". LiLuogong mixed formal beauty in Western modern art, in which "beasts style" was typical, and the free element in Chinese freehand brushwork, broke a pathfor "freehand brushwork painting", and filled a gap in Chinese modern art history. Meanwhile he also extended his idea in his calligraphy and carving, so we can see he was pursuing "formal beauty" all through his career.There are two parts in this paper: the first part introduces his life history, gives some comment on the history, and mainly analyzes the relevancy between the background of the age, academic background and development of his style and idea. In the second part, on the basis of comparison, the paper studies the artistic language features and his unique contribution to the "nationalization" of oil painting.