Analyze The Manifestation Of Chinese Elements In Contemporary Realistic Oil Paintings

With the popularity of Chinese culture and the progression of our society,people’s spiritual demands for cultural inheritance are enhanced.Gradually,"Chinese elements" have gained wide attention from all the fields of society and emerged in different artistic areas,which reflecting the Chinese people’s progressively awakened cultural confidence.Nowadays,Chinese element has become an ever-present theme and a common practice for artists in all fields.Use of Chinese elements provides a broader space for artists creation in the field of contemporary art.It has been several hundred years since the introduction of oil painting into China.After the Great Cultural Revolution,the development of Chinese oil painting presented a rapidly thriving trend.Some realistic oil painters combined Chinese aesthetic principles with western classical oil painting techniques,then they gradually formed a new style of appearance.Wang Yidong and Ai Xuan,the representatives of the contemporary Chinese realistic painting,used different “Chinese elements” in their artistic creations respectively and highlighted the characteristics of Chinese national culture.Both of Wang Yidong and Ai Xuan are the painters who are contemporary,realistic and representative in the realm of contemporary Chinese realistic painting,they pay attention on the real situation of China,so they have the perception of life and a strong sense of patriotism.They have formed their own unique artistic styles in painting language,although both of them used Chinese elements,they have different feels.Wang Yidong’ painting produce originated from his hometown,Yi Meng,the local nature and humanistic convention give him an inspiration of creating.He was immune to the Confucianist culture,he integrates the national art elements in his painting,such as paper-cut and mural.He chooses the traditional chinese painting ways and Song Dynasty painting method to express Chinese characteristic countryside style.Ai Xuan is effected by Ni Zan deeply,he looks for “adopted the way of expressing ones mind directly”,it means that he like painting the views to express his emotion.He chooses the idea of named ‘Leave A Blank’ which is one of Chinese traditional painting methods to express his alone.Because he lacked in the warmness of his family in his childhood,there is a resonate in spirit between him and Xizang.When his style formed,he begins to describe the human being’s lonely and adamancy.Grayness is the symbolic colour of his grown period.Both of the warmness in Wang Yidong’s painting and the loneliness of Ai Xuan give the reader a shock of heart.In the comparative study of oil painting which belongs to Wang Yidong and Ai Xuan,we can have a more complete awareness of how significant the "Chinese elements" is in painting.And this research can develop our thought,enrich our language to creative art,and it can also provide a reference and thinking about the creation in theory in the future.