Wu Guanzhong

signed in Chinese and dated 79; signed in Chinese, titled and dated 1979 on the reverse

Sotheby's, Taipei, 19 October, 1997, lot 144 
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

Shui Tianzhong and Wang Hua ed., The Complete Works of Wu Guanzhong Vol. III, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, Changsha, 2007, p.145

This work is in very good condition overall. There is hairline craquelure across the surface, only visible under close examination. And one can see light wear at four corners. Under ultraviolet light there are no apparent restorations.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Wu Guanzhong's 1970s masterpiece Rice Paddies of Central Sichuan
A precious record of journeying in the southwest

After a slump in his work when he was sent down to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, Wu Guanzhong recovered in the late 1970s. He had more creative freedom and became more influential in the cultural world. In March 1979, Wu Guanzhong was invited by the School of Art at Southwest Normal University in Chongqing to give lectures. He took the teachers to paint in the Daba Mountains and Da Zu. Rice Paddies of Central Sichuan was created at that time. Paddy fields are a special type of scenery common to southwest China. They allow farming in mountainous areas. Wu Guanzhong was deeply touched by the beauty of the paddy fields, but due to difficult weather conditions he didn’t produce many oil paintings on this theme. He wrote an article on the topic in his prose collection Beyond Painting - Forty Essays. This is the complete text:

Paddy Fields
"Paddy fields are planted in terraces and covered in water. The reflection of light is so bright that the people of Sichuan call them mirror fields. Who do these huge mirrors reflect? They reflect the sky. Never say paddy fields are just water. They reflect the subtle sky, as the light from the sky and the shadows of the clouds waver together. It is the silver grey light on the water that I have pursued on my pallet for half my lifetime.

Along with the ups and downs of the hillside and the zigzag criss-crossing paths, ink lines flow throughout. Whether they are beautiful or ugly depends on the shape of the hillside. So I stepped onto the muddy ridge carrying a heavy box of oil paints, going up and down, left and right, searching, choosing, matching and setting up an appropriate composition. There were a few little trees on the ridge. They were thin but strong and pretty because they are close to water. Their reflection in the water was very clear. The light sketches present the simplicity and tranquility of the paddy field.

When I choose paddy fields, I consider the season and the terrain. It has to be a cloudy day to avoid interference from the sun. It is a prose poem, so I have to shut out the noise. I am only satisfied with a few of my paddy field paintings. I painted most of them in the 1970s, and it was not easy. I did no more of them thereafter."

Composing beautiful rhymes in gossamer; new ideas from graceful tradition

Wu Guanzhong’s painting reached a peak in the 1970s. In his early days, he studied at the Hangzhou School of Fine Arts and then went to France to study modern art. He went through a 30-year period of reflection on his return to China, and carried on painting after he was sent to work in the countryside. He absorbed the natural beauty of his home country and folk aesthetics, forming his own personal "Wu aesthetics". In his 1970s and 80s transition period, he started to paint in both oils and inks combining complementary aspects of Western and Chinese art to achieve perfection. The Sichuan paddy fields are like the irregular scales of fish. To paint them, it is better to sketch out lines to build a structure. This is the advantage of using ink. Wu Guanzhong applied gossamer tracing technique in the oil version of Rice Paddies of Central Sichuan as well as in the ink version.  In ancient paintings, gossamer tracing was mainly used to outline people’s clothes. In the Qing Dynasty, Zuo Lang mentioned in his Techniques of Painting that “Gossamer tracing requires vigorous strokes just like Cao’s paintings of people’s clothes. This is the highest-level ancient technique.” This technique emphasizes the tapering and pliability of lines to make clothes look like they are soft and floating. Sayings such as “Cao’s clothes rising from the water” and “Wu’s clothes carrying the wind” are based on this technique. Wu Guanzhong was extremely capable of integrating Chinese and Western styles. His highly creative imagination allowed him to create his own artistic language, combining elements from past and present, China and abroad. The connections between the lines he used to represent the paddy fields in Rice Paddies of Central Sichuan and the gossamer traced clothes in ancient paintings are clear. Another example was in 1990, when Wu Guanzhong painted the Grand Canyon in America. The landform looks like a group of tigers. From it, a series of paintings of crouching tigers was born. It is clear that Wu Guanzhong did not only focus on depicting nature when he painted scenery. Under the theme of nature, he brought his imagination and creativity into full play.

Using paints to supplement ink, colours with extreme tension

In Guanzhong’s artistic philosophy, both oil and ink painting have their own unique features. Therefore, no matter which medium he chose to work with, he always used the other as a supplement. In Rice Paddies of Central Sichuan, the main subject, the paddy fields, was painted using the gossamer tracing technique from Chinese ink painting and the colours are also similar to an ink painting. However, Wu Guanzhong always drew on the advantage of oil paints – the eye-catching colours and strong tension they produce. After decades of painting real life, he became very experienced at depicting the colours of nature, however this particular work reflects his skill in dealing with both distant and close-up scenery. The close up paddy fields are mainly sketched out in ink lines. The spaces in between the files are filled by a natural lead white and pinky grey. In order to make the painting more attractive, Wu Guanzhong used a thick chrome yellow and lake green to highlight the plants in the paddy fields. He also smeared a hint of peach pink onto the little tree in the middle to brighten up the picture. He used a subtly changing silver blue and light cyan to form the texture of the valley in the distance. It conforms to the principle of atmospheric perspective, yet it doesn't overtake the subject. If you look closely, the view in the distance is just as interesting. It is clear that Wu Guanzhong is able to manage a work of any size.