Introduction

The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong

Wu Guanzhong(1919-2010), born in Yixing of Jiangsu province, is a renown painter and art educator. His practical and theoretical achievements have brought a broader prospective for the Chinese contemporary art. 

 During 1980s, Wu probed into a series of significant  aesthetic problems such as “abstract beauty”, “form beauty” and “form determining the content”, leaving abundant works and many sharply novel remarks. Artistic ideas proposed by him like “unbroken kite string” (kite refers to art works while string the reality where inspirations lie. He argued that works, despite of its forms, ought to emotionally revolve around certain themes), “cultural war” (cultural is also involved in global competition) and “form is nothing” （form should be appreciated in content, otherwise, it is of no meaning. His ideas have caught widespread attention, aroused discussion and controversy in artistic field, stimulating relentless passion in contemporary artists. Devoted wholeheartedly to blending together western oil paintings and traditional Chinese ink paintings, Wu created a lot of works, which, with original and ingenious designs, are perfect combination of tradition and modernity, imbued with his philosophy of life and enthusiasm for art. What's more, he donated for many times his works to National Art Museum Of China， Shanghai Art Museum, Zhejiang Art Museum, The National Gallery Singapore and Art Museum of Hong Kong etc, making his works accessible to more people. 

This exhibition co-organized by the Hunan Museum, Zhejiang Art Museum will display 80 pieces of works of Wu, all of which were once donated to Zhejiang Art Museum by him and his eldest son, Wu Keyu. We hope with great sincerity that these works will guide you to the wonderland of art.