Test / Wang Laiwen
Landscape oil paintings are the main subject matters and creative orientations of Prof.Hu Zhende. His landscape oil paintings, especially those series about the countryside of the Fujian Province, the mountain areas of South of Fujian, Wuyi Mountain areas and Taihang Mountain areas, are fantastic and inspiring. I may take these works as his breakthrough in his academics.
Due to the characteristics of oil painting, it is rare that a painter can paint better after his sixties. Prof.Hu is the exception. These oil paintings demonstrate the progress he has made, which show the free and relaxed artistic language. He becomes the master of colors, frame, line, surface and brushwork. In the artistic style, these works are much mature compared with his former works. In my opinion, these oil paintings demonstrate the sublimation of Hu Zhende’s artistic style.
Hu Zhende | The round and square earth building | oil painting | 60x80cm | 2015
Painting the nature in a creative style is Hu Zhende’s state of life. The subject matters mainly come from the countryside which display his understanding of the nostalgia. These works not only trace his perception but also demonstrate his love of nature, especially his love of his hometown Fujian. Integrated with the close connection and feelings, Hu’s works greatly touches us by his burst of passion and deep affection. This way of expression depicts Hu Zhende’s skill in oil paintings to express “his ideal” and “meaning”.
These oil paintings show that Hu Zhende is skillful in the artistic language, and meanwhile he can demonstrate his character and his pursuit of art. The bold and consistent color display his pursuit of purity of aesthetics while the vivid description of details are integrated in the harmonious works, thus showing his good master of art.
Hu Zhende | Going home | oil painting | 100x80cm | 2013
These works clearly demonstrate the aesthetic nature of Chinese paintings, especially fit into the Chinese writing brush. The lines in the paintings are of Chinese characteristics, being soft and gentle. The strokes are just like Chinese ink brush to spilt and outline, being rhythmic.
The works take advantages of the methodicalness of Chinese painting, making full use of the white and black color, expressing the spirit and vividness. So the pictures are rhythmic, and full of life. As to the view selection, Hu Zhende forms his frame of pictures by changing views and scattering perspective, thus making creative freehand painting and consistent pictures. Furthermore, the traditional Chinese aesthetic are fully displayed in his recent paintings. The pursuit of artistic concepts reminds of the poetic moment and cultural ethos.
Hu Zhende | Early morning in Tainhang Mountain | 100x80cm | oil painting | 2015
Prof.Hu’s sentiment for nature can be read in his bright and colorful paintings, which makes his works cordial and sincere. People may feel the warmth of the land, the tender of the countryside and the sweet of nature. Hu Zhende reverts to the traditional Chinese culture recently. He is engaged in traditional Chinese paintings, calligraphy, Chinese classic books, thus making his landscape oil paintings overflowed with strong Chinese aesthetics, revealing the Chinese freehand and image style. These kind of styles reveal his aesthetic thingking on easternisation of the Western art, which keeps the same pace as the current tendency of nationalization and sinicization of oil paintings.
what makes different is that Hu Zhende integrates traditional Chinese culture in his works unintentionally due to his understanding of Chinese culture. And this king of integration is so natural that no trace of purpose is found in the works. Hu’s works are full of conversant, sincere and natural human feelings, full of culture awareness, thus promoting his humanistic sensibilities and integration of his love of the great nature.
Hu Zhende | Autumn in Wufu Town | 100x80cm | oil painting | 2015
In the development of the Chinese art , freehand style has gradually evolved into an art spirit and philosophy. It has become a special aesthetic character of Chinese paintings, and embodies the Chinese Art Spirit. During the development of 100 years of Chinese oil painting, imagery or freehand painting has been a lingering cultural complex. Painters like Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Guan Liang, Chang Yu, Wu Dayu, Wu Guanzhong and Su Tianci were the pioneers who impressed the world as Chinese freehand masters. Traditional Chinese cultures are more valuable when merging and developing with the global culture.
Hu’s reversion to Chinese cultural tradition in recent years, which corresponds to its spiritual pursuit on imagery and freehand spirit in landscapre oil painting,explores and demonstrates their traditional painting language subjectively and objectively. Hu’s expression for the imagery and freehand shows his pursuit for artistic and poetic style.
Hu Zhende | Niagara Falls | oil painting | 120X60cm
His bold view selection focus on the purity and the overall beauty, trying to make a contrast between unity and simplicity. This characteristics fully reflect that Hu’s Zhende' oil painting style has transformed from "sketch from nature" into "freehand painting " and from the artificial reproduction of nature into the free expression of the nature. This is the love of nature. This is the chant for the beauty of the nature, embodied with its feelings and sentiment for nature, producing touching beauty of the imagery and freehand style works.
I think this is touching point of his recent works. And this touching emotional sublimation of his work is the result of his utter purity towards art and life. His sincerity invigorates and motivates his works. This sincerity brings in return the vigor of his works, which serves as the intangible impetus in the works. Hu, as a mature artist, reflects the nature freely and successfully conveys the Chinese aesthetic spirit by integrating skill with Taoism.
Hu Zhende | clear sky | oil painting | 90X70cm
Hu Zhende is a professor teaching oil painting in a college of fine arts. Although I am engaged in the Chinese painting and calligraphy, I show great concern about the latest academic orientation of oil painting, lacquer painting and watercolor. In the past few years, I am concerned on Hu Zhende’s art creation and familiar with his progress. To be honest, his recent oil landscape paintings are innovative, displaying his achievements in fine arts.
The above essay is written when I am inspired by Hu Zhende’s recent oil landscape paintings. It is devoted to Hu Zhende for his creative works on the oil painting and for his hard teaching.
Hu Zhende | Pavilion in fall | 60x60cm | oil painting
On June 10th,2016
Author: Wang Laiwen
Director of China Artists Association
Vice Chairman of Fujian Provincial Federation of Literature and Art/ Vice President of Fujian Artists Association