INTRODUCTION

Nature is the place where human beings live and work in peace. Landscape painting crystallizes unique cognition and poetic expressions made by the Chinese people for mountains, rivers, scenery and social life. The ancient Chinese ancients never merely sought after the pleasure from the perspective of visual aesthetics. Instead, they created a “visible” and “enjoyable” ideal realm when they felt enlightened by a grand landscape. The spirit of “Harmony between Man and the Nature”, embodied in landscape painting, exactly accords with the philosophy of “Harmonic Co-existence of Man and the Nature” in the campaign for ecological civilization of contemporary society. It is expected that all visitors can not only marvel at the multi-faceted artistic charms of contemporary blue and green landscape paintings, but also silently gain deeper insights into aesthetic conceptions and philosophical spirit that are permeating in the time-honoured landscape painting art.

 
 
 

CONTENT

The following paintings are by DONG Tingzhu, LIU Xu, LI Yuelin, PANG Fei, PU Jun and SUN Kuan, who devote themselves to research and creation of blue and green landscape paintings. They not only inherit and develop on the basis of traditional blue and green landscape painting legacies, but also invent new visual images in echo with contemporary pluralistic aesthetics through the all-inclusive absorption of different artistic styles. Click each photo below to enjoy the charm of the paintings.

The following paintings are by DONG Tingzhu, LIU Xu, LI Yuelin, PANG Fei, PU Jun and SUN Kuan, who devote themselves to research and creation of blue and green landscape paintings. They not only inherit and develop on the basis of traditional blue and green landscape painting legacies, but also invent new visual images in echo with contemporary pluralistic aesthetics through the all-inclusive absorption of different artistic styles. Click each photo below to enjoy the charm of the paintings.

DEVELOPMENT

To many people, a blue and green landscape painting is none other than The Vast Land painted by an elegant young man named Wang Ximeng. Photo: The Vast Landby WANG Ximeng
The blue and green landscape painting is drawn on a piece of silk fabric or rice paper using mineral pigments and natural plant pigments. Photo: Lazurite, azurite and malachite
Legend has it that the first independent and complete landscape painting to be created in the history of Chinese landscape painting is the Picture of Spring Outing, drawn by ZHAN Ziqian, a painter in the SUI Dynasty. Picture of Spring Outing
LI Sixun used gold powder to decorate the picture, making the picture look more splendid and beautiful in green and gold. The “green and golden landscape” painting technique created by him opened a new chapter in the blue and green landscape painting.Photo: Picture of Sailing Boats on the River surrounded by Buildings by LI Sixun in the Tang Dynasty; Picture of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang traveling to Sichuan, by LI Zhaodao in the Tang Dynasty
The blue and green landscape painting technique ushered in a maturation period in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Photo:Part of the Picture of Landscape in Autumn, by Zhao Boju, a painter in the Southern Song Dynasty
Picture of Life in Mountains by QIAN Xuan(Yuan Dynasty), Peach Orchard by QIU Ying(Ming Dynasty) and Jewelled Palace in Elfland's Hills by YUAN Jiang (Qing Dynasty)
ZHANG Daqian developed a new style of blue and green landscape paintings by combining the profuse ink in freehand landscape paintings with bright blue and green in Western abstract painting language Photo:Aachensee Lake, by ZHANG Daqian in 1968

DEVELOPMENT

To many people, a blue and green landscape painting is none other than The Vast Land painted by an elegant young man named Wang Ximeng. Photo: The Vast Landby WANG Ximeng
The blue and green landscape painting is drawn on a piece of silk fabric or rice paper using mineral pigments and natural plant pigments. Photo: Lazurite, azurite and malachite
Legend has it that the first independent and complete landscape painting to be created in the history of Chinese landscape painting is the Picture of Spring Outing, drawn by ZHAN Ziqian, a painter in the SUI Dynasty. Picture of Spring Outing
LI Sixun used gold powder to decorate the picture, making the picture look more splendid and beautiful in green and gold. The “green and golden landscape” painting technique created by him opened a new chapter in the blue and green landscape painting.Photo: Picture of Sailing Boats on the River surrounded by Buildings by LI Sixun in the Tang Dynasty; Picture of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang traveling to Sichuan, by LI Zhaodao in the Tang Dynasty
The blue and green landscape painting technique ushered in a maturation period in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Photo:Part of the Picture of Landscape in Autumn, by Zhao Boju, a painter in the Southern Song Dynasty
Picture of Life in Mountains by QIAN Xuan(Yuan Dynasty), Peach Orchard by QIU Ying(Ming Dynasty) and Jewelled Palace in Elfland's Hills by YUAN Jiang (Qing Dynasty)
ZHANG Daqian developed a new style of blue and green landscape paintings by combining the profuse ink in freehand landscape paintings with bright blue and green in Western abstract painting language Photo:Aachensee Lake, by ZHANG Daqian in 1968