On March 4th, sponsored by Guangdong Artists Association and Guangdong Museum of Art, co-organized by Guangdong Freehand Oil Painting Association, and undertaken by Shantou Oil Painting Institute and Zhengdian Culture, the "Baopu Chu Xin - Fang Shengtao Oil Painting Exhibition" opened at the Guangdong Museum of Art. With Wang Shaoqiang as the curator, this exhibition systematically sorts out and displays about 100 fine oil paintings created by Fang Shengtao in the decades since 1978.
As an artist who has long been rooted in eastern Guangdong, Fang Shengtao's creation presents a distinct realist style, and the oil painting artistic conception created by the simple wind brings people an extraordinary feeling. As early as the early 1980s, Fang Shengtao became the leader in the oil painting industry with his broad artistic vision, his ability to integrate Chinese and Western painting skills, and his innate keen perception of the language of oil painting.
Exhibition site
"Color is the soul of the formal language of oil painting, the most vivid and visually striking form." Fang Shengtao said. His outstanding talent for oil painting color is not unrelated to the colorful flowers and trees, fresh and moist air and brilliant and abundant sunshine along the southern coast of the motherland, reminiscent of many Venetian and Impressionist painters known for their brilliant light and color living in the south of Europe, such as the bright colors of Giorgione or Titian, or the impressions and observations of Cézanne and Degas on natural sensibility. The subtle and rich colors of Fang Shengtao and the concise and generalized shape are interwoven to interpret the contemporary temperament of either cheerful and clear, or quiet lyrical, or simple and mysterious, which is similar to the art masters in art history.
Under the skillful brush of Fang Shengtao, like many painters in eastern Guangdong, whether it is purple shadows and pale yellow and white walls, brick and red roofs and emerald trees, or indigo water and bright orange reefs, the colors with strong contrasts between lightness and cold and warmth are extremely exaggerated but surprisingly natural, and they are as powerful as pleasant notes to express the gorgeous scenery under the bright southern sun.
Fang Shengtao,Fishing Port, oil painting, 38cm×52cm, 1981
Fang Shengtao Oil painting "One of the Small Bricks", 38cm×71cm, 1982
For the poetic scenery under the bright moonlight, Fang Shengtao's colors tend to contain subtle changes in soft harmony, and the colors with relatively reduced purity seem to be plated with a shiny silver-gray moon color, like the scenery in the water and moonlight becoming dreamlike. The overcast scene presented by the obsessive and color-sensitive oil painter Fang Shengtao is equally colourful: from dark shades of dark trees that are either dark blue or turquoise to bright foliage of olive or yellow, the colorful and rich colors aptly express the beauty of subtropical objects.
Fang Shengtao's "In the Small Courtyard" Oil Painting 116cm×108cm, 1987
Fang Shengtao's oil painting "Every Goose Flock and Household Wealth" 92cm×134cm, 1983
In the years of realistic oil painting and sketching, Fang Shengtao has integrated his deep feelings for the original intention of his homeland into various southern landscapes such as small islands, seashores, fishing ports, etc., and communicates with nature, and the sincere and simple integration of things and me sublimates ordinary scenes into harmonious and pleasing and touching extraordinary images.
Li Jinkun, vice chairman of the China Artists Association, chairman of the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Artists Association, and president of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, believes that from "Working Together" in 1998 to "The Construction Site for Demolishing Old Ships" in 2008, and so on... These well-received works follow his simple tone. The gentleness and depth of the South China Sea, the simplicity and diligence of the seaside people, and the light and shade reflected in various colors of the sea are all traceable. In some of his recent works, in addition to the more varied colors, the use of lines is more arbitrary. He tried to merge lines and colors more organically.
The exhibition is on view until March 18, 2022.
Nandu reporter Zhu Rongting