Azaleas
Hu Shanyu
1979
- YEAR:1979
- MEDIUM:Oil on canvas
- DIMENSIONS:60 × 73 cm
Introduction
Hu Shanyu, a first generation of Chinese artist to study in France, devoted his life to oil painting and art education, striving to merge Impressionist techniques with the spirit of Chinese painting and the charm of Chinese folk art, ultimately forming a distinctive “Hu style.” Hu created Azaleas to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. With light, lively brushstrokes, he captures the swaying, full bloom of azaleas in spring, their brilliant and fiery colours a perfect reflection of his state of mind at the time. The trembling interplay of warm and cool tones, along with the flowing effects of light and shadow, imbues the work with the spirit of an Impressionist master. Hu had a deep fondness for azaleas and painted them many times throughout his life, but none of them conveys their exuberance as wholly and vividly as this piece.
