Fuchsia

Li Chaoshi, known as “China’s Pioneer of Pastel Painting,” was one of the earliest Chinese artists to study Western painting in Europe. In 1931, he was admitted to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He later studied stage set painting mentored by renowned tutors and pastel painting mentored by the Impressionist master Edar Degas. Degas focused on capturing human motion, while Li Chaoshi preferred still lifes and landscapes. After returning to China, he taught successively at Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, National School of Fine Arts Peiping, Hangzhou National College of Arts, and Shandong Normal University. In his later years, he dedicated himself to creating flower-themed works, continuously refining his use of colors and forms through simple subjects. In Fuchsia, concise brushstrokes and elegant colors are used to capture a lively moment of the plant on paper. The spots of white light among the leaves reveal the influence of Impressionism on the artist’s perception of light and colors, while the fluid lines and abundant empty space reflect the characteristics of traditional Chinese painting.