Iris
Guan Liang
1980
- YEAR:1980
- MEDIUM:Oil on canvas
- DIMENSIONS:41.5 × 34 cm
Introduction
As one of China’s first generation of artists to study in Japan, Guan Liang was among the earliest painters to merge the concepts of Western modernist painting with traditional Chinese ink painting. Iris is a classical representation of the mature style created by the artist at a late stage of his life. Inspired by Impressionism and shaped by decades of ink painting practice, Guan uses the colours of Expressionism and masterful brushwork to depict irises swaying in a vase, standing out vividly against a dark background. Some are in full bloom, others still in bud, each with its unique posture. In the seemingly clumsy, stylized brushstrokes, there is no artifice. Everything directed at “truth.” And the spirit of freehand is embedded in the language of oil painting, revealing Guan’s introspection of life and living. As Guo Moruo commented, “the Western oil painting style forms the outlook of Guan Liang’s painting, while the inner spirit elicits the identity of traditional Chinese ink paintings.”
