Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    SEVENTY-SIX oil paintings by contemporary artist Tang Yin are on exhibition at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum through Sunday.

    Themed “Nature and Realm,” the exhibition includes two major categories, paintings of flowers and sketches of landscapes.

    Among the flowers under Tang’s brush, the water lily is his most frequent subject, with green leaves and blossoms over water, sending coolness to restless hearts under the summer day’s heat waves.

    The flowers under the artist’s brush alter in forms, from budding to half blooming to withering, from standing upright to drooping, as life travels from cradle to grave. The artist is sensitive enough to capture with his keen observation the subtleness of flowers’ appearances at different times.

    A group of cockscomb flower paintings is composed of four pictures, each depicting the flower at different times of the day. The pictures make use of a style of presentation that is common in traditional Chinese landscape paintings but rarely used in Western oil paintings.

    The artist said he would often feel himself as part of the nature he was painting and enjoys the sense of devotion. “I was often so preoccupied by the process of creation that I became oblivious of myself, even if I was soaked in sweat,” Tang said.

    Tang said his fondness for water lilies derived from his appreciation for French impressionist painter Monet. As an artist growing up with a Chinese cultural background, he said he couldn’t successfully paint oil paintings like a Westerner, so he tried to combine elements of Chinese culture with oil painting.

    Now an art professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, Tang is known for his painting skills.

    Critics say Tang’s paintings offer a sense of serenity dotted with a passion for nature, which are precious qualities to find amid the chaos of a commercialized art market.

    “A good painter can project his inner world on the object he views and capture what he feels in his creation. That’s why the same thing is repeatedly painted by different artists, yet their creations are all different.”

    “Tang’s works stand out from others in that his works are a smooth transition between objects in nature and how he views them. He is able to achieve a unity between himself and the natural world, thus striking a chord with his audience,” said Zhu Di, the director of the art department of the Ministry of Culture.

    Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., through June 7

    Venue: Guan Shanyue Art Museum, 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District (福田区红荔路6026号关山月美术馆)

    Metro: Longgang or Longhua Line, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B