Author:

Size:Length:184 x Width:360 (cm)

Introduction：Li Hung-ju (1953- ), born in Nantou County, Taiwan, is a expatriate painter of Japan. As a young man, he studied martial arts and ink and wash under the tutelage of Ou Hao-nien. He later studied Japanese painting at Osaka University of the Arts, and was apprenticed by Uemura Atsushi at Kyoto University of the Arts.
Li Hung-ju was a visiting professor at Tunghai University and National Taiwan Normal University and has devoted himself to Gouache painting studies. He also serves as the chairman of the Non-Profit Organization Asian Culture and Art Alliance in Taiwan, and actively promotes exchange activities between Japan, Taiwan, China, and the United States on ink wash paintings.
Modern Japanese Ink painting, also known as Literati Painting or Southern Painting, is more broadly defined than in China. The style is not directly related to what Tung Chi-chan called the Southern School Chinese painting. Started from Kuwayama Gyokushyu, a renowned art critic, Literati Painting or Southern Painting has been referred to as a Chinese-styled art expression. However, its emphasis on spontaneity and expression is closer to the Japanese culture and its emphasis on emotion. As a result, many Japanese Southern painters have developed a distinctive personal style through their works. An example would be Urakami Gyokudo. He was once compared to Shitao, a leading Chinese landscape painter in the early Qing dynasty, by Hashimoto Kansetsu. Uragami Gyokudo was viewed as the epitome of how painters can emancipate rules of schools and arts and embrace the human's authentic nature in their paintings. The Southern Painting's emphasis on oddity has led to ink wash's development in Japan with a preference for individuality.
The Pine Tree, Waves, and the Flying Eagle is a live art completed at the 2004 Asian Chinese Ink Painting Exchange Exhibition. The painting depicts a vigorous pine tree and the stormy waves. On the right, the pine tree leans and bends in a curly manner, showing the ancient pine's majesty and upright posture. In this work, the artist does not highlight rendering, a common ink wash technique. Instead, he focuses on mere brushstrokes and shades to create the spatial distance between the sea and the pine tree. His choice distinguishes the relationship between the subject and object of the painting. Although resulting in a lessened serenity, the style retains the artist's unique brushwork and personality.

Accession number:PT09400202