Now we turn our attention to an artist who has found inspiration from the women who once inhabited The Forbidden City, the royal palace for two successive Chinese feudal dynasties, and a symbol of imperial power and privilege. Jiang Guofang explores an oriental theme through a traditional western medium. In today's edition of Faces of a Nation, we look at the life of this painter who modeled himself on Rembrandt and van Eyck.
The Forbidden City is actually a city within a city, and is the place where Jiang Guofang found his artistic niche. His muses are the women who once lived there, from empresses and princesses to concubines and courtesans. They are women of aristocracy and antiquity, with an elegance that is slightly affected and almost alienating. They are also the object of Jiang’s admiration.
Jiang said: "These women I paint represent a kind of classical aesthetic. There’s nostalgia about them, one that is not instantly overwhelming but that will come back and haunt you. I like the soothing quiet and sweetness they exude. They are well educated and highly refined. The women I am fond of are aristocrats rather than common ladies."
Their inner softness is effectively communicated through the master’s sensitive use of light and shade. Different tonal areas merge smoothly. The central figure emerges from the dark, as the background retreats in a diminution of light. To achieve the effect, Jiang takes a craftsman's approach to the painting's surface.
Jiang said: "Classicism - by the term, I mean the style of Jan van Eyck and other masters living in the period when western oil painting was born – requires a very sophisticated process. Later, when Romanticism emerged, oil paintings were largely subject to the mood a painter was in at that particular moment. Artistically, I want to return to van Eyck’s era. My painting is aimed at a 'finished' finish, near perfection. It’s deliberate and repeatedly worked on, rather than improvised."
Through all the polishing, Jiang removes blobs of paint and builds up layer upon layer of transparent glaze. Oracular light showers this opal-skinned lady, deep in reverie. And the brilliantly reflective fabric is complemented by the beautiful contour of the face.
Jiang said: "The most important thing I’ve learned from van Eyck is an attitude towards painting. You must be absolutely right about everything you paint. This does not necessarily mean that you should be attentive to every stroke of your brush. You must know every aspect of your object thoroughly, including the inner structure. You MUST paint it with sureness."
Only passion for one's art can make such intensity possible. For van Eyck, it was religious zeal. For Jiang, it’s a love of art, and a history seen from an artist’s view. With these baby emperors, disproportionately small compared to the throne, Jiang allows himself the liberty of a tiny but detailed cricket box as a form of lament and ridicule.
Jiang said: "I consider my paintings cultural products. Like any other cultural product, there must be something to draw inspiration from. But I’m not painting from history books or trying to give footnotes to history. None of my paintings is about a particular historical figure or event. Rather, the Qing history provides me a vehicle through which I can realize my own artistic pursuits."
A humanistic glow suffuses all his works, as the painter extends warmth to every corner, even the cold, reclusive boudoir.
Among his collection are these antique clothes and shoes, which are invariably featured in his works. In a sense, they are the only part of the paintings that indeed came from the past. But as this sleeping beauty shows, great art transcends time. Perhaps an ageless appeal is the thing that Jiang’s paintings truly share with the Forbidden City.
(CCTV October 26, 2005)
