Fang Jun is one of the leading neo-conservative modernist ink painters in China and specializes in colored landscapes that express the artist's ideal of a secluded life within nature. Lightly ink-washed colors of green and brown are strengthened by the elegant black outlines that give the entire pictorial image a flavor of the Chinese woodcut aesthetic. The compositions of Fang Jun's landscapes evoke the masterpieces from the Qing Dynasty, while the lively spontaneity in his paintings provides a refreshing vision of the contemporary world. Fang Jun achieves such effects by directly applying light colors to his mountains, trees, and rocks, without restricting himself to the rigid texturing technique called "cun", which is ubiquitous in traditional landscape paintings from the Qing Dynasty. Fang Jun began his artistic career with strict academic training in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy in Nanjing, and has thus been deeply influenced by the traditions and ideals of the literati in this historical city. Withdrawing from complicated politics and enjoying tranquility in nature has been a dream shared by the Chinese literati for hundreds of years and is one that Fang Jun possesses as well. It partly explains the reason why he resigned from the chair position of the Department of Fine Arts at Nanjing Normal University in his later years so as to focus on his artistic practice. Fang Jun regards direct landscape sketching as a most important element in landscape painting. Ever since 1984, he has traveled all over the country to sketch landscapes, which serve as the prime resource for his finished paintings. Based on his direct observation of nature, Fang Jun has developed his own way of integrating contemporary aesthetics into a context which links them into a historical perspective. (http://www.artnet.com/galleries/michael-goedhuis/recent-paintings-by-fang-jun/) undefined

More on Google