Wu Guanzhong

Wu Guanzhong was a Chinese painter regarded as one of the most important modern artists of his country. Born in 1919, he studied in France before returning to China, and he spent his career seeking to blend the traditions of Chinese ink painting with the ideas of Western modern art. He painted landscapes, villages, and natural scenes in a light, lyrical style full of movement and rhythm.

He reduced his subjects to elegant lines, dabs, and washes, capturing the spirit of a place rather than its exact appearance. He worked through decades of political hardship in China, at times unable to paint freely. Wu Guanzhong's graceful fusion of East and West made him a beloved figure and one of the most celebrated Chinese painters of the twentieth century.