Liu Wenxi
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Liu Wenxi (; October 1933 – 7 July 2019) was a Chinese painter, art educator, and politician. Considered by many critics as the founder of the "Yellow Earth School" of painting, he served as President of Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts and Vice Chairman of the
China Artists Association The China Artists Association (), originally the China National Art Workers' Association (), is the official national association of Chinese artists, with its headquarters in Beijing. It was established in July 1949, with Xu Beihong as its first c ...
. His portrait of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
has been printed on the fifth series of the renminbi since 1999.


Early life and education

Liu was born in October 1933 in a small village in
Shengzhou Shengzhou (), formerly Shengxian or Sheng County, is a county-level city in central Zhejiang, south of the Hangzhou Bay, and is the south-eastern part of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing. It is about 1.5 hours drive from the provincial ca ...
,
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
,
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
. He showed artistic talent from a young age, and aspired to become an artist in elementary school when he first heard of
da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, whose name sounds similar to "Wenxi" in Chinese. Liu was introduced to
Chen Wangdao Chen Wangdao () (1891–1977) was a Chinese scholar and educator. He is recognized as the first and only person to translate the Communist Manifesto into Chinese completely so far. He also served as president of Fudan University from 1949 to 197 ...
, the President of Shanghai's
Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...
, and painted his portrait. Impressed by his skills, Chen recommended him to study at Shanghai Yucai School, which was known for nurturing artistic talent. After studying at Yucai for three years from 1950, he entered
Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts China Academy of Art (), also translated as China National Academy of Fine Arts, was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of the Republic of China and the renowned educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first art university and first graduat ...
(now China Academy of Art) in 1953, where he was taught by
Pan Tianshou Pan Tianshou (; 1897–1971) was a Chinese painter and art educator. Pan was born in Guanzhuang, Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, and graduated from Zhejiang First Normal School (now Hangzhou High School). He studied Chinese traditional paintin ...
and other renowned artists, especially
Fang Zengxian Fang Zengxian (; 1931 – 3 December 2019) was a Chinese painter and art educator, considered a founder of the Zhe(jiang) style of figure painting. As the director of the Shanghai Art Museum, he founded the Shanghai Biennale in 1996. He also ser ...
and
Zhou Changgu Zhou may refer to: Chinese history * King Zhou of Shang () (1105 BC–1046 BC), the last king of the Shang dynasty * Predynastic Zhou (), 11th-century BC precursor to the Zhou dynasty * Zhou dynasty () (1046 BC–256 BC), a dynasty of China ** West ...
, founders of the Zhe style of
guohua Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...
painting.


Career

Upon graduation in 1958, Liu taught at Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, later serving as its president from 1991 to 1997. As a transplant in
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
province, Liu immersed himself in the "
Yellow Earth ''Yellow Earth'' () is a 1984 Chinese drama film. This film is telling a story of a young, village girl who bravely resists old-dated customs and searches for freedom. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography ...
" culture of Northern Shaanxi (Shaanbei), and made about 80 trips to 26 cities and counties in the region. Many of his works were inspired by the earthy culture of Shaanbei. He was elected a Vice Chairman of the
China Artists Association The China Artists Association (), originally the China National Art Workers' Association (), is the official national association of Chinese artists, with its headquarters in Beijing. It was established in July 1949, with Xu Beihong as its first c ...
in 1998. In 2003, he was named one of the 100 "National Famous Teachers" of China. From 2004 until his death, he served as President of the Yellow Earth School Research Institute and President Emeritus of Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts. In politics, Liu served as Vice Mayor of
Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...
and was a delegate to the 7th and 8th
National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...
es.


Works and influence

Trained in the socialist-realist style that dominated the early PRC era in Shanghai and Hangzhou, Liu developed a personal style that was influenced by the traditional ''
nianhua A New Year picture () is a popular Banhua in China. It is a form of colored woodblock print, used for decoration and the performance of rituals during the Chinese New Year Holiday. In the 19th and 20th centuries some printers began to use the g ...
'' aesthetic. His works combine Western
perspective projection Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
with a paler and plainer background, and he was considered one of China's most technically competent painters of the socialist-realist style. Many art critics consider Liu as the founder of the "Yellow Earth School" of painting, pointing to his works since the 1960s, including ''Four Generations'' () and ''Chairman Mao and the Shepherd'' (), which were highly influential at the time. However, this is disputed by his detractors, who perceive a lack of cultural depth in his works, and criticize the stagnation or regression of his artistic skills since the 1980s and 1990s. Liu's portrait of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
is universally known in China as it has been featured on the fifth series of the renminbi, China's national currency, since 1999.


Personal life

Liu painted the portrait Mao Zedong thousands of times and came to mimic Mao's appearance. According to his wife Chen Guangjian, he loved the
Mao suit The modern Chinese tunic suit is a style of male attire originally known in China as the Zhongshan suit () after the republican leader Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan). Sun Yat-sen introduced the style shortly after the founding of the Republic of ...
and loathed trying on any other clothes. Liu died on 7 July 2019 at the No. 1 Hospital of
Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU, ) is a public research university in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. As a member of Double First Class University Plan, C9 League, Project 985, and Project 211, it is a leading national university with special strengths i ...
, aged 85.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Wenxi 1933 births 2019 deaths People from Shengzhou Painters from Zhejiang China Academy of Art alumni Educators from Shaoxing Artists from Shaoxing People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Political office-holders in Shaanxi Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress 20th-century Chinese painters 21st-century Chinese painters