Wu Guanzhong

signed in Chinese and dated 91
executed in 1991.

Private Asian Collection

Shui Tianzhong and Wang Hua, ed., The Complete Works of Wu Guanzhong Vol. III, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, Hunan, 2007, p. 323, illustrated in colour

This work is in excellent condition overall. There is no evidence of restoration under UV.
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Wu Guanzhong once wrote a passage after his trip to Paris: "After travelling around the world in recent years, I am more convinced that true art can only be sincere and straight from the heart. Pearls only grow in shells; ginsengs only sprout on remote mountains; lofty and elegant yellow pine trees never survive without barren and cold stone peak."¹ Among the vast landscape, apart from Lijiang River, Wu is particularly interested in depicting white birch forests. We can see this subject matter constantly inspires Wu in his later artistic work. In Serenity, completed in 1991, the artist still chooses white birches as the main subject to paint. Wu once talked about white birch forests on his trip to Altay, Xinjiang Province in China: "The forest seen from a distance is in dark green. The branches and trunks of white birches are white, clear and bright, with black spots and marks on them like ornaments. Their branches are long and soft like weeping willows. When I wonder in the extensive forest, I see trees grow side by side and the river flowing through them, making me forget all my hardships and loneliness in my life."² This passage perfectly reflects the imagery of this painting. The white birches by the water flourish in front of the forest and the S-shaped curved brook extends to an endless path, giving the painting a sense of space and depth. The reflections from the river present rippling rhythms, leading the viewer towards a tranquil world.

[1] Wu Guanzhong, ed., The Landscape of Life, Asian Culture, Taipei, 2000, p. 261, 262
[2] Ibid, p. 119