Scent Of Brush And Ink-Study On Modern Fujian Painter ZHOU Yu

Traditional Chinese paintings adore humanity,value introspection and share the pursuit of experiencing and understanding the meaning of life.By the time of Qing Dynasty,theaesthetics of traditional Chinese paintings had evolved into a well-rounded and profound one.The transition from Qing to the Republic of China was a time of changes,during which emerged different schools of political and artistic thoughts often with various branches within each school too.Cultures became diversified along with the changes of time,during which however some traditional thought died away,becoming one of losses in history.While we look back on our traditions,from the pre-Qin time to Qing Dynasty,memories of the artists born in the transition of Dynasties have faded away.The turn from Qing to the Republic of China actually witnessed a diversified and inclusive art culture in Fujian that combined novelty and tradition,innovation and convention.While of traditional styles with strict requirement for skills,painting and calligraphy then also followed the trend.Groups with the tags of "traditional","innovative" and "western",emerged in the time exerting much influence to the trajectory of Fujian paintings later.Then Fujian painter ZHOU Yu and other artists,mostly under the influence of "traditionalism",carried forward then existing artistic style.Though ZHOU Yu's work does not cover all artistic features,his landscape paintings share the styles of Meihuadaoren,Xinluoshanren,WANG Shimin and WANG Yuanqi,a touch of romantic fantasy and the ease of seclusion.His figure paintings reflect the pursuit of "better simple than sophisticated" held by WU Bin and the aesthetic standard of "elegant while unsophisticated" raised by CHEN Hongshou.His social life can be found in places like Diaoyutai,Tingshui Study,Longzhu Art Studio and some literary and art work.The paper is not dedicated to praising ZHOU Yu,but rather bringing back the lost history about this group of artists whose glamour was covered by social chaos and upheaval during the change of Dynasties.Therefore,in this paper the study centers on ZHOU Yu by analyzing the aesthetics in his work to better understand the art circle in Fuzhou during that time.It is hoped that the result from this study will bring back our memories about them and shed light on their contribution to the art and society so as to contribute to the comprehensive and objective study of Fujian art history and spread the extensive and profound Chinese culture.