We recently went to visit Zhao Qian Xu (correctly, in Chinese convention of last name first: Xu Zhao Qian), and we were really impressed by his recent works.  We always liked his work, beginning with the scene shown, below, Warm Winter, with its ominous forest background, contrasted with the gentle rabbits in the foreground.  Of course, to appreciate this painting, you have to actually appreciate art.  It is not filled with gimmicks, glitz or girls, like I see in many contemporary Chinese paintings.  It is just well-executed, well thought out art.



He told me that he prefers to work in a more free, more abstract style, however, because it gives him the freedom to create, rather than just being a painter of objects.  He also told me that the Chinese market does not know how to appreciate the more abstract art, so that he has to paint realistic thing, too, to satisfy his local audience.  Indeed, one of the first paintings that I bought of his was the rather abstract watercolor still life of flowers in a vase, which is shown, next.  In fact, we just acquired a second abstract flower painting from him, done in colored ink, combining Western and Traditional Chinese painting techniques, which we also share with you, below.

 

I appreciated this one, and I appreciate the abstraction techniques that he is using in other of his more recent paints, as well. For example, this portrait of a herder, is from a series of paintings of Zang minority peoples of the Tibetan Plateau, which he did a few years, back, all of which are done in dark blues and purples, giving them a mysterious twilight feeling.  In those paintings, also, the forms of animals and people  partially melt with the background and appear slightly apparitional, as you can see in the example, which has a surrealistic feel.  Could it be that Xu is also using the colors and the technique to morn the eventual ending of their nomadic way of life that has been trapped in time?



We noticed that he has used a similar “blurring” technique to give some of his other subjects a more abstract, playful feel.  Again, he is making the subjects and surroundings of these paintings blend in, and we think that it is a very effective technique that gives the paintings a softness and true beauty, much like the original Impressionists created softness by using pastels.  For me, it makes them much more uplifting and appealing to the eye.  Some recent examples follow.

   

Of course, as shown in the first painting, he can paint realistically, too.  We show several others, below.

  

As you can see from some of the paintings that we have displayed, Xu also does paintings of the China minority peoples.  Technically, there are over fifty so-called minority groups in modern China.  These people, like the Zang of Tibet, the Hakka of Guangdong, the Miao and the Yi, to mention but a few, still live much the way they have for centuries.  They continue their cultures, wear traditional clothing and have not caught up with modern times, not that they seem to care.  It is much like the Amish, in my native Eastern Pennsylvania.  As residents of China, now, we get to see the real Chinese people, their homes, and the way they live, not just the modern skyscrapers and city life that China likes to show the rest of the world on TV.  Personally, I appreciate this side of China, more than the other: I always prefer to travel the back roads, no matter where I am.

I also believe that the art about these people and their live is the true treasure, in Chinese art, not the attention-grabbing ash Buddhas or train wreck “installations” or smiling red faces, over and over, again, that grabs the headlines.  To me, those sorts of things will not survive the test of time.  We show several more of Xu’s minority people paintings, below, for your pleasure.

But that also brings me to another trait of Zhao Qian Xu’s that attracts me to him, as an artist.  Unlike too many modern artists, he is not in art for the money.  When he was young he dreamed of being an artist, although coming of age during the Cultural Revolution of Chairman Mao, his plans were derailed, and he ended up working on the docks of Guangdong.  However, nothing can stop a true artist, and he would paint scenes from the docks when he wasn’t working.  He eventually entered the army where his artistic ability was recognized, and the Army sent him to the Guangzhou Fine Art Academy to learn more.  Today, he is at the Art Institute, in Guangzhou, which is run by the Ministry of Culture, so, he does not face the financial insecurity that many artists face on their own.  I see too many artists who crank out work, just for the money, and they have lost their souls as artists: they have become businessmen.  Xu, on the other hand, is more subtle about his art.  He tells me that he does not promote himself because he is not out for the money; he only wants to make art.  Thus, although his larger paintings command prices in the range of tend of thousands of dollars, we feel that they are underpriced versus the market, given the ability, care, and thought that  go into his paintings.

That is really one of the reasons that we set up our gallery, in Guangzhou, as the artists of Guangzhou, in general, have been left relatively undiscovered by the market.  Guangdong has a rich tradition in contemporary Chinese painting, beginning with artists, like Li Tie Fu and Lin Feng Mian, followed by the students of Lin Feng Mian who came back to the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art, in the mid-1900’s to continue the new tradition of Westernized Chinese painting.  They and their students are still producing paintings, today.  Moreover, while Beijing likes to take the credit for being the center of the contemporary Chinese art market, Hong Kong, which is part of Guangdong, not far from Guangzhou, is more a center for the real art markets where Chinese art is sold to the world, not just to government officials from whom artists have curried favor.

You can view more of the paintings of Zhao Qian Xu (Xu Zhao Qian) on our website at http://www.leonacraig.com/catalogue_art_gallery/wall_art/zhao_qian_xu_page.htm , and from there you might like to peruse other parts of the site and see the art of more of our artists.  Or stop in and visit our gallery, next time you are in Guangzhou.


11 Gui Gang Three Road, Dongshan Kou, Yuexiu district,
Guangzhou, China 510080
广州市越秀区东山口龟岗三马路11号
086 020 37625069