Memories of a master

Lin was in the midst of forging a new path for Chinese art in the face of opposition from conservatives. In 1919, he had gone to France on a work-study program and attended several art schools, including the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He returned in 1925, first to head the National School of Fine Arts, today's Central Academy of Fine Arts, in Beijing, and three years later, to oversee the establishment of the Hangzhou National College of Art, becoming its first principal.

While in France, Lin was introduced to modern art. Upon his return, he dived into an ambitious venture to integrate Western art, a vanguard, free spirit, and Chinese culture, as a way of reforming Chinese art.

Lin shared his endeavors with his students in the hopes they would create pieces that addressed emerging social issues, and use art to nurture hearts and minds.

Wu was one of those motivated to follow suit, and in the decades that followed, he dedicated himself to the task. In 1947, he was granted a government scholarship to continue his studies at Lin's alma mater in Paris.

Today, Wu is referred to as one of Lin's three most influential students, alongside Chu and Zao Wouki. The three have gained recognition in China and internationally and were all members of the French Academy of Fine Arts (Academie des Beaux-Arts).

Standing at the crossroads of the East and the West, they each blazed trails that took modern Chinese art to new realms.

Xu Hong, a co-curator of the exhibition, says whether it is Chinese ink paintings or oils, Lin's work reveals the solid training he received in France, while demonstrating the "serene mood and deep spiritual resonance that are essential to Eastern art".

The soft luster and smooth silhouettes of Chinese porcelain, the diverse folk culture and court paintings of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) greatly interested Lin and were the three main sources of inspiration that defined his work.

"He tried to re-create the gentle glaze of ceramics with his strokes. His depictions of young women from ancient times embody the same elegant curves of a porcelain vase, and he would sometimes draw such a vase beside the female figure in the painting," Xu says. "He was able to present a classical beauty that is grounded on his understanding of Chinese and European cultures."

She says the recurring motifs in Lin's paintings, like woodlands, lush trees, Chinese opera performers, beautiful historical women and vases of flowers, display a vigor within backdrops that convey expansiveness and quiet. "It is a beauty that transcends time and space, the beauty of modern art."