Guan Liang (; 1900–1986),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Lianggong (), was a Chinese painter. He was an important representative of the first generation of oil painters in China and was known for blending Western and Chinese art styles.

Biography

Guan Liang was born in Panyu,

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

province in 1900. In 1917 he went to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, where he studied oil painting under Fujishima Takeji. After returning to China in 1922, he taught at the Shanghai Fine Arts School and the National Academy of Art (present-day China Academy of Art) in Hangzhou,and Wuchang College of Arts (today's Hubei Institute of Fine Arts).In 1927 he joined the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

(Beifa War) against the northern warlords, and was in charge of arts and publicity for the Expedition army. In 1940 Guan Liang held his first solo exhibition in

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province. In 1957 he was among the three artists chosen by the government to exhibit at the Berlin Arts Institute in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Guan settled in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in the 1960s, where he lived until his death in 1986. He was vice chairman of the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Artists Association and a member of Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History. He was also a recognized art educator, and was director of the art research office at

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...

. In 1987, the Shanghai Art Museum held an exhibition of his works in his memory. Although Guan began his career as an oil painter, he later focussed on traditional Chinese

ink wash painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses Wash (visual arts), washes of black ink, such as that used in East Asian calligraphy, in different concentrations. It emerged duri ...

featuring characters from

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

s. He is considered the first artist to introduce Western painting techniques to traditional ink wash painting and is known for his unique portrayal of Peking opera figures. His representative works include ''Stealing the Royal Horse'' () and ''Farewell to my Concubine'' (), both scenes from traditional Peking operas. Guan Liang is one of the seven artists featured in the Exhibition for Noted Painters at the China Art Museum in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Liang 1900 births 1986 deaths Artists from Guangzhou People from Panyu District Painters from Guangdong Academic staff of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic staff of China Academy of Art Educators from Guangdong Chinese expatriates in Japan 20th-century Chinese painters