LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Watercolour On Paper

Measurements:

7.48 in. (19.00 cm.) (height) by 10.24 in. (26.00 cm.) (width)

Literature:

LITERATURE：The South： Tan Huamu’s Pictorial Diary， P159， He Xiang Ning Art Museum， 2018.

Provenance:

PROVENANCE：Acquired directly from the artist’s family.Tan Huamu， Guan Liang， and Ding Yanyong are regarded as the “three masters of modern art” in the Lingnan region of China. The three artists took the initiative to go to Japan to study western painting and reached the same goal in the creative field， by broadening together the development of modern Chinese painting. Looking back nearly a century， we can clearly see their revolutionary influence in Chinese painting circles. Tan Huamu， who had previously disappeared from public view due to historical encounters and was called “the missing person in the history of modern art”， was finally “seen” again.In 1895， Tan Huamu was born in Taishan， Guangdong province. While in Japan in 1919， he was admitted to the department of Western Painting of the Tokyo Fine Arts School and entered the “Fujishima classroom” as a “special student”. After returning to mainland China， Tan Huamu， together with Chen Shijie and He Sanfeng， who had stayed in Japan before， established the private “Zhuchao Fine Arts School” in Guangzhou and quickly attracted the attention of the painting circle with the successful execution of the Guangdong painting exhibition. In 1928， Tan Huamu came to Shanghai and established the “Shanghai Art Club” with Ding Yanyong， Guan Liang， and Chen Zhifo， at the Shanghai University of the Arts College， Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts， Guangzhou City Art School， and some other important institutions of higher learning. The development continued until the political situation became volatile， and he went to Macao. He served as honorary Vice President of the Macao Fine Arts Research Association in the late 1940s. Outside of the country， he won widespread praise. In 1956， Tan Huamu returned to Guangzhou again， serving at the Guangdong branch of the Chinese Artists Association and the Guangdong Painting Academy. In the new era， he stuck to his style， so his creations still revealed a strong flavor of modernism.In the 1920s， Tan Huamu relied on his excellent artistic expression， and led the new style of painting in Guangzhou and Shanghai， and explored a new path of modern Chinese painting with Ding Yanyong， Guan Liang， and Chen Zhifo. Due to his long-term residence in Macao and his reclusive existence after returning to mainland China， Tan was once regarded as “the missing person in the history of modern art”. It was not until the solo exhibition held in Guangdong Art Museum in 2000 that the contemporary painting circle rediscovered the cross-era track record of this pioneer. In 2018， “The South： Tan Huamu’s Pictorial Diary” kicked off at He Xiangning Art Museum. With a comprehensive display of Tan’s works， the exhibition once again illuminated the artistic path for the contemporary painting career of this innovative artist.Tan’s interests and hobbies included fishing on the seashore and photographing coastal scenery during his time in Macao. These interests also influenced his artistic creativity. In most cases， his photography composition methods corresponded to his painting composition methods. His photographic conception was exquisite， where even “instant photography” revealed his superb ability to control the scene. Unfortunately， in 1965 the artist destroyed most of the photos， leaving only four. From the creative composition Embankment， we can also see the style of the photography， the seaside boulevard between heaven and earth painted through a wide near-to-far angle of view. The radial composition in the heart of the intangible viewers to “home” in the distance seemed to reflect a painter wandering in many strange lands， and in the distance waiting for the long anticipated remembrance of a forgotten pioneer. This composition became an iconic creation of the artistic career of Tan Huamu.Street View watercolor painting is the “composition montage” painting of Tan Huamu’s Street View， a masterpiece of oil painting. “Composition montage” refers to the preview and creation of the same scene with different media materials over numerous situations， so as to stimulate the artist’s creative inspiration. This is Tan Huamu’s highly individual creation method. The painter reproduces the daily scenery of a mountain town. Peaceful eastern zen and infinite traditional charm are added by the Chinese architecture with extremely regional characteristics. The free brushwork and flowing colors give people an impressionistic sense of external light. The long footpath extends deep into the picture， and a pedestrian with a distinctive western costume arrives from a distance. From then on， the influence of Japanese painter Kishida Ryusei on the appearance of Tan Huamu’s landscape creation can be clearly seen.