Painter Wu Shanming was born in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province, in 1941. Since 1964, when Wu graduated at the department of traditional Chinese painting of the China Academy of Fine Arts, he has taught at the academy.
Wu specializes in ink and wash painting, especially figure painting. Rich in content, his paintings have a distinctive style. He has learned from his predecessors to draw with the previous day's dark ink, which is glittering and translucent. Preserving the ink's features, Wu is skilled in transforming the ink from dark to light. He has pursued the characteristics of both stone tablet and pillar and invitation inscriptions, and his works produce special artistic effects. He has added other charm and appeal to the traditional ink and wash figure painting. With strong individual character, the figures in his paintings-such as Chan Juan (a graceful woman of Chinese legend), Dharma, and A Sword-Dance Performer-are extremely lifelike.
Wu also has a good grounding in calligraphy. Following classic copybooks for calligraphy and practicing very hard, he moves his brush freely with every stroke. Thinking the subject over before painting, he portrays its inner qualities vividly and incisively.
Wu's works have been exhibited in Japan, Canada, Germany, Brazil and the United States, as well as China's Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has put on an individual exhibition at the China Art Gallery.
Singapore TV, Tokyo TV, and CCTV broadcast special programs to introduce him. The Sentiment of Mountains and Waters, a short ink and wash cartoon designed by Wu, won the grand prize at the Montreal International Film Festival in 1990 and the grand prize at the Shanghai International Cartoon Festival in 1998.
Wu Shanming now holds a post at the academic committee of the China Academy of Fine Arts, and is a professor of traditional Chinese painting, a tutor of doctoral degree candidates, the vice chairman of the Zhejiang Artists Association, and the president of the Xiling Painting and Calligraphy Studio. Still, he wields his brush every day. Some of his works have been collected by the China Art Gallery, the Museum of Chinese History, Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Zhongnanhai (the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council), Oxford University, the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts and the Asia Art Gallery in South Korea. Wu Shanming has published several books and albums, including Selected Paintings, Selected Ink and Wash Figure Paintings, and Techniques on Chinese Figure Paintings.
(China Pictorial November 14, 2003)
