If Chinese ink painting is a deep-rooted, branchy tree stretching back thousands of years, Chinese oil painting is a younger sapling, sprouting buds at a spry 100 years old.
Oil painting has enjoyed an important position in modern Chinese art, with several generations of artists having made their contributions for the past 100 years since the art was introduced.
Liu Haisu (1896-1994), Wu Guanzhong (1919-), and Jin Shangyi (1935-) are among the representative oil painters of the first, second, and third generations respectively.
Liu Haisu
He was a painter, an art teacher and an artistic rebel. Liu Haisu was a brilliant artist who used his unique blend of European and Chinese techniques to revolutionize art education in China.
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In March 1914, Liu Haisu opened the first painting course to use live models in China at the Shanghai Art School, yet at first he could only find a male model. In 1917, the school held an exhibition of works including some examples of nudes. This raised a huge controversy. Liu was not troubled by the situation. Instead, he chose to play it up. Soon, his nudes weren't restricted to boys. The first female model made her debut in the school's studio in 1920. The criticism and public reproach that followed deeply affected Liu. Although western art was filtering into China, the use of nudes at the time upset the prevailing Chinese morality that didn't endorse women sitting around naked while a roomful of people stared and drew. Liu wrote a public letter in 1925 to defend the nude models, which only brought him more flak.
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