FU BAOSHI - CHINESE SCHOOL - FOUR SCROLLS 傅抱石 四条屏

Fu Baoshi (1904-1965)
Figurine 4 scrolls - 1981
Ink and colour on paper
Mounted as a hanging scroll
Artist's colophon and two red seals
Measures approx. 138cm high, 66.5cm wide

Provenance: from a private Somerset collection. Acquired in Japan in the 1990s.

Born in 1904 in Xinyu, China, Fu was educated in Japan, studying the History of Oriental Art at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. He held a particular admiration for Qing Dynasty painter Shitao, and even chose and changed his own name to Baoshi, which translates to “embracing Shitao.” He translated Japanese texts and consistently wrote his own art historical theses and treatises, completing research into fourth century landscape painting and artists of the Tang, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. He developed his landscape painting as a young artist, but was also acclaimed for his figural paintings, depicting figures from the third and fourth centuries. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Mao Zedong called for a modernization of the arts; Fu led the charge in painting and is credited as a major artistic reformer of the 20th century. He revived early traditions based on a broad range of color and turned to modern technological subject matter such as airports and telephone lines. Leading the New Chinese Painting Movement, he called for a spontaneous handling of paint, often spattering or throwing ink or paint in a state of emotional and physical engagement; at times he would even paint after significant drinking to achieve a fully engrossed work. Fu founded the New Nanjing School of Fine Arts, which engaged many major artists of the period such as Chen Zhifo, Qian Songyan, Song Wenzhi and Ya Ming.

傅抱石（1904年10月5日—1965年9月29日），原名长生，学名瑞麟，字庆远，号抱石斋主人，生于江西南昌赐福巷（四府巷），祖籍袁州府新喻县，中国近代画家与美术史论家。傅抱石出身贫寒，生于江西南昌，祖籍新喻县章塘村，原名长生，13岁时改名瑞麟；17岁时自号“抱石斋主人”，改名为傅抱石。少年时代曾为瓷器店学徒和补伞匠，受清朝山水画家石涛的风格启蒙，1921年考入江西第一师范学校，1933年留学于东京日本帝国美术学校（今武藏野美术大学），回国师学邵逸轩，张大千言：傅抱石既以山水名，而其山石树木画法，实得之（邵）逸轩，世少知之尔。1935年7月在中央大学艺术系担任教职，以山水画成名。并致力于美术史和绘画理论的写作，出版过《中国绘画变迁史纲》、《国画源流概述》、《中国古代山水画史研究》。