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Gao Jianfu ( 高剑父; 1879-1951) pronounced Gou Gim Fu in Cantonese. Chinese traditional scroll painting, ink on paper laid to silk, hanging scroll. Signed.
Bright painting on silk of Peony blossom and buds by Gao Jianfu (1879-1951). Gao Jianfu grew up in the Guangdong Province in southern China and became an artist during the World War II era. Jianfu was trained under Ju Lian and produced a portfolio of work which consisted of landscapes, florals, and bird paintings. Peony is known as the queen of flowers as well as being considered a symbol of love, affection, riches, honor, and feminine beauty. The butterfly is a symbol of connubial bliss, of delight and of summer. Large sweeping marks construct both the foliage and flower petals. Long thin lines climb upward toward the base of the blooms making up the stem. This Painting is signed and sealed in a red stamp. The painting is affixed to a robust paper scroll.
PROVENANCE: From the heirloom collections of DR. Wu Guozhen (吳國楨; October 21, 1903-June 6, 1984) was a Chinese political figure and historian, government official who served as mayor of Hankow (1932-1938), mayor of Chung-king (1939-1941), political vice minister of foreign affairs (1943-1945), mayor of Shanghai (1946-1948), and governor of Taiwan (1950-1952) and the former Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government. He resigned in 1953 and went to the United States. K.C. Wu lived in the United States where he served as professor of Chinese history at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. During his time in the United States, he wrote various works, including a detailed analysis on Chinese culture in the context of mythology and early history in his book The Chinese Heritage.
The second part collections of DR. Wu Guozhen (吳國楨) presented and offered up to auctions: ON DAY-1: From Lot-97 through Lot-124, and continued from Lot-204 through Lot-228. ON DAY-2: from Lot-357 through Lot-386.
LOT NOTES: Gao Jianfu (高剑父;1879-1951) was a Cantonese artist during World War II. Gao Jianfu was born in 1879 in the city of Canton, located in the Guangdong Province. He is known for leading the Lingam School's effort to modernize Chinese traditional painting as a "new national art". Along with his brother Gao Qifeng and friend Chen Shuren, Gao Jianfu brought the nihonga style of painting to China.
Jianfu once wrote: "I think we should not only take in elements of Western painting. If there are good points in Indian painting, Egyptian painting, Persian painting, or masterpieces of other countries, we should embrace all of them too, as nourishment for Chinese painting."
Although Jianfu was greatly interested in Western art and joined societies that promoted this style, his artwork during his time in Japan shows little influence of Western art. His art mainly reflects the work of nihonga painters like Kano Hogai, Hashimoto Gaho, and Takeuchi Seiho. Often Jianfu would paint flowers, plants, and grasses. He also took inspiration from traditional Chinese artists Tang Yin and Lan Ying.
In the 1920s, Jianfu's paintings showcased elements of "realism derived from Western art," as well as traditional Chinese ink and brushwork. The subject matter of his work strayed away from the themes of traditional art (i.e. flowers, birds, landscapes, etc.) and focused more on contemporary reality.
In 1912, after the overthrow of the Manchus, Gao Jianfu and his brother moved to Shanghai. They began publishing a journal titled Zhen xiang huabao (The True Record). It featured articles on art and politics, as well as published essays promoting a new, modernized national art in China. Although it ran for only a year, the journal was one of the first to bring art to the public. The brothers advocated government support of the arts. The two also opened the nation's first public galleries for the exhibit and sale of art works, the Aesthetic Bookstore.
Jianfu and Qifeng stayed in Shanghai till 1918. By 1923, the brothers established the Spring Awakening Art Academy in Canton.
In 1929, Jianfu was accused of anti-foreign sentiments during his time as the chief organizer of the government's first National Art Exhibition held in Nanjing. Because The Lingnan School was featured prominently, there was hostile response for the inclusion of non-Chinese artistic tendencies.
In 1936, Jianfu began teaching at Sun Yat-Sen University. He continued to publish articles, where he defended his concept of new national art. He suggested that national painting abandon the "elitism" of traditional art, and engage more directly with the Chinese public.
In 1938, Gao Jianfu left Japanese-occupied Canton for the island of Macao. He returned to Canton in 1945. At the time Mao Zedong came to power in 1949, Jianfu once again fled to Macao.
He died in 1951.