Chen Chi, High Noon New York, 1986, Watercolor on paper
Inspired by modern art training in Shanghai, Chen Chi (1912 – 2005) moved to New York City in 1947. His works merge traditional Chinese brushstrokes with Western techniques creating colorful, aesthetic, harmonious works.
Chen Chi was born in Wusih, a small community near Shanghai, China. Due to his father’s financial difficulties in the silk business, in 1926, Chen Chi moved to Shanghai where he was employed in an oil pressing factory. The owner of the factory, having children the same age, allowed Chen Chi to attend their classes. In 1931, he enrolled in an art school that emphasized western techniques rather than traditional Chinese painting. The establishment of the Chinese Republic, in 1912, coupled with the opening of China to the West, which had begun in the nineteenth century, heightened his awareness of Western ideas and art trends. Chen Chi, recalling his early training stated, “We were wanting a more modern painting…. There was already this direction in the modern cultural movement. And with art, we did not want to go back to the Chinese traditional style, although we had such a strong tradition of it…. I belonged to the younger generation, and we wanted … the modern style.”‘
Museum of Art 12.09.2014 - 04.01.2014
Website & source : Museum of Art
Website : Deland
FIC123.BE THE CULTURAL PORTAL.
