"Masters' Style & Characters—Selected Scholars' Portraits of The Republic of China Era Painting Series by Luo Qi ", organized by 21 Space Art Museum, will open at 15, June 7, 2014. The curators are Yang Xiaoyan and Hu Bin, and this exhibition is another important performance of “Figurative China" series which launched by 21 Space Art Museum. It will present 35 selected oil paintings about Scholars' Portraits of The Republic of China Era by Luo Qi.

 

For years, Luo Qi, the young artist who has been teaching in Oil Painting Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, has built up aunique,elegant and quiet character of his art, and it is fully recognized by the contemporary art world. His paintings can be broadly divided into two types of subject matter, one is the figure painting, most of the figures are in the desolate jungle or suburb, and it presents a reflective feature which is different from the current trends; another type is the landscape painting, it presents the weeds and leafy, silent and peaceful scenery. However, in his recent art creation, Luo Qi gradually focused on the scholars’ portraits of the Republic of China, it is in his academic interest, and also accord with his deliberate character which makes him reflects on the status and gets far away from the madding crowd.

From the social background, the current discussion about the issues of the Republic of China is heating up, the academic study of the republic of China’s scholarism and scholars emerge in endlessly, it also has quite a response in art world. Such as, the Retrospective Exhibition of the Masters which was organized by Beijing SZ Art Center last year, Guangzhou Times Museum organized an exhibition and discussion activities of the documentary film “Masters”, they all indicate people in modern society are cherishing the memory of the scholars of the Republic of China and thinking about the current society, education, ideological problems. Under this background, it can be said that the appearance of Luo Qi’s “scholars’ portraits of the Republic of China Era” series couldn’t be separated from the times background, meanwhile it certainly will spark off a debate in art world, and even in the cultural circles.

 

From the painting itself, this series of Luo Qi adopt a unique style portraying the spirituality of scholars of the Republic of China Era and the ideological atmosphere of that era. Some scholar deems this series is going to be an important gain in China contemporary oil painting, and in Guangdong oil painting, it is also a rare excellent work in recent year. It will become classics not only the thoughtful, but also the exploration of style, and the creation of the oil painting language, the vision judgment of the figure’s historical position and character.