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We can feel the presence of each Chinese native painted by Zhang, Chenchu. Sharply focused light beams and calculated shadows shape the character of each subject. Zhang paints the people of his own generation, one of great cultural change, and with new emphasis on the importance of the individual in Chinese culture.

Zhang, Chenchu and The Combination of Three Artistic Styles

When standing before the paintings of Zhang, Chenchu we are immediately attracted to his Impressionistic style. He shares interests with Claude Monet, who expressed himself primarily through landscape subjects, and also with Renoir, who studied the human form in light and color. Zhang's most recent work investigates the wonder of light on closely cropped human faces, and sometimes the backs of heads that are streaked and dotted with sunrays. The sharpness of this detail is balanced elsewhere by soft illumination and delicate color.

The overall effect subtly refers to the character attributes of his subjects and, on deeper levels, discloses the inner landscapes that reside behind those "looks" and the eyes that punctuate them. His forceful compositions lend an element of expressionism to his imagery—the legacy of van Gogh and Edvard Munch.

Zhang, Chenchu's exploration in painting builds upon groundbreaking movements originating in the late 19th Century and exemplifies the New Realist movement in China today. His current trajectory carries forth the traditional Chinese emphasis on beauty in art, and reveals the fresh new face of contemporary Chinese culture.

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I painted a series of portraits of the five most famous Chinese painters [see "Pan, Tiam Shou,"]. My purpose was to address the present situation of art in China. Many young artists advance blindly and ignore the wonderful history of traditional Chinese art. These five painters invented something new based on what they had taken from tradition. They are models of the true creative spirit because they didn't just jump straight into western painting. We cannot forget our own heritage. Although we absorb the wonderful culture of the West, we should first inherit the great wealth of Chinese painting, and then invent anew.

This is one of the greatest painters in modern China ["Qi, Bai Shi"]. He lived from 1863 to 1957 and witnessed several periods of change in recent Chinese history. During the liberation of China in the early 1900s, society and culture were unfavorable and dark. He was like a burning light in a dark society, and this can be seen in his art. In a period of turmoil he encouraged people to pursue truth, kindness and beauty. He has been painted with dark color although he appears strong—rock solid in the face of change. This painter had a strong style, and I imitated his style in painting his face.

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