I went to the Art Museum of Hong Kong to view the artworks on display. Although there weren’t any Western arts there (aside from a lot of reproduction prints of western paintings, but those don’t count), there were plenty of Chinese works that have been influenced by western art. For example one piece that caught my attention was Wu Guazhong’s Leaving Youth Behind (2009). When I saw this piece I was instantly reminded of Jackson Pollock’s drip technique. Thick dark lines and shapes of what looked like ink were splattered and thrown across the sheet. It was strange seeing this abstract painting in a room filled with naturalistic and realistic subjects. I later learned that Guazhong was a bit of a pioneer in Chinese history and that he was one of the first to forsake realism for abstraction. He was trained in European style and technique by a French-trained artist named Lin Fengmian. In the 1940’s he went to France and would eventually become known as one of the greats of Chinese modernism.
Other paintings show evidence of western techniques of realism and naturalism. Monkeys and Snowy Pine by Gao Qifeng is a combination of Japanese realism and western naturalism. Other paintings that looked as though they contained nothing but blotches of vivid colors are reminiscent of abstract expressionism. Although the artists may have adopted certain western ideas, all of the works still had a traditional Chinese style to them, either through brushwork or chosen mediums, and would not be mistaken for a western artwork. By combining western ideas while remaining true to their own culture these artists have been able to create something that is new, yet still feels traditional.