He Jianguo (Chinese: 何建国,梨花书屋主人, 1951-2021), is a contemporary Chinese idiosyncratic. He Jianguo is regarded as a twentieth-century artist who is continuing the literati tradition. His brushstrokes and calligraphy are unorthodox and he has no fear of turning his back on traditional methods. He draws heavily on traditional subjects, but offers his own interpretation and takes joy in depicting typical Beijing scenes and the life of his family and friends. As a strong based of Chinese ink artist, he studied privately with many Chinese calligraphy top masters for traditional techniques. In the meanwhile the freedom expressed in his works can be seen as the direct result of not having endured a restrictive art school education.

He seeks to unite the scholaramateur aesthetic, Chinese brush work and certain compositional principle interest in Formalism. Being a great fan of artists such as Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne and Kandinsky, He Jianguo uses principles of rhythm to compose his paintings and grid like structure to order the picture surface.

Ink painters are generally labelled conservative, irrespective of their work, because they do not sever ties with Chinese tradition. He Jianguo is not part of the ‘avant-garde’ but he is one of the few ink painters who are working creatively with what in lesser hands is a stultifying tradition. He seeks to achieve a union of Chinese and Western artistic languages that is relevant to themselves.

Bibliography

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Permanent Collection

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Collection of New South Wales Art Gallery, Australia [1]

Year Title Place of Origin Credit
Mid-Late 20th Century Serenity (Calligraphy)[2] China Gift of Sun Yu 1990
Mid-Late 20th Century Drinking under the Moon[3] China Anonymous Gift 1990
1985 Portrait of Chen Lang[4] China Purchased 1993
1987 Still life[5] China Purchased 1993

Publications

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Year Title Author Publisher Notes
2006 Rule of Beauty He Jianguo, Zhang Zikang Hebei Education Publishing ISBN 7-5434-5967-1
2006 Today's Chinese Calligraphy Artist He Jianguo He Jianguo Hebei Education Publishing ISBN 7-5434-6405-5
2006 Chinese Most Representative Artist Series He Jianguo, Linuo Today Art Museum, China -
2006 Chinese Paintings: Artist of today He Jianguo He Jianguo, XuLei Today Art Museum, China -
2006 INK: Whiteley and others He Jianguo The Brett Whiteley Studio New South Wales, Australia -
2004 The Porcelain from He Jianguo He Jianguo Hebei Education Publishing ISBN 7-5434-5130-1
2003 The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales He Jianguo, Jackie Menzies Art Gallery of New South Wales -
1998 Contemporary Chinese Artist He Jianguo He Jianguo Hebei Education Publishing ISBN 7-5434-3168-8
1995 Art of the Brush: Chinese & Japanese Painting Calligraphy He Jianguo, Jackie Menzies Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales -
1994 The Art Gallery of New South Wales collection He Jianguo, Ewen McDonald Art Gallery of New South Wales -
1993 Kreatief: Literair En Kunstkritisch Tijdschrift He Jianguo, Mieke Bongers Belgium -
1992 New Art From China-Post-Mao Product He Jianguo, Claire Roberts Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales -

References

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  1. ^ Works by HE Jianguo Art Gallery NSW, retrieved February 27, 2011
  2. ^ [1] Art Gallery NSW, retrieved December 19, 2011
  3. ^ [2] Art Gallery NSW, retrieved December 19, 2011
  4. ^ [3] Art Gallery NSW, retrieved December 19, 2011
  5. ^ [4] Art Gallery NSW, retrieved December 19, 2011
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Books are collected by the following libraries

  • Library of Congress U.S.
  1. https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=STNO&searchType=1&recCount=25&searchArg=9787543431683
  2. https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=11696&recCount=25&recPointer=2&bibId=13733474