Wu Zuoren

Art Types involved-in: Oil Painting, Chinese Painting

Wu Zuoren Biography:

Wu Zuoren (1908.11.3-1997.4.9, Chinese name 吴作人), born in the city of Suzhou, was a contemporary Chinese artist famous for oil painting and traditional Chinese painting. He was the chairman of China Artists Association and the Dean of China Academy of Fine Arts, and was also in charge of other positions. He was honored with “Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Ministry of Culture and a top level Belgian royal honorary order. 

Between 1966 and 1972, due to the ongoing Great Cultural Revolution in China, Wu lost his freedom for art creation. He held many exhibitions at home and abroad and his works are collected by National Arts Museums of China. Leaders of Chinese government give his works to the King of Nepal, Prime Minster of Japan, Chancellor of Germany and others as presents. Wu also published many art books, for example, Album of Wu Zuoren’s Paintings, Wu Zuoren Painting Collections, Collections of Wu Zuoren’s Sketches, Selected Works of Wu Zuoren. In his late years, Wu concentrated on the creation of traditional Chinese paintings, integrating the ideas and images of Chinese painting into his own art creation system. 

Thus, he was unique in his own style. In the China Guardian 2013 Spring Auctions, his oil painting “The Yellow Blooms on the Battlefield Smell Sweeter” made the new auction record of his works with 80.5 million RMB.

Wu Zuoren's Representative Works Exhibitions:
In 1945, “Exhibition of Wu Zuoren’s Paintings Created When He Traveled to the Borders” was held in the city of Chengdu.
In 1947, upon the invitation of the British Council of Culture, Wu carried out academic visiting there and held art exhibitions one after another in Britain, France and Switzerland.
In 1984, he went to Japan and held the “Exhibition of Wu Zuoren’s and Xiao Sufang’s Chinese Paintings”, which was on show later in Luxembourg, Belgium in 1986.

Graduation School: Department of Architecture, Suzhou Institute of Industrial Technology, Shanghai University of Fine Arts, Department of Fine Arts, the South China Art Academy, Arts Department, Nanjing University, écol

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