Editor: Here is Chinese artist Geng Shuwei 耿树伟, famous for his Chinese ink and colour painting of pine-and-snow landscapes and mountain peaks of Huangshan, talking about how he expresses his artistic ideas through brush and ink on Chinese rice paper and his lifetime pursuit in painting.

image above: close-up, 松峰守望风华, ink and colour on paper, Geng Shuwei, China

Geng Shuwei:

I take the ‘temperament, interest, spirit of law, morality and justice’ of the matter as one of the major pursuits in my life and in my painting. I believe that the pursuit of artistic realm should come from the mind and the nature. If I want to show the natural appearance of pines and peaks, I would depict their spirituality in the painting as well.

It is true that artistic expression must be presented through artistic language. I believe that ‘brush and ink’ is the only way to express ‘Chinese painting’. However, ‘brush and ink’ also needs to express new ideas constantly and learn from other forms of arts so that it can improve itself and show personal characters of the artists.

It is my pursuit to strengthen the tradition of Chinese landscape painting which has a history of more than one thousand years, and to constantly improve and innovate through my painting of pines, snow and mountain peaks. I enjoy this status in which I can have dialogues with myself and show my feelings towards objects and sceneries. Over the last few decades, I have learned from our ancestors who have passed on traditional painting skills of landscapes, and I am grateful and passionate when I create artworks on Chinese rice paper. I endeavour to express the natural charm of the sceneries when I work on the innovation of ‘pine-and-snow landscape painting’ and that of the Huangshan Mountain in particular.

Introduction of the artist Geng Shuwei:

Geng Shuwei 耿树伟 was born in Heilongjiang Province, China. He graduated from the Fine Arts Education Department of Harbin Normal University and Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Correspondence University, learning from Li Keran, Shi Lu, Bai Xueshi, etc.

Geng Shuwei is specialised in Chinese pine-and-snow landscape painting. His works have been exhibited in the Ice and Snow Painting Exhibition of the 24th Winter Universiade. He has won an Excellent Award in the Sino-Russian Teachers’ Art Works Exhibition. The works and articles of Geng Shuwei on Chinese Pine-and-Snow Landscape Painting and Huangshan Mountain Pine-and-Snow Landscape Painting have been kept by the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Knowledge Database. His works and books have been collected by Harvard–Yenching Library, as well as in the Australian National Art Exhibition.

Geng Shuwei is a member of Heilongjiang Artists Association, contracted painter of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy News, Heilongjiang Academy of Painting and Heilongjiang Daily Art Museum. He is the Vice President and Art Advisor of Chinese Art Alliance Journal, Director of Beijing Century Golden Garden Cultural Arts Center, Deputy Director Researcher of Beijing Shuangyong Art Center, and Art Advisor of Heilongjiang Provincial People’s Congress Art Center.

If you are interested in collecting Geng Shuwei’s artwork, please contact tutuhaoyi@gmail.com