Guan Zilan
Guan Zilan 關紫蘭 | |
---|---|
Qing China | |
Died | June 30, 1986 Shanghai, People's Republic of China | (aged 83)
Education | China Art University, Bunka Gakuin |
Known for | Oil painting |
Notable work | Portrait of Miss L. (1929) |
Movement | Fauvism |
Guan Zilan (Chinese: 關紫蘭; Wade–Giles: Kuan Tzu-lan; January 1903 – 30 June 1986),[1] also known as Violet Kwan, was a Chinese avant-garde painter.[2] She was one of the first artists to introduce Fauvism to China, and was known for applying Western painting style to Chinese traditional subjects. Her most famous work is Portrait of Miss L. (1929). Although an art world favorite during the late 1920s and the 1930s, she stopped painting after the onset of the Cultural Revolution and became mostly forgotten in Communist China.
Early life and career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Liangyou_045_cover_-_Guan_Zilan.jpg/170px-Liangyou_045_cover_-_Guan_Zilan.jpg)
Guan was born in
After her graduation in 1927, she followed Chen's advice and went to Japan to further her studies.[5] She enrolled at Bunka Gakuin in Tokyo,[4][6] and her style became strongly influenced by Henri Matisse's Fauvism.[5] In the 1920s and the 1930s, Chinese women who had successful careers in Japan attracted significant attention from Japanese media. Guan made headlines as a representative of the "modern girl" and was projected as a model beauty.[7]
Guan returned to Shanghai in 1930,
Later life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Guan_Zilan_2.jpg/170px-Guan_Zilan_2.jpg)
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, when eastern China, including Shanghai, was occupied by the Empire of Japan, Guan's former teacher Chen Baoyi refused to work for the Japanese and fell into penury. Guan supported him financially until his death in 1945.[1]
Guan stayed in Shanghai after the Communists took over China in 1949 and lived on Liyang Road in
In 2007, a box of old photographs from the 1920s and the 1930s were rediscovered in the basement of Shanghai's Wang Kai Photo Studio. The Xinmin Evening News published some of the photos, but misidentified Guan Zilan as the famous movie star Ruan Lingyu. The error was rectified when Guan's daughter saw the photos in the newspaper and recognized them as her mother's.[1][3]
Art
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Liangyou_magazine_Number_57_Special_Exhibition_of_Ms._Guan_Zilan_in_1930.jpg/170px-Liangyou_magazine_Number_57_Special_Exhibition_of_Ms._Guan_Zilan_in_1930.jpg)
Guan was deeply influenced by Fauvism, while applying Western avant-garde painting style to traditional Chinese subjects. Her oil paintings use a high degree of simplification and
After media reporting of the rediscovery of Guan's photographs, her art began to recapture the attention of the Chinese public. In January 2012, her oil painting Flowers in a Vase was sold for CN¥2.6 million.[3]
Family
Guan Zilan had a daughter named Liang Yawen (梁雅雯), and a grandson Ye Qi (葉奇), who is a photographer.[1]
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Guan_Zilan_in_front_of_mandolin_paintings.jpg/170px-Guan_Zilan_in_front_of_mandolin_paintings.jpg)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Zhang Linfeng (2012-04-16). "兰质蕙心 意韵悠远—从民国走来的女油画家关紫兰再度引人关注". Hongkou Weekly. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
- ISBN 0-8109-6909-2.
Guan Zilan (Violet Kwan: 1903-1986)
- ^ a b c d e "揭秘民国美女画家关紫兰". Xinhua (in Chinese). 8 March 2012. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012.
- ^ a b "曾经的才女:"闺秀画家"关紫兰作品赏析". People's Daily (in Chinese). 7 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Short biography of Guan Zilan". Union College. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8248-2952-0.
- ISBN 978-90-04-17019-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-90-04-26338-3.