“Towering Independently Forever — Zhou Cangmi at 90, A Commemoration” Is Opened at ZJAM

pubdate: 2019/4/10   author: zjam  source: zjam  click:

When Mr. Zhou Cangmi was young, he was lucky to learn from the older generation of painters such as Huang Binhong and Pan Tianshou. He acquired profound traditional skills, developed solid modeling and sketching abilities, and knew Chinese traditional painting theories very well. In his early years, he was interested in figure painting and stood out among his contemporary young painters. In the early 1960s, his work “Under the Sun” (《在阳光下》) was included in the National Fine Arts Exhibition, and his other works named “Seeing My Child to Join the Red Amy” (《送儿当红军》), “Diverting A Channel in the Spring Mountain” (《春山引渠》) and “Welcoming the Bride” (《迎亲》) were collected by the National Art Museum of China. After reaching middle age, he was specialized in landscape painting and left his footprint all over the country. He visited Huangshan Mountain three times and Sichuan four times. He climbed Mount Tianshan in the west and Baekdu Mountain in the north. Traveling to towering mountains and exploring seas and remote areas made him an open-minded man who created boundless, ethereal, magnificent, and spectacular works. He was also good at calligraphy. He started his calligraphy practice by imitating Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. Later, he began to study “Ode to Shimen” (《石门颂》) relentlessly. He combined calligraphy with painting, and his works were always highly artistic as mutual enhancement of calligraphy and painting, blending of feelings and art skills, and impressive styles were found. In the 1980s, he held personal exhibitions in Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, and Chinese Taipei, which earned him high reputation.  He published special collections including “Zhou Cangmi’s Painting Collection” (《周沧米画集》), “Sketches by Zhou Cangmi”(《沧米写生》), and “Cow Paintings by Cangmi” (《沧米画牛》).

In 2010, Mr. Zhou Cangmi donated 2,671 pieces of calligraphy and painting works, sketches and manuscripts to ZJAM. He made great contributions to the art industry in Zhejiang and his donation enriched the collections of ZJAM. The donation included his representative works created in different periods of his life and reflected the trajectory and achievements of his artistic pursuit and exploration over the past sixty years.

This year marks Mr. Zhou Cangmi’s 90th birthday. ZJAM takes this occasion to hold an exhibition titled “Towering Independently Forever — Zhou Cangmi at 90, A Commemoration”. The exhibition is divided into three sections, i.e. “Figure and Landscape Paintings”, “Flower-and-Bird Paintings and Calligraphy”, and “Sketches”. 150 pieces of selected works from the collection are displayed to commemorate this artist who loved life, took root in people, and pursued both professional excellence and moral integrity.