Ouyang Chenxi

Ouyang Chenxi Currently serves as Honorary President of the Art College, Confucius University of China; Realist painter of Chairman Mao’s portraits; Academician of the China Art Calligraphy and Painting Research Institute; President of the Beijing-Tianjin School of Art Research Institute; Vice President of the Zhao Ling Calligraphy and Painting Academy; Deputy Director of the Oil Painting Department, China Calligraphy and Painting Navigation Network; Member of the Shaanxi Poetry Society; Director of the Lindexuan Art Museum, Shaanxi.   His personal collections include: *Ouyang Chenxi on the Development Prospects of Artworks under the New Economic Pattern*, *Friends with Masters: Appreciation of Western Art Masters*, *Friends with Masters: Appreciation of Ancient Chinese Art Masters*, *Painting the Splendor*, *Ink and Water: Vast Waves*, *Discourse on Brush and Ink*, *The East*, *Ouyang Chenxi on Art Appreciation*, *The Realm of Painting*, and his poetry collection *Jinian Chasing Dreams: Chenxi Poetry Anthology*.   During his long-term study and practice, he has created numerous ink paintings, such as: *Summer’s End in the Mountains*, *Autumn Rhythm of the Emerald Lake*, *Morning Lotus Impression*, *Autumn Rain Pastoral Song*, *Leaning on the Balcony Listening to Rain*, *Sunrise at Huangshan*, *Iron Bones and Crimson Heart Illuminating the World*, *Wisteria and Peacock*, *The Red Cliff Ode in Clerical Script*, *The Magnificent Landscape*, *The Four Elders of Shang Mountain*, *The Misty Mountains, Even in Rain*, *The Seven Sages Drinking Wine*, *Yu Hang Ancient Town*, *Imitating Ancient Calligraphy from the Wei and Jin Dynasties*, *Traveling Through the Passes and Mountains*, *A Boat Floats Alone Where No One Crosses the Ferry*, *The Road is Long and Arduous*, *The Peach Blossom Spring Scroll*, *The Mountains’ Colors, Present and Absent*; oil paintings: *Gazing*, *Tibetan Girl*, *Heavenly Melody*, *Clear Stream in the Mountain Valley*, *Smoke and Clouds Entering the Autumn Mountains*, *The Land Is So Enchanting*, *Fragrance Embracing the Moon, Drunk in Fleeting Life*; literary works: *Yu Lin Ling: Night Unending*, *Seven Strings Lament*, *Cai Sang Zi: Youthful Sorrow*.   During his earlier painting journey of “searching through all extraordinary peaks to sketch drafts,” he developed certain creative philosophies and methodologies: In painting, “one must pay attention to rules and standards, avoiding vulgarity; integrating the ‘Five Brushes and Seven Inks’ as interdependent elements—brushwork should avoid triviality, ink should seek rhythmic luster, achieving ‘harmony between person and painting’; as Master Wen Tianxiang said, ‘Unfolding books beneath the eaves in the wind, ancient virtues illuminate one’s countenance.’ ‘Respecting antiquity and diligently seeking, transformation emerges.’ In terms of artistic conception, one must express the spiritual essence of objects, elevating Wang Wei’s ‘poetry within painting, painting within poetry’ to a higher level: ‘Painting is silent poetry; poetry is audible painting.’ Only when form and spirit are perfectly unified, and when the work strikes a balance between resemblance and abstraction, can true beauty—appreciated by both the refined and the common—be created. In creation, one should embody ‘the passionate freedom of brushwork, the heroic and distant momentum, the bold and refreshing spirit, and the wondrous, graceful ambiance.’