Author: GUO RUNWEN 郭润文

Size: 100×90cm

Signed and dated: Painted in 1998

Estimate:

Final Price: RMB 1,800,000

LITERATURE
1998 Guangdong Pictorial / Cover 3 / issue 8
1999 Guo Runwen Contemporary Chinese Young Realistic Oil Painter/ P36 / Jiangxi fine Arts Publishing House
2000 Selected Head Portraits of Chinese Oil Painting / P102/ Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
2000 Contemporary Art Teaching Model Collection: Oil Painting Characters / Southwest Normal University Press
2001 Guo Runwen - Series of Excellent Oil Paintings of Chinese Contemporary Strength Collection/ P14 / Tianjin Yangliuqing Painting Society
2001 Guangzhou Art Research / Cover / No.12
2002 Collection of Contemporary Chinese Portrait Art / Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House
2004 The Model Picture of Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting Figures / P15 / Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
2008 Guo Runwen - Oil Painting Volume of Chinese Contemporary Fine Arts Collection/ P112-113/ Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House
2011 Guo Runwen - The Fifth Anniversary of Chinese Realistic Painting Collection/ P71 / Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House
2012 Face to Face / P72 / Changjiang Publishing Media；Hubei Fine Arts Publishing House
signed in pinyin, dated 1998.4
EXHIBITED
1998 Exhibition of Eight Contemporary Chinese Young Artists, Rayvonei Youth Art Center, Italy
2008 Guo Runwen Oil Painting Exhibition China Art Museum, Beijing

In the landscape of Chinese contemporary realistic painting, Guo Runwen traces the modeling and aesthetic tastes of Neoclassicism in France with exquisite techniques. He extracts deep emotions from human spirits into his creation and fill it with oriental wisdom and philosophical temperament. The 1990s was the peak of Guo’s creative career with the most personal characteristics. As a typical example of his figure painting, "Explanation of Desire", created in 1998, has participated in many exhibitions and publications.
Guo puts the surreal symbols and metaphors in the exquisite picture context through the skillful use of " Pincas technique", which combines tempera materials and oil paint. By glazing on a shallower base, the best effect of the paint can be exerted, and the relationship between the sketch shape and the color can be well balanced. In "Explanation of Desire", Guo unifies the picture through a large area of middle gray, forming a very soft transition color, and then uses a small area of transparent color and bright oil paint to do the finishing touch. This rigorous technique makes the creation very time-consuming, producing the work with a strong and solemn illusion effect and a calm temperament.
The whole painting has a peaceful atmosphere. By discarding complicated environmental details and compressing the depth space, it focuses the viewer’s field of vision on the only girl in the center. With her drooping eyes, calm expression and dress seemingly clouded with memory, there seems to be some secret waiting to be solved. The simplicity of the background is in clear contrast to the complex of the meaning. Memory and reality are juxtaposed across time and space, creating a sense of nostalgia. The girl looks at the ball floating in her hands against gravity, forming an unreal atmosphere, which conflicts with the realistic brushwork. Her gesture seems to be both pampering and controlling, triggering viewers to wonder: Who is she? What is in her hands? Is it the chaos before the universe was formed or is it just a mess in life? What is the ultimate explanation of "desire"? If only going with the flow subconsciously, what attitude should people take to be the master of their own life? With delicate and realistic technique, contradictions are blended and balanced here: Reality and imagination are intertwined, tranquil schema contrasts to images full of strong dramatic tension. All attracts viewers to interpret and to imagine.