Beijing

Gu Kaizhi is one of the first so-called "self-aware" artists and art theorists in ancient China. He was a forerunner of a new attitude towards art which spoke about beauty in spiritual terms. Gu belongs to a period called the Wei-Jin period, this is the time when the birth of art theory in China can be traced back to and some will say that Gu was the main figure responsible for this new trend of thought. Gu Kaizhi spoke of the spiritual attributes of art which was a great inspiration for the people of his time as well as later generations. In this sense Gu may also symbolize a shift from painting as a professional occupation of an artisan to painting as a real form of art where the artist seeks things that are beyond technique and ornamental beauty. Gu was born into a well educated family of government officials in today's Jiangsu province, historical documents claim that he had a talent for poetry, calligraphy and a very strong and penetrating sense historical awareness.

On top of being a renowned theorist Gu was also a very well known painter. His painting The Nymph of the Luo River (see detal below), which is based on the theme of a timeless poem written by Cao Zhi the son of the emperor of the Wei Dynasty and the infamous character from the classical novel The Three kingdoms, Cao Cao, is a milestone in the development of Chinese art. It beautifully captures the transition from figure painting in historical and religious contexts to a more mature mode of landscape painting. Although this work is still dominated by mythological and human figures it is evident that nature in the background receives growing attention and becomes a dominant aspect of the picture, representing a growing interest in the grandeur of nature and its all-encompassing power. There are several interesting anecdotes about Gu Kaizhi which may help us understand who this ancient man really was. One reason for the greater attention he gave nature and the backgrounds in his paintings can be better understood through a famous story. It is told that once Gu was asked to paint a portrait of a prominent man named Xie Kun. Unlike the painters of his time, Gu decided to place Xie Kun among mists and mountains. When some perplexed viewers asked why? Gu said it was a way to elaborate on Xie Kun's love for nature and mountains. This may seem rather obvious to a modern viewer but at these early stages in the development of art this was an innovation that inspired generations. this anecdote is directly related to Gu's theory of art which stresses the importance of giving human figures a a kind of spirit or sense of livelihood which is beyond mere form. Gu's most famous sentence is 以形写神 (yi xing xie shen)，which can be interpreted as something like "from the form seek the spirit". captures Gu's strong belief that there is a spiritual side to painting which is beyond the reach of an artisan. Other anecdotes repeat the strong attention Gu attached to small details which bring out the essence of the person depicted, it seems like Gu's skill of creating atmospheres that enhanced the characteristics of his subjects is what won him fame and the prestigious status as the father of Chinese traditional painting (this title is sometimes shared with Wu Daozi the also known as the Sage Painter.)

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