169 Luo Zhongli (b. 1948)
Father
1980
oil on canvas
227 x 154 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
Luo Zhongli was trained at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, where he is
now on the faculty. Father caused a sensation when it was first exhibited
in Beijing because it suggested to Chinese audiences a parody of the monumental
portraits of Chairman Mao found on public buildings. The artist seemed to
have replaced the ageless leader with a weatherbeaten old peasant, whose
face and hands are marred by his years of labor. While the painting's debt
to Chuck Close may distract New York viewers, in Beijing it was read as
a rejection of the artificiality of Cultural Revolution art and a turn toward
the earthy realities with which all members of Luo Zhongli's generation
were all too familiar.