Lot 3351: CUI RUZHUO (BORN 1944)

CUI RUZHUO (BORN 1944)
Scholar under the Bamboo
CUI RUZHUO (BORN 1944)
Scholar under the Bamboo
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
76 x 71 cm. (30 x 28 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with four seals of the artist
Dated spring, third month, gengyin year (2010)
paper ink
76 x 71 cm. (30 x 28 in.)
21st Century

THE ART OF CUI RUZHUO'S FINGER-PAINTING

Cui Ruzhuo, a well-known Chinese-American painter, calligrapher, art connoisseur and collector, was born in Beijing in 1944, and taught as professor at the Beijing Central Arts Academy. Cui moved to the United States in 1981, having received multiple awards in countless international exhibitions. His works have been collected by collectors and institutions throughout the world, in particular the United Nations and notable museums, galleries and academies in Asia, Europe and America.
Landscape finger painting is one of Cui Ruzhuo's greatest achievements in his artistic career. Cui paints with his fingers through a fusion of reality and imagination, capturing the spirit, spatiality and temporality of the landscape he paints. Finger and brush ink paintings in theory possess similar expressive qualities, yet Cui has taken a big step in experimenting with finger painting, prompting him to innovate in methods, use of the material, and rendering of forms and contexts. Cui's finger painting opens up a new window of philosophy and aesthetics for Chinese painting.
Cui Ruzhuo transformed ink brush painting to finger painting with his unique style and philosophy. Such a transformation not only requires a different set of painting skills, but also a new frame of mind. Many of his small paintings of flowers and birds, figure and landscape reflect the unique beauty of this genre. With many years of dedication, Cui is at the forefront of finger painting, and he attributes this success to his solid background of traditional Chinese ink painting. Renowned artist Pan Tianshou's great achievement in still-life finger painting was not met by any artist, yet differing from Pan, Cui Ruzhuo extends the subject matter to a broader landscape field. His finger painting sees continuous exploration into the boundaries of art, combining Chinese ink painting tradition with finger painting, showing his respect to the tradition and passion for ink painting. Most importantly, Cui not only broke through his own modes of creativity, he enabled others to follow in his new, contemporary approach to Chinese painting.