Li Keran (1907-89) is probably one of the most misunderstood artists in modern China. He is labeled by some critics as a spoiler of the golden rules of traditional Chinese landscape painting.

He is viewed by other critics as a masterful integrator of Western and Eastern art.

He is still hailed by others as a great master painter who made ground breaking contributions to the shaping of modern Chinese landscape paintings.

Such conflicting perceptions deserve closer inspection.

With the largest ever retrospective show of Li's landscape paintings opening this Monday at the National Art Museum of China, viewers might take the rare chance to get a personal feel of Li's art and pass his or her own judgment.

More than 100 selected, original works done by the master painter between 1943 and 1989, along with at least 60 of his outdoor sketches, are on display at the museum until May 20.

Most exhibits are from the collection of the Li Keran Art Foundation, including about 10 pieces shown to the public for the first time. A dozen exhibits are on loan from private collectors from home and abroad, according to Li Xiaoke, his son.

The exhibition is jointly organized by the Chinese Artists' Association, Research Institute of Chinese Painting, Central Academy of Fine Arts and Li Keran Art Foundation.

Tradition and innovation

"For ordinary Chinese, Li Keran is best known for his vivid depiction of Chinese buffaloes in his Chinese ink paintings. But among art circles, Li is best known for his admirable accomplishments in modern landscape paintings," says Shao Dazhen, a renowned art critic.

Throughout his lifetime, Li seemingly kept a calm and open mind, refusing to copy any other artists but keen to absorb ideas from other art genres, and even from Western art. With his undertakings, he forged his unique style, noted Liu Xilin, an art critic and researcher with National Art Museum of China.

Li transformed traditional literati Chinese landscape painting into modern landscapes that are more attuned to the taste of modern viewers. A student of master landscape painter Huang Binhong (1865-1955), Li successfully pushed the boundaries of Chinese landscape painting. "If we liken Huang's art to an ancient style Chinese poem, then Li's art is just like a modern Chinese poem," wrote art historian Sun Meilan in a new book on Li's painting.

In his paintings of imposing and towering mountains, fleeting fogs and colorful clouds, and lush forests, Li likes to employ the condensed brushstrokes and multi-layered dark ink to convey a sense of movement.

He often leaves the edges of the mountains painted with lighter ink, generating dazzling effects of light and shadow, which is novel approach not used by previous Chinese landscape masters, critics say.

But his innovative efforts are not recognized by all.

As early as the 1960s, Li was criticized by some critics for spoiling the centuries-old techniques, patterns and concepts in Chinese ink painting. But he kept silence and kept going his way. In the 1980s, Li said in retrospect: "New ideas always meet setbacks at the beginning. That's understandable. But I have tried my best to hold on to my own beliefs. Ultimately, I have trekked out my own way."

"In Li's paintings, each of the lines, strokes and patches are actually well calculated and consummately rendered," veteran artist Huang Miaozi once commented.

"And that is why the poetic, implicit imageries he creates never lack the stopping power at first sight, and attract the viewer to look again and again, each time reading out still something new."

"In my view, Li's achievement in the use of ink and brushwork can only be equaled by master painters like Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and Huang Binhong," Huang said.

"Li's landscapes are not simply captured the way they are but are a whole new artistic creation," pointed out art critic Shui Tianzhong.

"Standing before Li's imposing landscapes, I can get a strong feeling that the artist cherishes a deep love for nature, and a new affinity between me and nature, that I have long ignored, rises from within."

It is a well known fact that Li draws inspiration from the works of Western masters such as Monet, Rembrandt and Cezanne, so some art critics describe Li as a clever artist who is smart at creating his own brand by combining Western and Chinese painting elements. Some even called him the "Impressionist of China."

But it is misleading to use the term "integrating Western and Eastern art" to describe Li's landscape paintings, argued Li Baolin, a celebrated Chinese painter and close friend of Li.

"Though different from the works of older masters and his peers, Li's landscape paintings are definitely Chinese art that a Western artist simply cannot create with the same tools and mediums of ink, brush and rice paper," Li Baolin explains. "Because, as I see it, when he paints, he is guided by traditional Chinese aesthetical principles, instead of the concepts and rules of Western art."

"China developed its own artistic and aesthetic system long time ago. Within the system are many unique forms of expression. Someone told me: You do need to make a step forward. I said: Yes, I do. But I will not step into Western art," Li Keren once wrote in his article "On Artistic Innovation."

"After the Opium Wars, the long isolation of Chinese society bore increasing influences of all kinds from the West, including those in art and culture. Yes, we should learn from the ideas and art forms from other parts of the world. But we should never loose the self-confidence of time-honored Chinese culture," Li once told his students.

"An artist can make innovations only on the basis of a deep understanding and absorption of traditions. One can not create something new out of nothing. At the same time, the artist should create his art in line with the spirit of the times," Li said.

(China Daily May 13, 2005)