ART FOR FOOD AND CLOTHES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 309, 25 May 1945, Page 10

ART FOR FOOD AND CLOTHES

Chinese Painter Who Is Working For War Funds

NE of the leading Chinese painters of the present period, Professor Wang Chiyuan, is in America helping to bridge the thought gap between East and West. But he is also helping to provide funds for Chinese war-relief. In cies in various parts of America he has held exhibitions of his work, as well as sales, and given the whole of the proceeds to China Relief. In addition he has given demonstrations and donated panels for the benefit of the Red Cross War Fund in New York City. One United States newspaper paid Professor Wang this tribute: "He gives great stimulus to the American people and shows them that the Chinese themselves are in the very front when it comes to trying to help their own people." Constructive Themes Although Wang offers his talents freely for war relief, his work is largely devoid of war themes. "In my paintings," he says, "I have sought to express not the horror and destruction of war, but the calmness and strong-willed purpose which are so needed now." Professor Wang was born in Hsi Hsien, Anhyei Province, in 1894. He taught in many schools in China and in 1922 became head of the faculty for Western painting in the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. He developed the practice of presenting art exhibitions throughout China while he was a member of the General Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Edugation. He travelled extensively, visiting Japan (where he held shows) and exhibiting in Foochow, Shanghai, Nanking and other leading Chinese cities. In the Philippines he

exhibited as a representative of modern Chinese. art at the University of the Philippine Islands. He also went to Europe, spent several years in Italy, painted and studied in Paris and exhibited in the outstanding European art centres. Authority on Art In addition to being an acknowledged and widely-known painter, Wang has written many books on art and was invited by the Ministry of Education in China to draft standard art textbooks for use in the normal schools. Among the positions he has held in the art field were vice-president of the Shanghai College of Fine Arts, chairman of the Shanghai Art Association, founder of the Chung Hwa Art Association and Pe Chuan Writing and Painting Association. Since the war began in China, Professor Wang has exhibited in the Philippine Islands, Singapore, Saigon, Annam, Hongkong, Penang, and the United States. In America his paintings have beerr acquired by collectors and three

have been presented to the Cleveland, Ohio, Museum. Reproductions of his paintings have appeared in. leading newspapers and magazines, and he has exhibited in all of the prominent United States art centres, from the San Francisco Museum on the west coast to the famous Metropolitan Museum in New York City. (By courtesy of U.S. Office of War Infors mation through American Legation).