Fishing Nets

From 1972 onwards, Wu Guanzhong was permitted by the government to sketch farming scenes, ocean views, or country life for his landscape paintings once or twice a week. He once went to a fishing village in the Mount Lao area, Qingdao. He visited local households which process harvested seafood and fish, and took long walks along the coast - these had all become inspiration for his art. Executed in 1976, Fishing Nets (Lot 148) is akin to pure abstraction; nets connected by white thin strings seem to be the only figurative existence. These thin lines - entwined and interwoven - create a composition that is spacious but carefully structured. The simple yet descriptive brush strokes merge into a white color block on the right side, demonstrating Wu's signature dexterity of employing lines on a picture plane. In Lake (Lot 147), Landscape of Mount Huang (Lot 149), and most of Wu's landscape paintings, long shots are used to capture the full surrounding; whilst Fishing Nets engages a close shot against a clean backdrop. Shallow depth of field has made the background even more blurry, guiding the viewer's attention to the dense constitution of nets. We could consider the charcoal backdrop rocks often seen in fishing villages in Mainland. They further bring forth the complexity, translucence, and continuous texture of the lines. The basic composition demonstrates keenly how accurate and concise Wu's visual considerations are. Wu Guanzhong's art is acclaimed for capturing the simple charm of nature in his landscape paintings using merely minimal brushwork and pictorial elements.