On May 9, 2024, the Activity to Collect University Historical Materials in Celebration of Yunnan Arts University's 65th Anniversary, the Opening Ceremony of "Be Discriminating and Uniform" Retrospective Exhibition of Artistic Works by Professor Fu Qizhong and the Donation Ceremony of Professor Fu Qizhong's Artistic Works were held in the Yunnan Arts University Library. The retrospective exhibition displayed 81 excellent works created by Professor Fu during his lifetime, of which 37 were donated and 44 were for display.
Professor Fu graduated from the Hubei Art Institute in 1959 and was assigned to work at the Fine Arts Department of Yunnan Arts University (YNAU), which was established that year. It can be said that Professor Fu's painting creation and teaching career before his retirement were closely related to the development of YNAU's Fine Arts Department (now the Fine Arts School). Therefore, the retrospective exhibition is of great significance and has far-reaching influence.
Focusing on the development of the times during his painting creation, Professor Fu kept exploring and innovating, injecting Yunnan's unique cultural charm and aesthetic vitality into local fine art creation. His consistent focus on Yunnan's diverse nature, culture and ethnic ecology speaks volumes about "Be Discriminating" and his commitment to improving painting (especially watercolor) techniques and languages and endowing watercolor works with a sense of relevance and immediacy attests to "Be Uniform." The retrospective exhibition is not only a review of Professor Fu's entire artistic career, but also an important case study on the development process of YNAU's Fine Arts School. From the exhibited works, we can get a glimpse of the development history of a region in a certain era depicted by a sincere artist.
By using people as a mirror, one can know gains and losses; by using history as a mirror, one can know rise and fall. The history of a painter, a profession, and a school is also a way to know gains and losses, as well as rise and fall. As Yuan Mei, a Chinese poet from the Qing Dynasty, wrote in his poem The Leek Flowers, "The leek flowers like rice tiny, Rush to bloom like the peony." As tiny as they are, the leek flowers rush to bloom like the peony. The same goes for today's activity.
About the Painter:
Fu Qizhong (December 1938–March 2024) was born in Wuhan, Hubei Province. He graduated from the Hubei Art Institute in 1959 and was good at oil and watercolor painting. He ever served as the director of the Watercolor Art Committee of the Yunnan Artists Association and a professor at YNAU's Fine Arts Department (now the Fine Arts School). His works were selected for the National Exhibition of Fine Arts many times and also for previous national watercolor exhibitions. He won many awards at home and abroad and published three personal painting albums. In 1988, he held a solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China (16 works were collected by the National Art Museum of China). Then he went to Argentina to hold an exhibition at the invitation of the country's government. In addition, he held solo exhibitions in Singapore and China's Chengdu, Wuhan and Taiwan and exhibited his works in more than ten countries including the United States and Japan.
