Source: Beijing Daily Client
At 21:37 on February 15, "the first person in the sea of Chinese painting" and painter Li Haitao, a painter at the Beijing Academy of Painting, passed away due to illness at Hainan Hospital of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army of China. In the 1970s, Li Haitao was deeply touched by the colors of the South my country Sea gemstones in Sanya, Hainan, and began the process of researching and creating marine paintings. This painting lasted for 40 years. On the eve of New Year's Day this year, the old man came to Sanya again to collect folk songs, and finally returned to the sea here.
Last field trip I am still studying fishing boats and waves into the painting
Li Haitao has been engaged in marine-themed painting for 40 years and has traveled all over the coastline of China. Every year, I have to live, sketch and create in the marine cities. In late December last year, he came to Sanya again with his wife Xiao Kai (the daughter of Xiao Jinguang, founder of the New China Navy and general).
Li Haitao's last trip to Sanya
As usual, sketchbooks, cameras, and painting tools have become his standard equipment for looking at the sea. Although the old man is 87 years old and needs to travel in a wheelchair, this time he is still keen on running to the fishing port to see the boat, and keeps telling his younger generations about his new ideas about fishing boats and waves entering the painting. Occasionally, the old man draws some small paintings on the fan and records these explorations.
opens up the field of marine painting "The Map of the Sea and the Thousand Miles" sets the precedent
Li Haitao's second son, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Public Security and Art Circles and chairman of the Public Security Art Association Li Dong recalled that his father's ocean creation began in the 1970s. At that time, my father was collecting folk songs at Sanya Jianfengling , Coconut Grove, etc., and was deeply shocked by the emerald-like sea colors. Li Haitao said more than once: "Such beautiful sea water must be expressed in the language of Chinese painting art."
In fact, marine painting has always been an academic gap in Chinese painting. Paintings in Chinese history are often expressed in "fish scale patterns" when they involve sea water. This patterned and symbolic tracing is far from the true image of the sea. Without literature to examine and experience to follow, Li Haitao worked hard to explore techniques such as leaving blank waves, and recorded the ever-changing changes of the sea in ink and wash.
His artistic achievements were eventually condensed into the first work in my country's history to express the full picture of the sea and borders - "The Map of the Sea and Bridges". The volume depicts 102 scenic spots, and draws the gradual evolution of spring, summer, autumn, winter, fog, snow and wind in the same painting, setting a precedent.
For this creation, since 1985, Li Haitao has traveled more than 31,000 kilometers of sea borders in the motherland in five years, creating three records of the longest creation cycle, the longest in-depth life and the longest itinerary for a single work in contemporary Chinese art history. The person who accompanied him in this fieldwork creation was Li Dong. "In that era when we could only stay in a hotel with letters of introduction, our father and son walked most of China's coastline from north to south with letters of introduction from Chinese Artists Association and other institutions, and collected a large amount of material." During this theme walk, the father and son jointly studied and described it. "The plants in different temperate zones, different reefs, different fishing boats, different houses, different beliefs of totems, and different ways of labor. The research on these differences has gradually accumulated, and finally formed a unique understanding of the overall picture of our country's ocean." Li Dong recalled.
The deep love between husband and wife began with The Great Hall of the People Henan Hall Design
Born in the coastal city Qingdao , married the daughter of the founder of the Navy, and opened up the field of marine painting...Li Haitao's life is full of "ocean complex". His love with his wife Xiao Kai (the daughter of Xiao Jinguang, the founder of the New China Navy and general) has long been well-known.
Li Dong recalled that his father graduated from Henan Art College in his early years. As soon as he graduated, he was sent to Beijing to participate in the design of the Henan Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Xiao Kai graduated from the former Central Academy of Arts and Crafts. At that time, he often followed his mother to visit the design and construction of Henan Hall. The two of them became married.
Stayed with each other for nearly 60 years, Xiao Kai has always been the most staunch supporter of Li Haitao's artistic creation. In particular, he gave him firm encouragement and help in marine painting.Li Haitao's father-in-law and Xiao Jinguang have always paid close attention to his marine creations, believing that although the Chinese people have a strong sense of territory, they lack awareness of marine territory. Ocean painting creation helps arouse the Chinese people's awareness of ocean territory.
Li Haitao created ocean
The couple united and united about 40 marine painters on both sides of the strait
In addition to creating, Li Haitao and his wife also co-founded the "China Marine Painting Research Institute". In 2016, the institute also established a Taiwan branch, uniting about 40 marine painting artists on both sides of the strait.
held the "Chinese Marine Painting Academic Seminar", and held a large-scale "Hug Blue Land " painting exhibition in Qinzhou, Sanya, Xiamen , and Beijing, personally teaching marine painting techniques... With the joint efforts of the two, marine painting now has more and more followers and explorers.
