Li Kuchan

CHINA, Shandong, Liaocheng

Born in Gaotang county of Liaocheng, Li Kuchan was a painter and art educator who had an original name of Li Yingjie and an alias of Li Ying. He enjoyed painting from a very early age, studying under Xu Beihong and later, Qi Baishi. Li learned western style painting at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts and consequently founded the Chinese and Western Hou Hong Painting Society in 1934, which aimed to promote the amalgamation of Western and Chinese painting styles. He dedicated his life to art education and became a professor at the Hangzhou Arts School, as well as a researcher and professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Li excelled in painting flowers and birds, and also produced portraits; his depiction of Bodhidharma Facing the Wall takes a minimalist approach to achieve a vivid and intriguing effect. His early works were effortless and liberated, and his art incorporates and builds on the styles and techniques of well-known painters such as Fachang, Shitao, Bada Shanren, and Wu Changshuo. His style became more mature and sophisticated in the 1960s, and as he grew older, his paintings became voluminous and grandiose with striking colors. Many of Li’s works are kept in the Li Kuchan Memorial Hall in Shandong. Books on his art include Art Collection of Li Kuchan, Memoirs of Arts by Master Kuchan, and Top Ten Chinese Contemporary Artists: Li Kuchan.