Both as a realistic artist, Tang Weimin and Gu Tianlong interpret the concept of All Roads Lead to Tibet well .

Tang believes in romanticism. He describes Tibet, the sacred place of freedom in his mind by the skill of portrait. Using the lighting and composition ways of Rembrandt, the perspective law of classical painting, Tang made his silent portraits full of dramatic contradictions. The beautiful girl was in attracting exotic costume, with striking Tibetan jewelries, blossoming herself alone in the picture. Different from common portraits, this muse is a fantasy of perfection in the spiritual realm. She stood for Tang’s religious worship to Tibet. In addition, her elegant figure, pure expression and exotic feature are the reflections of artist’s pursuit of the perfection of purity. 

This exhibition includes Gu Tianming’s series work Dark Gold Miner and Tibet. The miners in the first series kept optimistic in the difficult working condition, while the Tibet continued painting portraits with thick backgrounds. In both series work Dark Gold Miner and Tibet, Gu had realistically merged social culture with the bold strokes to reflect the reality. Dark Gold Miners shaped a hard but tough image for the miners through his delicate depictions of the movements of the characters, the texture and folds of clothes and the bubbles of the cement. In the series of Tibet, Gu used the metal industrial realistic paint to create a tranquil scene.

On the way of aspiring after beauty, Gu is focusing on realism while Tang prefers to romanticism. However, they chose similar materials and painting skills though their approaches to beauty are different. For them, Tibet is the holy place of beauty, and all the roads will lead them forward this destination.

Dr. Gao Peng

the director of Today Art Museum