Evoking a sense of nostalgia and spirituality

An exhibition, titled “Recalling Jiangnan in the Past Three Lives,” is sure to evoke a sense of nostalgia and spirituality to all those who visit the display showcased at Suzhou Art Museum through July 28.

Jiangnan (江南), which refers to regions south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, has been a repeated subject among the Chinese literati and its artists for centuries.

If you ask 10 people for their impressions of Jiangnan, you will probably elicit 10 different answers. Jiangnan means springtime at its best and worst, and a Utopian garden that always haunts the minds of those who have been.

The exhibition is one of a series pertaining to the subject of Jiangnan, at the Suzhou Art Museum this year. It features 67 paintings created by 26 artists, including heavyweights of the art world such as Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) and Wu Changshuo (1844-1927).

Jiangnan is no longer a concrete or stereotypical scene. Rather than a realistic depiction, it is an abstract or sometimes impressionistic. For example, Shanghai calligrapher Ding Shenyang wrote several poems eulogizing the landscapes of Suzhou on rice-paper.

“Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), a Yuan Dynasty master, once said that painting and calligraphy shared the same origin,” Ding said. “Frankly speaking, I seemed to visualize a picture of Jiangnan in my mind when I was writing, and I am sure such an atmosphere would be permeated over my calligraphy work.”

Ding said the painting, created by Qian Shoutie (1897-1967), titled “Fragrance,” featuring burning incense inside an incense burner, surprised many by painting very long smoke coming from the burning incense, almost three quarters of the tableau.

“Such a brushstroke is quite familiar in Chinese calligraphy,” Ding said. “Very abstract, yet profound and thought-provoking.”

In ancient times, demoted or retired officials would come to Jiangnan and build a private garden where they enjoyed a leisurely lifestyle.

A garden embodied many traditional aesthetics of a scholar’s ideals. They would write poems, meet friends and see the seasons change. So Jiangnan is not only a word that renders a feeling of nostalgia but also a spiritual freedom.

“My grandmother was born in Suzhou and I was raised here, so I have a strong emotional link with the city,” said Zheng Wen, the only female artist at the exhibition. “I painted the mountains around the suburbs of Suzhou. Sure, they are not a realistic reflection of the scenes, but the scene of Jiangnan in a child’s memory.”

Exhibition info

Date: Through July 28, 9am-4pm

Venue: Suzhou Art Museum

Address: 2975 Renmin Rd, Suzhou