Chinese Painting on Location: The Art of Lin Haizhong

The contemporary ink paintings by Lin Haizhong are a unique effort to imagine the changing Chinese landscape through a personal vision and an appeal to the past—to preserve the historic landscape and create a modern Chinese environment with a traditional foundation. Central to Lin Haizhong's practice of art is a contemporary version of the social setting within which much classical Chinese painting was created. These social gatherings provide opportunities to be in the company of friends while creating art ranging from paintings and calligraphy to poetry and music.

Chinese landscape paintings emerge from the intimate relationships a painter forms with his environment, but the paintings do not generally depict particular scenes from reality. Rather they represent landscapes that emerge from the mind of the painter, and they reflect a fusion of personal styles with traditional techniques that have been developed over centuries.