Through painting landscapes I have grown to love my motherland even more and wish to be forever intoxicated in her embrace.
In 1979, the Beijing National Art Museum held a large-scale solo exhibition for Wu Guanzhong, in recognition of his remarkable artistic contributions. In March, the artist was invited to lecture at the Replica Handbags
s Department of Southwest Normal University in Chongqing. Inspired by his surroundings, Wu embarked on sketching trips to places such as Daba mountains and Dazu in Sichuan. As documented in The Complete Works of Wu Guanzhong, the artist created a total of 5 oil paintings portraying the Sichuan landscape in 1979. The present work serves as a representative example of Wu's landscape paintings from the 1970s, signifying a significant milestone in the development of his distinctive artistic style.
Wu's creations are rooted in his genuine sensory experiences and profound visual impressions of the natural environment. He has produced a series of works that reflect his different perception of the Mount Daba landscape. This artistic approach bears a striking resemblance to the methods employed by the Impressionist master, Claude Monet, who captured fleeting sensations and expressed the beauty of nature.
Wu continues his exploration of formal aesthetics, delving into the inherent visual power generated by the interplay of lines and colours within the natural realm. In addition to employing a unified palette dominated by earthy brown tones, he reinforces the expression of lines in Spring over Sichuan mountains. The artist not only uses colour blocks to shape objects and organize the composition but also embellishes them with lines, particularly in the depiction of trees and plants. He utilizes the tip of the palette knife to create slender and interwoven curved lines, achieving effects that are difficult to attain with traditional brushwork. This approach greatly enriches the overall visual composition of the work.
Additionally, the misty mountains depicted in the distant background enhance the artistic intention of the painting, showcasing the distinctive chilly ambiance of the Sichuan landscape. The predominant brown tones and the variations of different colour and brushstrokes showcase the rich textures from the growth of vegetation, human cultivation, and changing seasons on the mountainous terrain. The vibrant colours and varied brushworks of green, pink and white depict towering tree trunks and lush shrubs that surround the farmhouse, symbolizing the vitality of the land and the arrival of Spring. Wu Guanzhong, drawing from his experiences during the Cultural Revolution, aimed to convey hope and positive energy through this painting.
通過畫風景畫，我變得更加熱愛祖國，我想沉醉在她的懷抱中。
1979年，北京中國美術館首次為吳冠中舉行大型個展，同年3月，吳冠中應邀前往重慶西南師範學院美術系講學，前往大巴山及大足等地寫生。根據《吳冠中全集》記載，藝術家在1979年總共描繪了五副蜀地山川遠望和靜觀的場景，《蜀山春》在此時誕生，凝聚藝術家70年代風景寫生的經典語彙，標誌個人畫風形成的重要節點。
吳冠中以自然環境的實際感受和深刻的視覺印象為基礎，創作出一系列蘊含對大巴山景色細節的敏銳感知。這種創作方式與印象派大師克勞德·莫內捕捉瞬間感覺、表現自然之美的方法非常相似。同時，他在《蜀山春》中也延續了其對於形式美感的一貫追求，從自然題材中，探索線條、色彩等形式語言之間的美學力量。吳冠中除了利用棕色色調統一畫面，還強化了線條的表現。可以看到，藝術家在利用色塊塑造物件和組織畫面的同時，亦傾向於利用線條點綴其間，尤其是對於樹木與植物的刻畫，他利用刀尖刮出細挺、錯落以至於彎曲的線條刻畫樹梢和細緻，以營造畫筆極難達到的效果，大大豐富了畫面的韻律和節奏感。
《蜀山春》的遠景中朦朧的山巒與天色則為畫面平添了幾分料峭春寒的畫意，呈現了蜀地山色所獨有的清冷雲霧氛圍。整幅畫以棕色為主調，通過色調變化、筆觸的運用和組織，著重展現了山地地表因植被生長、人為開墾以及季節氣候而呈現出的豐富紋理。其中矗立的樹幹、星點般的青、粉紅和白色灌木映襯的農舍等景象，無不暗示這片土地正蘊含著自然生命力，即將迎來新的生機。吳冠中在經歷文革後，希望以春天生機勃勃的氛圍寄托希望，傳遞出正能量。