Lin Jinfu: Four Paintings
Lin Jinfu was born during the transition between the 70s and 80s. He uses the techniques of classic oil painting to seek and recreate the “classic beauty” of the modern Chinese male.
Portraiture and nude studies form part of all Chinese art education, but as an artistic theme, the naked male body is rare. Lin Jinfu is one of very few Chinese artists to use the beauty of the male body as a subject in his artistic creation. He studied sculpture for four years in the province of Fujian, and was then a student of the well-known artist and art critic Chen Danqing at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Lin Jinfu’s art is a breakthrough in Chinese tradition, which is staunchly conservative when it comes to talking about sex and sexuality. The naked body is easily associated with sex, and has therefore had no room in Chinese art history. The exception is the erotic art of the “Spring Palace Drawings” of Chun Gong Tu; but this was strictly intended for private use, not something that could be shown in public. Moreover, China’s tradition is patriarchal, and it has therefore been more acceptable to depict female beauty than male.
“The theme of my art is the human being; I have always been interested in the human body, in facial expressions. The human is the most beautiful thing in nature. With my brush, I wish to express the quest for beauty, to make the viewer respect and value life, and deeply within himself, to experience human beauty, a primal, quiet beauty, beyond pain and prejudice.” -Lin Jinfu