When I was looking after cultural promotion and management affairs at the National Theater Trust, two top Chinese artists from China were invited to Singapore to exhibit and sell their works. This event was the first time National Theatre organised a visual art event.
The exhibition was held in a five-star hotel and attracted many art lovers and members of the public to visit and purchase. One of the two guests was “Pan Jiezi,” the Chinese Meticulous Style Brush Painting Artists Association president. The other was “Qi Gong,” a renowned calligrapher and an expert on the book “Dream of Red Mansion.” He belonged to the Manchurian ethnic minority and was a descendant of the aristocratic families of the Qing Dynasty emperor.
I was fortunate to have collected three fine paintings by the late Master Pan Jiezi. Works of both artists have increased manyfold since their demise. Please enjoy these beautiful, meticulous-style paintings depicting ancient Chinese beauties.
In an artwork inspired by Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai’s poem “Pounding Clothes,” a young woman is seen seated by a low table reading a letter sent from afar by her husband. She missed seeing her husband, who was recruited to fight at the frontier. She imagined herself flying there like a cloud, hovering over the battlefield, following the squad of soldiers who are galloping on horseback.
Another painting interprets the fourth of eight poems, “Merry-Making in the Palace” by Li Bai. In the painting, two court ladies in glamorous dresses are chatting and having fun under magnolia trees in full bloom on a night with a full moon.