This painting was created in 2017. This year I spent more time thinking about art in sketching courses, which also caused a disconnect between my color painting and sketching. I am more bold in looking for the core of Chinese culture in sketches, even though I still know very little about traditional Chinese culture. However, I am more conservative when it comes to color painting.
Overall Size: /
Size without the frame: /
Country: China
Date: 2017
Materials: Oil paint on linen
Condition: well preserved
Creative themes and style | My works revolve around the creative concept of "The land of humanity, People on the land".The people in the painting are people in nature, and the lines, shapes, and colors are close to nature. The nature in the painting is nature in the eyes of humans, existing in interaction with humans.I don’t pursue a series of works with a fixed and continuous style. I hope that the style of the pictures will synchronize with the changes in my life and always remain oscillating. The performance of the work must be in sync with the development of one's own life in order to be Sincere and powerful.Ideas are later.
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Composition: Breaking with the expansiveness of traditional landscapes, it creates visual tension through the overlapping and interlacing of boats. This echoes the modernist concept of Degas's "cropped composition" – rejecting panoramic presentation to focus on the vivid dynamism of a partial scene. The boats stand like silent sculptural forms, yet their tight arrangement generates a dynamic order. This parallels the frozen moments in Degas's paintings of racehorses and ballet dancers, compressing the unique bustle and weight of the harbor within the canvas space, compelling viewers to confront the raw truth found in life's creases.
Color: It translates the essence of life into poetic hues. The blues, reds, and browns of the hulls are not pure optical reproductions, but rather a fusion of the Impressionists' luminous play of light and shadow with Realism's textured sedimentation. Comparable to Sisley's chromatic depictions of the Seine's banks, it captures both the hazy diffusion of sunlight on the hulls and anchors the vessels' weathered history through thick layers of paint. These mottled patches are the accumulated traces of time and labor, transforming color into a vessel for the dockyard's memory. Through the collision of brightness and somberness, it speaks of the passage of time and the temperature of life in the fishing port.
Brushwork: It serves as a dual carrier of emotion and texture. Bold, vigorous strokes carve out the weathered textures of the hulls, akin to van Gogh's fervent vibrations in his wheat fields, rendering the marks of sea wind erosion and wave impact through highly expressive lines. Conversely, the depiction of figures and ropes employs delicate hatching, revealing restrained precision reminiscent of Realist painters' obsession with detail. Within this alternation of expressive and controlled strokes lies both an embrace of life's roughness and a tender gaze upon the port's vitality, making each mark a nexus connecting reality and art.
Content & Theme: Using the act of "maintenance" as its core, it deciphers the survival codes of maritime civilization. Boats are the medium through which fishermen converse with the ocean; the act of maintenance is, in essence, a profound interaction between humans and the sea, between tools and survival. This aligns with the underlying narrative of Millet's The Gleaners – illuminating the foundations of civilization through humble labor. The figures' bent postures in the painting signify not only vessel upkeep but also reverence for the ocean's bounty. Boats, people, and the sea form a closed loop here, articulating the eternal proposition of humanity's dependence on and transformation of nature.
Emotional Expression: Empathy hidden within life's creases. The creator avoids grand pronouncements, instead using the authenticity of this dockyard corner to prompt a reassessment of ordinary value. Like the quiet philosophical contemplation in Corot's landscapes, an unspoken reverence for the essence of labor flows through the vessels' patina and the figures' concentration. This emotion is understated yet profound, allowing viewers, through contemplation, to touch the resilient texture of harbor life and comprehend art's sublimation of the everyday. Within the minute details of dockyard maintenance, it captures the eternal poetry of humanity's interaction with the world. This painting uses micro-narrative as its vessel, carrying the weight of existence and the philosophy of art, sailing towards the deep sea of exploring life's essential nature.
Against the brownish-gray background, the blue hull stands out vividly—especially with the bright red accent at the bow, which draws the eye like a flag. Its strong perspective contrasts with the surrounding boats, guiding viewers directly into the heart of the composition.
The water is rendered with bold, interwoven brushstrokes, creating a paradoxical sense of stillness within motion. The reflection of the boat is not a perfect mirror but rather a series of fractured, blurred color patches, evoking the authentic atmosphere of a working harbor.
Executed with thick impasto techniques, the piece blends the gritty reality of harbor life with artistic interpretation. It appeals strongly to collectors of realist oil paintings, serving both as a striking nautical home décor piece and as an artwork with cultural narrative value in the context of art investment.
The small, bent figure working beneath the ship injects a sense of lived-in vitality into the scene. Its miniature scale compared to the massive hull creates a striking contrast, transforming the painting from a mere still-life harbor study into a glimpse of everyday port life.
Through subtle variations of brushwork, the gray-brown tones avoid monotony: some lean greenish, others violet, with accents of blue and red. These nuanced shifts infuse the muted background with a warm, luminous depth. Such treatment, often seen in Modern Impressionist oil painting, makes the work exemplary for both gallery exhibition and art education settings.
