Artwork Description

Title: Huang Shan –15
Artist: Zhou Bichu (Chinese, 1903–1995)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 16.1 x 10.2 in (41 x 26 cm)
Framed Dimensions: 26.4 x 22.2 in (67 x 56.5 cm)
Framing: Framed

Artwork Identification
This delicately scaled work Title:d Huang Shan –15 is a masterful oil painting by Zhou Bichu, the seminal Chinese modernist known for synthesizing Western oil painting techniques with traditional Chinese aesthetics. The painting captures a view of the majestic Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), one of China’s most iconic natural landmarks, rendered with Zhou’s hallmark poetic sensitivity and refined brushwork. Despite its modest dimensions, the work evokes a profound sense of atmospheric grandeur and spatial depth.

Artistic Style and Influences
Zhou Bichu was part of the first generation of Chinese artists trained in Paris, having studied at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts under Emest Laurent. His exposure to European landscape traditions and Impressionism informed his stylistic approach, yet his compositions often retain the compositional balance and ethereal tone of traditional Chinese shanshui painting. Huang Shan –15 reflects this dual inheritance. The brush handling is assured and textural, while the tonal gradations delicately conjure mist-shrouded peaks and the meditative rhythm of nature, hallmarks of Zhou’s later work.

Historical Context
Painted likely during Zhou’s mature period, Huang Shan –15 encapsulates his enduring fascination with China's mountainous terrains, particularly the spiritual and cultural resonance of Huangshan. The mountain has long been a muse for poets and painters in Chinese history, and Zhou's interpretation is both a tribute to this lineage and an example of his cross-cultural visual language. After returning to China from Indonesia in the 1960s, Zhou produced many such landscapes, often drawing upon his early travels and memories, filtered through the refined techniques he acquired abroad.

Provenance and Authenticity
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

Condition and Conservation
The painting is in excellent condition. The canvas is clean and taut, with no evidence of warping, craquelure, or restoration. Colors remain vivid and stable. The work is housed in a high-quality frame, proportionally suited to the scale of the composition and in good overall condition.

Artistic Significance
Huang Shan –15 exemplifies Zhou Bichu’s unique role as a cultural bridge between East and West during a time of significant artistic transformation in China. His ability to render iconic Chinese landscapes through the idiom of European oil painting makes his oeuvre both historically vital and visually compelling. This work, in particular, embodies the tranquility and philosophical depth that define Zhou’s legacy—offering a contemplative visual experience that resonates with collectors of both traditional Chinese and modernist art.