On June 21th, led by Art teacher Jupiter Han, grade 8 to grade 10 students from Beijing Haidian Kaiwen Academy went to the Palace Museum to visit Painting and Calligraphic Works by Four Monk Artists.

 “The Four Monks” exhibition is held in the Hall of Martial Valor at the Palace Museum. With 81 series and 163 pieces on display, this exhibition becomes the largest ever collected display of artworks by four monk artists and many art works at the exhibition are the first time to display, which makes it the largest "Four Monks" themed art exhibition ever in history. 

The paintings and calligraphy works of the four monks in the early Qing Dynasty belongs to Chinese ancient literati paintings and the works are full of interest. Their unique styles are different from the old traditional patterns of the orthodox literati painters. The painting styles of the Four Monks exerted a great influence on the future generations of painters especially on the modern and contemporary Chinese brush painting.Mr. Han graduated from Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation, she worked in Tsinghua University. Having worked on teaching management for 8 years, Ms. Han has accumulated a wealth of artistic teaching experience and she is good at inspiring and guiding students.

This visit is another try for Haidian Kaiwen students to get out of the campus, feel the charm of art. In the previous art appreciation class, Ms. Han has introduced the works of "the Four Monk Artists". By going to the “Four Monk Artists” exhibition at the Forbidden City, students can have a more intuitive understanding of their works. Ms. Han introduced every work to students so that they can have a thorough knowledge of art from a new perspective.

Kaiwen Academy is a bilingual school emphasizing art, sports and technology. Kaiwen Academy pays attention to the cultivation of students’ critical thinking and international perspective. In addition to the courses on campus, KWA also actively create a richer and more vivid social learning environment, so that students cannot only get some knowledge, but also learn to think and know how to communicate with multicultural world.

Kaiwen Art Class Begins!

Hongren(1610-1664) is from Anhui and his family is poor when he is young and he is filial to his mother.  He becomes a monk after the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Hongren is famous for his paintings of landscapes.  His paintings are restrained and cool to the point of being brittle, yet they have a precision of structure that gives them an unusual strength in spite of their apparent fragility. 

The brushwork in Kuncan’s landscapes is free and natural and the scenes reveal a realm of profound depth. He is good at using poetry to express his understanding of universe and life and the ideas of Zen.

Bada Shanren is from Nanchang, Jiangxi Prvince, and he is a direct offspring of the Ming dynasty prince Zhu Quan . After the collapse of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Da became a Buddhist monk. He experienced ups and downs in life and he always thinks about Ming Dynasty, so he always uses poetry and painting to express his upset.

Born in Guangxi province, Shitao was a member of the royal house descended from the elder brother of Zhu Yuanzhang. He narrowly avoided catastrophe when the Ming Dynasty fell and he escaped to Quanzhou where he became a Buddhist monk. He is the youngest of “the Four Monk Artists” and has the most works left. The art he created was revolutionary in its transgressions of the rigidly codified techniques and styles that dictated what was considered beautiful. His works are unique and is appreciated by people from various backgrounds. The painting theory he proposed exerts great impact on modern and contemporary freehand brush painting.

Kaiwen Art Class includes a series of art courses apart from the courses at school. Students can participate in art activities from time to time and some artists are invited to provide instructions for students.