葡萄王──裴玉林

Meet Pei Yulin, a Virtuos Painter of "Grapes

In today’s traditional Chinese painting world, a mere mention of grapes will invari- ably lead to Pei Yulin. Yes, indeed, grapes are to Mr. Pei Yulin what horses are to Mr. Xu Beihong and shrimps to Mr. Qi Baishi. IN a nationwide exhibition in 1989, Mr. Pei’s Deep autumn in a Small Courtyard, an ink splash work, drew the attention of the viewers. The scroll, with a substantial meaning in a seemingly empty space, exudes a misty beautifulness, in which, each berry of grapes, fleshy and juicy, is more lifelike. Since the show, Mr. Pei has found his niche in the traditional Chinese painting circle. And in 1994, his work, Rich Fruit, a masterpiece with vine tendrils snaking up and down, was displayed on the rostrum of Tian’ anmen. In the same year, his paintings entered Rongbaozhai, a nationally famous gallery,with each of his grapevine composi- tions fetching as high a price as 18, 000 Yuan. Summing up his some 30 -- year art career punctuated by bard toil, he attributes his road to success to: firstly laying a solid foundation of skills based on a dabbling in all fields of fine arts; secondly blazing new trails technically; And thirdly focusing on one or two subjects and trying to emulate both ancient and modern masters. Mr. Pei’s Painting theme, more than grapes,includes chickens, ducks, sparrows as well as flower and grass. In 1991, his work in Late Autumn claimed a bronze medal in the exhibition The Four Seasons of China cosponsored by Chinese and Japanese arts associations.