Qu Zhangfu (1939-) People's Artist, famous Chinese opera characters painter. Native of Penglai, Shandong Province, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1963. He has worked for Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House, and visiting professor at Shanghai Liao Tong University, University of Hong Kong and other institutions of higher learning.
He compiled the "Biography Series of Famous Contemporary Painters" series and wrote prefaces or critical articles for many famous master painters' collections. In 1991, he was hired as an "art consultant" by Shanghai Film and Television Company. In 1995, he was named "Member of the Artwork Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Culture" by the Ministry of Culture. In 1996, he was awarded the title of "Folk Artist" by UNESCO. In the 1980s, he began to engage in the research and creation of opera characters. He has held special exhibitions of "Drama Characters" in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and other countries and regions. In 2002, he was appointed as the deputy director of the editing committee of "The Political System of the People's Republic of China" and has been working in Beijing for a long time. He is good at appraisal of calligraphy, painting and antiques. He has been employed as "art consultant" or "art director" by many cultural and art departments at home and abroad. He is especially good at creating drama figures. His works include "Sichuan Opera Sketch", "Liyuan Opera Scroll", "Mei Lanfang's Drunken Concubine", etc.
I like Qu Lao’s paintings very much. He is both my mentor and my friend. I rarely have the opportunity to meet my mentor after I went overseas. Qu Lao is elegant in conversation and amiable. He is a man of both virtue and art.
My mentor’s paintings of Chinese opera characters have a wide range of themes.
He has a very rich imagination. He uses strong color contrast and exaggeration to depict the characters in the drama vividly. He has strong emotional appeal and shocking power, giving a living soul to the paintings of theatrical characters.
The teacher's works allow friends who love opera and painting to learn from and innovate, inherit and carry forward traditional Chinese culture and art, and traditional Chinese virtues.
