Zhang Jinling: From Screen to Ink and Paint

By staff reporter WU BING

Zhang Jinling makes a speech at the opening of her solo exhibition.

ON April 9, Zhang Jinling's solo art exhibition "Time Sculpting Beauty" opened in the Wuxi Museum.

    For people over 40, Zhang is remembered as one of the most beautiful faces on Chinese screens in the 1970s and early 1980s. She starred in several films known to every household of the time, whose themes encompass war, rural life and comedy.

    To the surprise of many, Zhang left filmdom at the height of her performing career, and has since been completely absorbed in painting and calligraphy. In 1990, she was formally apprenticed to distinguished artist Lou Shibai to learn Qi (Qi Baishi) school ink painting.

    Nearly 100 paintings and pieces of calligraphy were shown during the exhibition, alongside her boccaro teapots made in collaboration with masters that included artist Han Meilin, 60 pieces of porcelain jointly created with ceramist Zhang Shouzhi, as well as a selection of her stage photos.

    The transformation from movie star in the public eye to secluded traditional Chinese painter required both patience and perseverance. As with the roles she portrayed in her movie years, Zhang Jinling puts her heart into every flower and fowl she depicts on paper. Through 20 years of diligent practice and consultations with famous masters, her works have come to reflect great experience, and span a wide variety of genres.

    From 1995 to 1996, Zhang's work was featured in painting and calligraphy exhibitions by filmmakers held in the ROK, Iran and Japan, and won two awards issued by the Japan Painting and Calligraphy Academy. In 2001, she published the Photo and Painting Album of Zhang Jinling.