"In oil paintings, I pursue a full exploration of the nature of pigments and forms. For example, the variation of color, modeling of surfaces, enriched spatial depth, and especially the multiple factors in the form of modern art. I will not damage the virtues of oil painting and will combine it with the romantic concepts and literal vision of the traditional Chinese composition, and with the amicable images beloved by the modern Chinese."

Cherry-apple Tree by Wu Guanzhong

After the end of Cultural Revolution, Wu’s paintings found acceptance. In 1991, Wu was made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture.

As an intellectual artist, Wu has also published many collections of essays and several dozen painting albums. His publications include Kite with Unbroken String, On Coping Styles and Searching East and West.

In the 1998 essay "The Painting of Wu Guanzhong," noted critic Professor James Cahill and Professor Hsing Yuan Tsao remarked: “His (Wu Guanzhong) works are full of the features most characteristic of Chinese art of this century, features deriving from the meeting and interaction of Western and Eastern art.”

This assessment echoes in Wu’s book “Yi Tu Chun Qiu” (“Record of Artistic Life”) describes his fifty years of creative life as "Seeking for the East and West".

By Wen Yi