An artist is born on a trip to the States at age 74
Print Edition
ZHU Guangfu was a foreign language teacher before he retired with expertise in English and French.
In 2000, at the age of 74, he traveled to United States with his wife and during the trip visited an oil painting exhibition and was immediately captivated. “I also want to paint such works,” he told his wife.
She doubted that could happen given his age and lack of artistic ability but kept her thoughts to herself and did nothing to discourage him as she could sense his excitement at the prospect.
Zhu always says: “You are never too old to learn.”
After returning from the States, he started to pursue his art by buying books on oil painting, and his fluency in reading English and French helped him grasp the essence of oil painting through books in those languages.
At first he copied famous works. Thinking Van Gogh and Monet too difficult, he began with Rousseau’s “Forest of Fontainebleau.”
He repeatedly painted scenes, sometimes changing details up to a hundred times.
When he was painting the feathers of birds, he used tooth picks to help depict their edge.
He pursued details to the extreme and his painting skills continued to improve, winning praise from many painting experts.
At Zhu’s home, the walls are covered with his paintings and visitors might assume that this was the home of a professional artist.
As his skills developed, more and more people would ask to buy his works. Each time, he would give them for free.
Besides his oil paintings, he also makes Christmas and New Year cards to mail to friends.
“I have sent out more than 300 paintings and numerous cards,” Zhu said.
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