Acclaimed Chinese artist Wu Zuoren (1908-97) is no stranger to many French art-lovers. 

Back in 1947, Wu held solo exhibitions in France. In 1987, Wu and wife Xiao Shufang, who is also a painter, staged a joint exhibition in Paris which was warmly welcomed by the French people. 

And now Wu’s works are being embraced again in Paris, thanks to an exhibition which was unveiled in the city last month. 

Organized by China’s Ministry of Culture, the City Council of Paris and Musee Cernuschi, the two-month-long show is a part of the ongoing China-France Culture Year, which is running in France from October until July 2004. 

On display are 37 works by Wu including oil paintings, water-colors, sketches and ink paintings, which have all been provided by the Wu Zuoren International Fine Arts Foundation.

In particular, the ink paintings Wu completed during the 1970s and 80s are the highlights of the show. 

Most of them feature the natural scenery and characteristic folk culture in western China, according to Hou Yimin, director of Wu Zuoren International Fine Arts Foundation, who is also a former student of Wu. 

Wu once traveled to China’s western regions in 1943, which brought great changes in his painting style. 

“It was the trip that made him focus his eyes on Chinese ink paintings,” said Hou. 

Hou was pleased to take his teacher’s works back to Paris, a city to which Wu would return time and time again throughout his life. 

A researcher from Musee Cernuschi said that Wu had enjoyed great popularity in France. The museum has three of Wu’s paintings in its own collection. 

After visiting the exhibition, some French artists said Wu’s works actually show a good blend between eastern and western styles. 

The organizers hoped that the exhibition would be a chance for French people to enjoy colorful Chinese paintings, appreciate their cultural value and get a better understanding of Wu and Chinese traditional painting. 

Born in Suzhou of East China’s Jiangsu Province in 1908, Wu started his art studies at the Department of Fine Arts of Shanghai University in 1927.

Recommended by Xu Beihong (1895-1953), one of China’s most famous modern artists, Wu went to Europe to learn Western contemporary arts. In 1935, he graduated from Belgium’s Royal Institute of Fine Arts, where he was honored as a Laureate Student.

He returned to China in 1935 and taught at the Central University, which was then located in Nanjing of Jiangsu. His works began to be known in the West when he held painting exhibitions in Britain, France and Switzerland in 1947.

Wu was adept in oil painting, Chinese painting and calligraphy. His style was clean, precise, clear and smooth since he absorbed the strength of the discipline of oil painting and blended it with Chinese paintings. His works are natural, implicit, but with precise shapes. 

His work “Grazing on Tibetan Grassland,” which employed the traditional style of brush work, won the Gold Medal at the Paris Grand Palace Exhibition in 1982.

Due to his artistic achievements and his great endeavors in promoting Chinese painting in the West, he was also named to the French literary and art order of honor in 1985, and in 1988 he was honored with a title from a top level Belgian royal honorary order. 

In recent years, Wu’s works have been well-received in overseas markets. 

One of Wu’s oil paintings – “Battlefield Chrysanthemum All the More Fragrant” – garnered an international record price of 3.52 million yuan (US$425,634) at an auction in Beijing this summer. 

The painting, which is 175.5 centimeters long and 118 centimeters wide, was painted in 1977 in memory of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who had passed away one year earlier. 

(China Daily November 19, 2003)    （ http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/80342.htm）

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2009年开始，“萧淑芳艺术基金”开始将目光投向女性艺术研究方面。“女性艺术研究计划”的第一次活动——“自我画像：女性艺术在中国”将于2010年11月举行，通过学术研讨会、展览（中央美术学院美术馆）和学术著作三个部分，从“自我画像”的角度，考察一个世纪中国女性艺术创作承前启后的演变历程。

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为争取获得世界艺术的奥运会——四年一度的“世界艺术史大会”的中国申办权，吴作人国际美术基金会资助中国申办委员会进行了精心地准备。经过激烈竞争，终于成功取得了“2016年第34届世界艺术史大会”在北京举办的申办权。

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2010年“艺术史专项基金”成立。其资助方向有：

一、促成2016年第34届世界艺术史大会在中国的召开，筹办与大会有关的各项活动，支持中国学者准备和申报与大会有关的各项学术工作。主要通过中国艺术史学会筹委会实施资助。

二、资助在中国境内建立编辑部，编辑国际艺术史学会学刊《艺术史》，同时编辑《中国艺术史研究年鉴》。

三、进一步开展分门别类的艺术史项目的资助计划。

“艺术史专项基金”旨在通过提高中国艺术史界的整体学术水平，以完成国际艺术史研究领域格局的改变，从以西方一枝独秀的艺术史方法，向西方与中国两大审美体系双峰并峙局面转变。

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《吴氏文化渊源考》通过对吴作人这样一个知识分子家族文化背景的考证，从一个侧面来研究中国文化受到西方近代影响之后所经历的变迁和不断自我更新的过程。

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近期，吴作人基金会计划开展“中国评价世界——世界艺术史培训项目”。此项目致力于加强中国对世界文化和人类的共同问题的研究，增进中国对世界各文化的学习与了解，建造以“中国的眼光、现代的立场”评价世界的新体系。

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艺术大师吴作人、大书法家吴玉如、著名作家学者吴组缃同为安徽泾县茂林人，人称“三吴”。为汇集三位先生毕生之精粹，弘扬他们在艺术上永不止息的创新追求精神，泾县在县博物馆内二楼建立了“三吴纪念馆”，三个展厅300平方米，以展示三位先生一生工作生活和创作经历，光大一脉相传孕育于佳山秀水中的泾川文化。

2008年适逢作人先生、组缃先生百年诞辰，泾县决定将“三吴纪念馆”移建茂林吴氏大宗祠北侧，占地2600多平方米。吴作人国际美术基金会和吴作人家属为纪念馆的筹建工作给予了大力支持，并为纪念馆中的“吴作人展厅”复制了吴作人十余张代表作的高仿复制品。据悉，“三吴纪念馆”将于2010年下半年正式对公众开放。

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