Rugged Hills of North America

The intense color and shading in undulating bands convey a lushness and musical resonance that together define a highly innovative approach to landscape painting. The artist’s inscription bears out this impression: “The strangeness of the rugged hills in North America is quite in line with the grandeur of landscapes painted by Song painters. But [they] had never seen these hills, so they did not establish this method. . . .” The implication is that a new landscape in a new world validates a new approach. Though Wan may have felt a cultural loneliness in America, he no doubt found the natural beauty of this continent of great inspiration. In 1989 Wan left America to teach in Hong Kong. Though Hong Kong’s culture is more familiar, urban life troubles him. He turns to nature for solace, as suggested by the second half of his inscription: “People today only follow the decadent school of ink painting and are, therefore, unaware of the true meaning of ink and brush. Grasping the outward appearance of nature leads to spiritual resonance with the divine power of the Creator, and this is the painting principle of both antiquity and the present.”