Mastery through maturity

It is never too late to start something new.

In 1990, at the age of 47, Du Dakai decided to start practicing shuimo, Chinese ink-wash painting.

Then a teacher at the Central Academy of Arts and Design, which is currently the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, Du made a name for his wall paintings, examples of which adorn public venues like hotels and museums. He has also published dozens of illustrated books for children and adults.

"I painted oils, gouaches, watercolors, illustrations and frescos," he says. "It was too late (to turn to ink painting)."

Looking back on his late start, he feels that perhaps his forays into the world of ink couldn't have happened earlier because the discipline requires a life experience and understanding of the wider world to master.

"Chinese ink painting is best suited to those who are middle-aged or older. Its calm, sometimes remote, serene mood mostly soothes the hearts and minds of the middle-aged," he says.

Over the years, the artist's exploration of ink has continued hand-in-hand with other forms of creativity. At Still Waters Run Deep, a solo exhibition of his work since 2006 running at the Tsinghua University Art Museum until April 6, his ink paintings have captivated audiences of all ages.

The exhibition is a glimpse into how much the artist, who was born in August 1943, has invested in ink, which is juxtaposed with his work in oils, watercolors, drawings and manuscripts. It traces his transition from a maximalist style to minimalist beauty.

At the opening, he donated dozens of the paintings on show to the museum.

A display of four preparatory sketches drawn in 1992 for mural paintings commissioned by a hotel in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, helps make his transformation more vivid.

The work, Beautiful Women at the Tang Imperial Palace, measures 72 meters in length. It features four scenes of Tang Dynasty (618-907) women taking excursions, boating, walking horses and enjoying the snow.

The elegant depiction and majestic color choices speak of the rigor Du learned under noted figures in wall paintings, like Zhu Danian and Yuan Yunfu, as he pursued a master's degree at the Central Academy of Arts and Design in the late 1970s.

In his foray into ink, Du has transplanted that graceful palette, while the decline in detail, which accentuates the expressive nature of ink, lends his subjects spirituality.

He has also shifted his focus from the historical narratives of the public murals he was commissioned to produce, to more casual scenes of towns and villages, lotus pools, floral bouquets and coconuts in the market.

Zhang Gan, the exhibition's curator, says that whether it is the court ladies of the past, or ripe pumpkins at a countryside bazaar, Du always tries to capture the spirit of his home culture.

"In ancient paintings, villages are often painted between mountains and trees, almost like accessories of the landscape," Zhang says. "In Du's paintings, villages and even old, dilapidated houses are the focus, and his brushwork lends them an unsophisticated beauty, a poetic, nostalgic touch rare in the fast-paced urban life."

Du's minimalist tendencies are reminiscent of Muxi, a 13th-century monk, whose depictions of fruits and vegetables include large blank expanses with a philosophical touch.

Beneath his layering and shading, however, Du expresses a different mood.

Zhang says Du paints the fruits, vegetables and flowers to celebrate the diversity and vigor of life.

Pan Lusheng, a scholar and Du's friend of more than three decades, says that when Du paints what he sees and has in mind, his strokes are as free as writing prose, resonating deeply with the hearts of his audience.

"He is well-balanced in painting the real and the unreal," Pan says.

He adds that Du seeks to show the true beauty of country life, and portrays it with the romanticism found in the work of Tao Yuanming, the 5th-century poet, and the same strength of the lines of Su Shi, the renowned Song Dynasty (960-1279) essayist.

Du says that painting is about reality and is derived from people's ideals.

"It is a system, grounded in wisdom and spirituality accumulated over centuries, and it is inexhaustible."