The Forgotten Architect (summary)
By Ye Yongqing 2007-12-21 10:56:17
Mr. Du Yongqiao is a master of Sichuan oil paint. I was privileged to be his student and colleague for a certain period, during which time I benefited a lot from him.
Many years ago, I was an ignorant student admitted by Sichuan Fine Art Institute. From Yunnan to Chongqing, the most fascinating one for me among numerous admired teachers and fellows was Mr. Du, the Maximov of the institute. I still remember the morning when Mr. Du gave lecture to students admitted in 1997: Huang Juepeng at that time was in a mess as it is today, but the campus was much quieter and the number of teachers and students were much smaller. Everyone cherished the hard-won opportunity to learn after the Culture Revolution. In that early morning, Mr Du sat among a group of students, some of who later become big names in the platform of art at home and abroad: Luo Zhongli, He Duoling, Cheng Conglin, Gao Xiaohua, Zhang Xiaogang, Yang Qian, Chen Anjian……Mr. Du made fluid narratives on the main points of life drawing. Time flies, but this continuously happens in the moist and beautiful campus. Sitting in front of the easel, Mr. Hu created an ageless legend with the students besides him changing form one generation to anther.
Later, took a teaching post at the institute and had the chance to assist his teaching and further to feel and understand his art model. Mr. Du was familiar to the tradition of expression and the particular significance of landscape and still life in oil paint. The deep and thick rendering in his works was really impressive. His drawing and teaching career was long and lonely, however, devoting his whole life to oil paint and to fulfill his dream of art, he was a real artist so determined and persistent in his pursuit for art, with no fame chasing, complainment and suspicion.
