Chen Jialing

Chen Jialing is a painter and leading figure of the New Shanghai School (haipai) ink painting. Born in Hangzhou in 1937, of Guangxi ancestry, he now lives in Shanghai. In 1958, he entered the Chinese Painting Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, initially studying figure painting under Pan Tianshou. In the 1970s, he broadened his practice under Lu Yanshao, studying landscape painting and calligraphy before turning to focus on flower-and-bird painting—thus building a foundation of traditional Chinese painting that seamlessly integrates figures, landscapes, flowers, and calligraphy. Building on this ground, he boldly reinvented the language of ink: his works are lucid, spare, fluid, and ethereal. In the world of ink, he paints like a child, delineating all things with natural lines with his free spirit. Across paper, porcelain, and Chinese silk tapestry (kesi), he pursues inspired touches beyond artifice, expanding the contemporary reach of ink art. Despite an old age, Chen remains tirelessly at work, capturing his times with the brush and channeling human sentiment through ink. In his artistic universe, time seems to lose its hold. At almost 90 years old, he sustains a creative fervor and exploratory daring that would humble many a young artist