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Sanyu was born in Sichuan Province and studied with Zhao Xi, his teacher. At age 12, he followed in the footsteps of his father who was a painter and began to paint himself. Pang Xunqin, one of the first generation of painters, lauded Sanyu's painting technique, saying that he painted beautiful, traditional flower and bird pictures, and that this kind of ability can only stem from sheer, natural talent. After 1918, Sanyu was designing the interior decor for the new toothbrush factory of his brother. In that era, Shanghai was truly the key entry point for the many foreign businesspeople doing business in China. The art critic Jason Wang points out that in the 1930's to the 1950's, Sanyu's style was influenced by his work designing for his brother and the use of traditional Chinese symbols of good luck. Wang believes that after that, Sanyu focused mainly on beautiful women and flower arrangements because at that time, calendars with pretty girls were at their peak of popularity and everywhere to be seen①.

Aside from choice of subject matter, the Chinese painting tradition had a distinct influence on Sanyu's painting. In the same way, the free development of the Paris School also necessarily had their own effect on Sanyu's later style and direction. The Chinese government had a new policy about Chinese students doing work-study abroad. In 1921, Sanyu arrived in France and threw himself into the rich artistic atmosphere of Paris. Having received training in calligraphy and traditional flower and bird paintings, Sanyu was unwilling to be unduly influenced by the old tradition of Western paintings. He instead chose the free creation of La Grande Chaumiere, Friesz, the Fauves, and a number of contemporary sculptors like Bourdelle, Giacometti, Zadkine, and other famous artists to work with and learn from. These artists' works were, for the most part, pieces with a free and easy tone, suggesting following one's heart and desire, almost like the spoiled first son of a wealthy family. Yet Sanyu did not allow himself to be influenced by others. His personality, naturally that of a classic, cultured Chinese, combined with the free and open romantic atmosphere of Paris bore a clear influence on his work, most evidently in his flower paintings.

In Sanyu's life, flower paintings comprised the largest percentage of his body of works. Before and after the 30's, he used pastels, the lines were clean and simple, flowers were mostly cut flowers, in plain vases or baskets, and the shapes appealing and clean. Because he had the benefit of outside funding, most of his paintings were on canvas; in the 40's, after WW II, there was a shortage of certain chemicals, no way to purchase the same painting supplies, and so he converted to the masonite painting technique. The French art critic Pierre Joffroy points out that Sanyu used only three colors to sketch out his pictures. His style utilized the principles of Simplicisme. He himself made the metaphor that unlike heavy European-style roasted meat, his paintings were more like fresh greens and fruit salad; in this way, his works helped to change people's taste in art②.

In the 50's, Sanyu returned from New York to Paris, outside sponsorship had all but stopped, and he could no longer rely on painting to survive, so he had to work painting the designs on antique furniture. Someone once asked him why he did not return to China, and he responded, "I will never go back, even if I have to beg."At that point in time, the subjects of his paintings very clearly returned to the Chinese literati painting tradition, with undertones of separation from the rest of the world. Sometimes he would choose to have pottery vases or containers in his paintings, using even darker and more somber colors, making the sense of isolation and nostalgia for one's home even stronger than usual. In the late 50's and during the 60's, his use of color became much more daring, and his depiction of cut flowers fancier, fuller, and with more variety.

This piece, "White Plum Blossoms"is not dated, but looking at the style, it belongs to the 1950's-1960's works. At that time, Sanyu's creativity returned to the Chinese tradition, e.g., the application of green color in ground, the arrangement of the flower stems, the concept of the white spaces deliberately left in between brush strokes - there was not a single thing which did not reflect his cultural background and native country. The esthetician Chiang Hsun believed that Sanyu's dedication to life imbued his paintings with certain purity. His flowers in particular lead people to reflect on the ancient saying, "This life is like a flower."Sanyu's flowers display the extremes of both the magnificence and the isolation of life. As these artists say, when regarding Sanyu's works, one is observing the most resplendent, highest form of art. But this takes much time and experience to truly appreciate, just like the most beautiful Chinese opera or the finest Chinese embroidery - only with time do they truly display their highest quality. Sanyu is a rare modernist with a beautiful, lonely, unique style. Among 20th century Chinese artists, there are very few who can compare.



① Wang Jiaji essay "20th Century Modern Chinese Art Pioneer: Sanyu"taken from Catalogue raisonn'e de l'oeuvre peint de Sanyu, launched at October 2000 Eslite literary forum, currently yet to be formally distributed.
② Jan D. Voskuil, "Yu Sanyu" Haarlem Courant, October 22, 1932, p. 17