Artist Prints Charms of West Lake

Zhang Qizhi

Printmaking artist Lu Fang （born in 1932） is best known for the woodprints he has made about the scenic West Lake in Hangzhou. His prints about the legendary lake are so amazing that he is even nicknamed “West Lake Lu”. However， Lu is never a prolific artist when it comes to the lake he dreams of and depicts so romantically and poetically in wondrous colors and lines. He has made about 50 prints about the lake during his six-decade sojourn on the lake.

Over years， he has exhibited his works at home and abroad and his artworks are in the collections of many museums such as the National Art Museum of China， Zhejiang Art Museum， Shandong Museum， Shanghai Library， Baltimore Museum of Art， Museum of Modern Art， British Museum in New York， Centre national des arts plastiques in Paris， and the Museum of Modern Art in Kamakura.

Spring Dawn on the Su Causeway，?his first woodprint portrayal of the West Lake， was created in 1973， 13 years after he graduated from Hangzhou-based Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and began to teach at his alma mater， the predecessor of the present-day China Academy of Art. “I live by the West Lake. I understand it better than artists who dont live in the city. I depict the essence of the lake better，” explains the artist about his successful lake prints.

In the late 1970s Lu Fang began to make his name at home and abroad. In 1979，? by Lu Fang was presented at the 13th World Woodprint Art Exhibition. In the 1980s his works were exhibited in America， Japan， France and Canada. In the 1990s he held two solo exhibitions in Japan and sold out all the exhibits. His career climaxed in 1996 when he won Lu Xun Woodprint Prize， the top honor for this artistic genre in China.

Lu works at his own tempo. He never hurries. “Art requires honesty and hard work. Haste makes waste，” he states. This is a belief he holds dear in his heart.

In 2000， a restoration project was launched to bring back the City God Pavilion on the Wu Hill by the West Lake. Lu began to think of creating a woodprint about the scenic landmark. Accompanied by a restoration project supervisor， he climbed up the scaffolding and got into the pavilion to take a look over the lake. Then he began to create a woodcut. In 2002， he finished the carving and stopped just before he was to make it into a print， for he wasnt sure about the colors he was to use. He shelved the woodcut until 2018 when he finally figured out what to do.

A Stroll in Fog， a woodprint Lu created in 1992， was inspired by a huge fog which lasted several days on the West Lake. Lu Fang actually strolled around the lake shrouded in fog for three consecutive days before he figured out how to recreate the impression. “Without the three-day experience， I wouldnt have been able to create the print，” says the artist. “I need to experience all the details of the West Lake before I catch the most moving impression. Choosing a perspective is like the most appropriate way to hold a hot teakettle. You need to hold the handle of the teakettle to make it function best.”

陸放作品：從上到下為《蘇堤春曉》《斷橋雪景》《雙峰插云》。West Lake portrayed in Lu Fangs artworks

Lu says he has many other ideas about the West Lake， but he will take time to translate these ideas into artworks. He emphasizes again that haste makes waste. In 2006 he published a collection of his woodprints， including the West Lake series. Since then， he has added about 20 to the series.

What makes Lu Fangs West lake series special is more than the poetic beauty of the lake. Lu Fang makes use of a woodblock printing technique originally used at a woodblock printing studio in Nanjing in the 17th century. He has improved the technique by retaining the original touches achieved through the carving tools and the wood and by adding colors to the print. He creates a special ink-wash effect in colors on rice paper， which is widely used for painting landscape in the traditional Chinese style.

Woodblock printing is not easy on rice paper. Once damp， the paper does not hold the moisture very well. The printing process must be handled with extreme care or the paper can be damaged irrevocably. Different colors need repetitive printing. To print a perfect black， the paper needs to be printed and reprinted eight times altogether. Lu Fang has experimented and perfected and mastered his techniques. He says， “Western artists prefer metal and pigments in printmaking whereas in China artists prefer wood and water. Some prints can be reproduced on a machine at fast speed. Woodblock printing must be made manually one by one. A woodblock printmaker must rely on his hands.”

Lu emphasizes a Chinese characteristic in his woodprints. Some young artists look up to the west as a model and they want everything modern in their artworks. “We can and should absorb the western advantages， but we have no reason to discard our tradition. I look forward to a young generation of artists for carrying on Chinese characteristics in printmaking，” says the artist.