Appreciating the magnificence and profundity of “The Difficulty of the Shu Road” — A traditional landscape painting exhibited at the Louvre in 2013
The difficulty of the Shu Road,
as difficult as climbing to the blue sky!
A chain of peaks less than a foot away from Heaven;
withered pine trees hang inverted on the precipice.
Rushing torrents and waterfalls clash and clamour,
powering into cliffs and shifting ten thousand stones into gullies like thunder.
(Excerpt from Li Bai’s “The Difficulty of the Shu Road”)
The Louvre in Paris, the home of masterpieces by world-renowned artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso, is a dream for countless painters. Being selected to exhibit at the Louvre is the ultimate honor for an artist.
Each year, the exhibition committee selects around a hundred artworks and hundreds of artists from thousands of submissions to participate in the Louvre Exhibition in Paris, France. Li Zhaodong’s “The Difficulty of the Shu Road” was one of the exhibited works at the 2013 Louvre International Art Exhibition. Also known as the “Salon de Paris”, the Louvre International Art Exhibition is one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in the international art scene. Organized by the Society of French Artists, it has a history of over 123 years. The exhibition aims to showcase the current state and trends of the international art world, combining academic and international aspects and is considered one of the grand events in the global art community.
Li Zhaodong employs rich lines and texture strokes, successfully capturing the grandeur and ruggedness of the Shu region’s mountains and rivers. In the painting, the mountains are depicted with dense ink and vibrant colors, appearing powerful and robust, while the clouds and mists are portrayed with light strokes, giving them a sense of lightness and ethereality. This contrast of light and dark creates a strong sense of depth in the composition and highlights the mountains’ towering presence. It vividly expresses the line:
“The winding path to Shu is but a hundred paces long, yet it twists and turns nine times among the towering peaks.” (青泥何盘盘，百步九折萦岩峦)
The skillful use of light and shade, dryness and wetness, presents a delicate and profound feeling in the painting. The thickness of the mountains and the lightness of the clouds and mists are perfectly rendered through the variations of ink.
Li Zhaodong employs techniques such as pointillism and texture strokes to create a sense of layers and three-dimensionality in the mountains. The application of techniques like texture strokes and dotting enriches the layering of the painting and creates a strong sense of texture. When depicting the clouds and mists, techniques such as blank spaces and shading are utilized, bringing the clouds and mists to life, appearing both tangible and intangible. With ink as the main tone, the painting is rendered with colors like green and light ochre, creating a fresh and refined atmosphere, making the colors rich yet harmonious, delicate yet profound. The overall composition of the painting is well-balanced, with a clear distinction between primary and secondary elements. The distant mountains and nearby waters are arranged in a scattered and orderly manner, giving a strong sense of space. The elements of mountains, clouds, and trees resonate with each other, presenting both a magnificent distant view and exquisite foreground, evoking a sense of grandeur and profundity.
The high mountains, winding and meandering mountain paths, and the swirling clouds and mists in the painting make one feel as if they are immersed in the perilous landscape of the Shu region. This creation of ambiance not only showcases the artist’s exceptional artistic skills but also allows viewers to appreciate the unique aesthetic taste and cultural connotations of Chinese painting. Its selection for the 2013 Louvre International Art Exhibition further affirms and recognizes the artistic value of Li Zhaodong’s work.
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