Gao Jianfu, The destruction of civilization, 1941 by Atelier Liesjes

About "Gao Jianfu, The destruction of civilization, 1941"

by Atelier Liesjes

About the artwork

During World War II, the Chinese artist painted this work. Heavily inspired by all kinds of cultures and styles, he used a cross, yet a Christian symbol, to represent it.

The work, painted in 1941, was interpreted by the painter's student and friend, Jian Youwen (1896-1978), as an allegory of the destruction of Christianity by Nazi Germany. Although this is the only instance in which Gao Jianfu used the symbol of the cross, he presents a convincing image that turns the disturbing damage of the towering Christian symbol in the foreground in three-quarter view. Such a composition heightens the tension of the approaching fall of the towering symbol. Therefore, the significance of this painting is not only due to its political meaning, but also to the innovative way in which the meaning was conveyed.

Gao Jianfu (1879-1951; pronounced "Gou Gim Fu" in Cantonese) was a Cantonese artist during World War II. He is known for leading the efforts of the Lingnan School to modernize Chinese traditional painting as a "new national art. Together with his brother Gao Qifeng and friend Chen Shuren, Gao Jianfu brought the nihonga painting style to China.

While in Japan, the three men were exposed to the nationalist debates "then going on in the Japanese art world about the modernizing impact of Western art on Japan's local artistic traditions." Jianfu became interested in the syntheses of Western and traditional approaches that paralleled work in the contemporary Japanese art world. Jianfu, along with his Lingnan School colleagues, saw this blend of styles as a model for modern national art. Many of the Lingnan students joined Sun Yat-sen's anti-Manchu movement, a revolutionary nationalist movement.