| Realism
was infected with a Ruben-esque Flemish flourish.
The passionately chaotic French - Gros, Gericault
and Oelacroix, for Instance - led the charge with
volatile romantic excesses of bathos and pathos, in
which the central figure of either Napoleon, or other
notable Generals, were caught up
in the swirl of cape, horses mane, and the maelstrom
of the battle. The bureaucratic and rationalist British,
held on to the fine art of meticulousness, and were
inclined towards the picturing of efficient and impressive
regiments and attractive smoke clouds originating
from cannons. Each in their own way sent the paying
public - in lives and taxes - a message conveying
something to be proud about.
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Secret
Histories No.5 2005 acrylic on canvas,
162 x l30 cm (three panels) |
Secret
Histories No.3 2005 acrylic on canvas,
159 x 127 cm (three panels) |
Western
history painting, being what it is - a constructed,
rational, space that offers infinity and ego-centric
ism simultaneously - brought together with the flight
of fantasy of the artist through their chosen aesthetic,
tends to offer a triumphant, courageous account of one
country's power over another. Looking at a Gros heroic
romance, one invests sympathy in the struggle of the
conquest and those whom history has chosen to lead it,
rather than the vanquished - as you are meant to.
It is against
this tradition of imperial certainty that Guan Wei
has turned his attention in his recent series Secret
Histories.
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