ABSTRACT
In 1956, the painter Tan Huamu, who had previously studied in Japan, returned to Guangzhou via Macau and joined the Guangzhou Branch of the China Artists Association. Subsequently, he spent the last two decades of his life in this southern city. During that time, the artist reflected upon and sketched the scenery around him day after day, and he eventually painted a large number of sketches, some of which he developed into oil paintings to be included in official exhibitions. On the back of many sketches, the artist marked the date of their creation. This chapter treats the paintings as a “pictorial diary” created by the artist during a specific political time and space. The “pictorial diary,” which spans about 12 years, reflects his attention to mundane affairs and social events, as well as the artistic instincts of a modern painter who lived in the alleyways of the South. These new landscapes pulsate with the times and breathe the humid air of the south, express a sense of warm humor from time to time, and reveal the organic connection between nature, the world and the new era, as well as the mental state of a hermit recluse.
