Guan Shanyue
关山月
About the Artist
Guan Shanyue (1912–2000), originally named Guan Zepei, was a famous Chinese painter and educator, and a key second-generation figure of the Lingnan School. Born in Yangjiang, Guangdong, he studied under Gao Jianfu, the founder of the Lingnan School. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he created numerous patriotic works and traveled across China to sketch landscapes and study Dunhuang murals.
After 1949, he served as Vice President of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Vice Chairman of the China Artists Association. He was best known for his grand landscape paintings and vivid paintings of plum blossoms. In 1959, he co-created the famous mural How Beautiful the Country Is with Fu Baoshi for the Great Hall of the People. His art combined traditional Chinese ink painting with Western realism, expressing strong national spirit and modern vitality.
“Guan Shanyue (1912–2000), born Guan Zepei, was a master of traditional Chinese painting and a key figure of the Lingnan School. A disciple of Gao Jianfu, he excelled in landscapes and plum blossoms, blending tradition with realism .”
