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Finger painter donates Olympic bid
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John Woo
THERE are two things special about painter Wang Jinhua: he paints with his fingers, mostly his index finger, rather than a brush; and as a professional painter, he paints for pleasure rather than profit.
Starting yesterday, Shenzhen Museum is holding a four-day event featuring an exhibition of Wang's works that he has donated to Beijing's Olympic bid and provide an occasion for Wang to sign autographs for visitors.
The centrepiece of the collection is a scroll which is painted with a hundred horses, each of which is unique. "I can't say I'm the best horse painter in the country," said Wang. But to all the visitors the horses look terrific, lifelike and animated.
Wang is said to be a habitual donor. In 1990, he did an on-the-spot finger painting in front of Wang Zhen, then vice-president of China. A Japanese bystander offered 300,000 yuan (over US$40,000 then) to buy it. Instead, Wang donated the money to the Chinese Association of the Disabled. In 1998, he gave all the money from an exhibition of his paintings in Singapore to set up a primary school in a flood-stricken area in his hometown in the northeast.
"My grandfather taught me that a painter who doesn't repay his motherland is like a river without a source, a tree without roots," Wang says about his donations.
Wang learned the art of painting horses while suffering. He was a horse herder in the countryside as a persecuted artist during the "Cultural Revolution". He stayed with the horses in all weather and became familiar with their every detail. Unable to buy paper and pencil, he used a wooden stick to paint them on the ground. "That is how I learned how to paint a horse," he recalled.
As for finger painting, Wang said: "It's more difficult than using a brush as well as better than using a brush. Why? A brush absorbs more ink and is able to turn in all directions. A finger, you see, is much more inflexible, and can only have a limited amount of ink. But the strokes of a finger can never be attained by a brush. That's what makes finger painting unique."
Returning to the topic of his donations, Wang again voiced his aspiration to serve the country. "China is becoming greater, symbolized by this Olympic bid. I want to be part of the opportunities." He also expressed his wish to set up China's first finger painting gallery. "I'll give all my own paintings and the paintings the gallery can collect across the country and will leave none for the private use of my family," Wang said.
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