In the painting, the elderly man depicted with silver-white curly beard bears the marks of time, his profound gaze revealing the wisdom of life. Taiwanese artist Pan Liangtai’s “Elderly Wise Man” won the Outstanding Humanities Award at the 7th World Realistic Oil Painting Competition through delicate interpretations of light, shadow, and lines to capture a momentary expression of an elderly man.
From January 20th to 24th, “Elderly Wise Man” was displayed at the Salmagundi Club in New York as one of the competition’s finalists, conveying contemporary artists’ reflections on the human spirit.
Pan Liangtai explained that the elderly man in the painting is his friend, whose unique appearance sparked his creative interest. “I appreciated his curly beard, which is rarely seen on older men these days, looking so handsome.” One day, while attending an event with friends and taking photos, Pan Liangtai noticed his friend’s natural and focused expression, embodying a certain wisdom of life, making him a perfect subject for an oil painting, thus the creation of “Elderly Wise Man”.
Despite being an oil painting, Pan Liangtai believes that realistic portrait oil painting is extremely challenging. “When painting landscapes, you can freely express yourself. For example, on a sunny day, you can mix colors as you like, but it’s not the same with portraits.” He said, “It requires observing and learning more, and then slowly understanding its essence.”
To authentically portray the figure, Pan Liangtai recreated his friend’s attire from that day: a red beret and a Chinese-style garment with red and white colors. He also added calligraphy by the calligrapher Mi Fu in the background, aiming to avoid a sense of emptiness in the backdrop. Pan Liangtai’s intention is to balance reality with artistic aesthetics, “using the artist’s own creative concept to reproduce it.”
Pan Liangtai mentioned the two main challenges in creating “Elderly Wise Man”. First, handling light and shadow to better highlight the character. Second, depicting the character’s beard. “I tend towards delicate realism, and his beard is also something I strive to create.” He said, “We are constantly testing ourselves while painting, figuring out the techniques to better express it.”
This year marks Pan Liangtai’s second participation in NTD’s oil painting competition. In the previous competition, his work “Resisting Violence” won an Outstanding Award. Pan Liangtai stated that he has been striving hard, “As a creator, everyone hopes to elevate their work to a higher level.” The competition advocates for traditional, realistic portrait oil paintings, a direction Pan Liangtai has been diligently pursuing for many years. He remarked, “When I paint, it is a form of practice. We don’t delve into chaotic subjects.”
Pan Liangtai noticed that many modernist paintings express bloody and violent content, “This is a way that contradicts my inner self, a retrogressive approach.” He highly agrees with NTD’s competition’s creative concept, “We seek goodness in the spiritual aspect.”