The inspiration of Wang Guangyi’s “Post-classical Series” derived from E.H. Gombrich’s idea of “schema and correction and the principle of natural attribute”. From this idea, he realized that art should be related to history. Contemporary people have no creation in an absolute sense. The so-called creation is a correction to the existing cultural realities under historical context. Thus, he created the “Post-classical Series” to represent historical images created by human beings with faith, and corrected the schema by choosing multiple possibilities with his approach.

This artwork was created based on the paradigmatic image of the Virgin in the Renaissance of western countries. The Virgin in the painting immerses herself in tender lights with drooping eyebrows in a serene and reserved state. Wang Guangyi added several black split lines to divide the image proportionally by using the way of drawing measurement lines. Thus, a form with a structure based on mathematical proportion takes the place of the divine radiance of the image. Therefore, humanity factors have been added, and the classic images have been endowed with contemporary concepts.

Generally, works with Christian themes have the meaning of suffering just as Wang Guangyi’s recognition of art – Art is not for pleasure but for redemption. This artwork, with the Christian theme and the recreation of a classical work, combines the thought of beauty and suffering, presenting the highest beauty with the application of extreme mathematical proportion. This manifests that the painter, upholding contemporary concepts, recognized and renovated human civilizations and classical cultures. All these expound Wang’s long-standing attitude towards culture and his rational constructive spirit.

(Edited by Li Hanning & Yang Zhige, 2021)