Lin Fengmian’s Interpretation of Chinese Opera

Chinese opera (Xiqu) is a traditional Chinese performing art. Many Chinese operas are well-known classics. The artist Lin Fengmian was a Chinese opera fan and often based his paintings on opera characters. This work called Opera Scene portrays the Hegemon King Xiang Yu and his lady Yuji from the opera Farewell My Concubine. Combining geometric structures of western Cubism with Chinese paper cutting folk art and shadow puppetry, Lin used colours and lines to create a contrast of strength and delicacy. Can you spot the shapes and colours that he used?

Different moods can be created using lines, shapes and applications of colour. Opera Scene featured here is painted mostly in red and black complemented with several other colours, such as yellow, blue and white. The sharp visual contrast produces an emotional, dramatic scene that pulls you in as if you were in a theatre watching it live on stage.

Xiang Yu is dressed in dark clothes that are painted using straight lines, triangles and rectangles to symbolise his stubborn determination.

The lower part of Yuji’s dress is painted in white to give a cloudy effect and is drawn using curved lines to represent a sheer gauze material. This makes her appears as a gentle, sad ­figure.

Try using different shapes, lines and colours to draw a painting that expresses your mood right now.