The founder of the Modernist School of Chinese Calligraphy, Gu Gan was one of the first to reinvent Chinese calligraphy for a contemporary audience. His works were typically multi-layered and given thematic titles that became an integral part of the composition.
Gu was known to experiment with classical calligraphy by blending multiple characters or separating them into radicals to reinforce their meanings. Later in his career, he increasingly integrated Western media, such as acrylic paints and colour pigments, into his works, combining painting and calligraphy to create an entirely new art form.
In 1996, through an introduction by Michael Goedhuis, Gu was chosen by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild as the first Chinese artist to have his painting printed on the Mouton Rothschild wine label (the honour has been subsequently bestowed to Asian artists Zao Wou-ki, Lee Ufan and Xu Lei). Other household names who have designed a Mouton Rothschild label include Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Marc Chagall, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Lucian Freud and King Charles III, who designed the label in 2004.
In 2002, Gu Gan was included in the important exhibition Brushes with Surprise: The Art of Calligraphy in Modern China at The British Museum.
Gu Gan’s works are in the collections of The British Museum in London, the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University, the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien or Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna, the National Art Museum of China and the Chinese Olympic Museum in Beijing, and the Xunyao Chinese Characters Museum in Chengdu.
