深红色的樱花树 2016

王新福 has built up this 深红色的樱花树, or Crimson Cherry Tree, with masses of thick strokes and dabs of paint. I can almost feel the artist at work, pushing the paint around, maybe using a palette knife to create those luscious textures. Look at how the reds and greens and whites mingle, it's like a garden exploding with life right before our eyes. You can see the branches twisting and turning. I wonder if Wang Xinfu was thinking about earlier landscape painters, like Van Gogh, who were so good at capturing the energy of the natural world. It’s like he’s trying to capture not just what the tree looks like, but what it feels like to be among the blossoms. Painting is a conversation, and each artist adds their own voice to the mix. I'm always fascinated by the way artists can take something as simple as paint and canvas and turn it into a whole new way of seeing and feeling.