Xu Wei: “Van Gogh of the East"
- Zoe Gan
- Mar 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 14
Xu Wei (徐渭), a Ming Dynasty literati painter, is often dubbed the "Van Gogh of the East" due to striking parallels between his life, artistic philosophy, and posthumous legacy with those of the Dutch Post-Impressionist master Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890). Both artists transcended conventional aesthetics, channeled personal anguish into groundbreaking art, and gained iconic status only after death. Both have shared reputation as tormented geniuses whose works fused emotional intensity with technical innovation.
Like Van Gogh, Xu Wei endured a life marked by hardship and psychological struggles. Xu repeatedly failed imperial exams and was imprisoned for killing his third wife during a mental breakdown. He later lived in poverty, selling his paintings for survival (Guo, 2013). Van Gogh similarly faced rejection, poverty, and mental illness, culminating in his tragic suicide. Both artists channeled their suffering into art, using bold, expressive techniques to externalize inner turmoil. His works often metaphorically conveyed his struggles, as seen in Ink Grapevine《墨葡萄图》, a masterpiece of splashed ink, its dripping grapevines and translucent fruit symbolize Xu Wei’s unfulfilled ambitions.
Inscribed in the painting is his self-referential poem: "The pearls from my brush find no buyers, idly cast among wild vines." Here, the painting’s imagery and his poetic lament merge to embody his anguish over unrecognized talent. Xue’s inscription mirrors Van Gogh’s Starry Night in its raw emotionality and symbolic self-portraiture.
Xu Wei’s another masterpiece is Yellow Armor Crab (黄甲图) , a satirical depiction of a crab, paired with verse mocking the hollow prestige of imperial exams. The work blends humor with sharp social critique.
Xu Wei and Van Gogh rejected academic norms to pioneer radical styles. Xu’s radically expressive ink-wash technique (大写意), characterized by splashed ink and calligraphic spontaneity, broke from the meticulous realism of earlier Ming painters. Xu’s style directly inspired Ming-Qing masters like Bada Shanren, Shitao, and the Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics (e.g., Zheng Banqiao). Modern artists such as Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi also revered him; Qi once lamented, "How I wish I’d been born 300 years earlier to grind ink and arrange paper for Qingteng!" His principle “seek vitality over formal resemblance” (不求形似求神似) prioritized emotional truth, much like Van Gogh’s thick, swirling brushstrokes and vivid colors (e.g. Starry Nights) sought to convey subjective experience over objective reality (Clunas, 2009).
Xu Wei and Van Gogh’s lives became romanticized as archetypes of the misunderstood genius — a narrative amplified by their mental health struggles. Scholar James Cahill likened Xu Wei’s “unbridled individualism” to Van Gogh’s, noting both artists’ ability to “transform personal agony into universal beauty” (Cahill, 1960). Modern scholars describe Xu as “the first artist to prioritize self-expression over societal norms” in China, mirroring Van Gogh’s role in Europe (Guo, 2013). Their works, once deemed eccentric, now epitomize artistic courage and authenticity.
The moniker “Van Gogh of the East” encapsulates Xu Wei’s fusion of technical innovation, emotional depth, and tragic biography. While separated by time and culture, both artists embody the transformative power of art born from suffering. As Yuan Hongdao, a Ming Dynasty critic, wrote of Xu: “He is a sage of brushstrokes and a knight-errant of ink”—a description that could equally apply to Van Gogh, the tormented saint of Western art.
References
1. Cahill, J. (1960). Chinese Painting. Skira.
2. Clunas, C. (2009). Art in China (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
3. Guo, Y. (2013). The Art of Xu Wei: Madness and Creativity in Late Ming China. Journal of Chinese Humanities, 45(2), 112-129.
4. Li, X. (2018). Literati Modernism: Xu Wei and the Reinvention of Chinese Painting. Asian Art Studies, 22(3), 55-72.
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