A painting by Li Shoubai. [Photo by shanghaidaily.com]

Shanghai's fabled stone-gated houses, shikumen, and their enchanting lore are revived in exquisite detail and vivid colors in the works of Li Shoubai. As Eileen Chang depicted Shanghai in the early 20th century in her novels, so Li's evocative shikumen paintings provide another window onto the city and its past.

"This is our own culture and history, our own life. When talking about Shanghai, I hope people think of my shikumen paintings. That's my dream," Li says. "People not only see the colors and images, but also they will hear the sounds and get the smells of a moment of life."

Li, using Chinese paint on rice paper, tells the stories of nostalgic daily life of the 1930s and 40s in minute detail in the narrow houses in narrow lanes. There are fish being cooked, bonsai on the windowsills, birds singing in cages. Boys fly kites, a girl plays the cello, ladies step into rickshaws, they do needlework, take baths, primp before mirrors. Most of the subjects are highly stylized women in colorful qipao.

Li uses the "heavy color" Chinese style of vivid colors and large masses of color; his paintings are realistic, they tell us stories about old Shanghai before most of the shikumen houses were demolished, making way for modern highrise housing and new ways for people to relate to each other.

Li is well known and his shikumen paintings have been displayed at the Shanghai Art Exposition for three years. His paintings, drawings, paper cuts and other folk art, along with other displays, will be exhibited at Citic Square in May.

The elegant shikumen style gives expression to the imagination and creativity of the people who lived here. The feelings expressed in Li's paintings are deeply rooted in true life, speaking to the people who view his work.

Li Shoubai Studio
Location: Room 201, Building No.5, No.8-10, Jianguo Zhonglu
Tel: 021-64677607
Open: 9:00 am-6:00 pm