Deciphering The Charm Of Zhang Da Qian'S Aesthetics

Hua Wen Chen

In modern Chinese history, Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), like Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong, Xu Beihong and Lin Fengmian, is a master who can not get around. Their artistic temperament, talent and fate are different, but they constitute a magnificent and brilliant history of art. This year is the 120th anniversary birthday of Zhang Daqian. Reading biographies "borrowing the past and opening the present: Zhang Daqian's artistic journey" is undoubtedly able to appreciate the aesthetic charm of a generation of painting masters.

This biography is particularly worth recommending. Professor Feng Youheng, who served as Zhang Daqian's English Secretary for 1976-1983 years, has been in close contact with Zhang Daqian for many years, and is very clear about his life experience, painting style and artistic proposition. Feng Youheng studied in the Department of foreign languages of National Taiwan University, and received his doctorate from the Department of art and Archaeology of Princeton University. He is currently a professor of painting and calligraphy in University of the Arts, Taiwan. Feng Youheng's writing is exquisite and refined. His comments on Zhang Daqian's personality traits are just right, and his comments on artistic style and achievements are objective and rational.

Zhang Daqian - Information

Biography is divided into three parts: Zhang Daqian's rise and era, Zhang Daqian's green hills and green waters, and Zhang Daqian's figure painting. There is no doubt that Zhang Daqian is a "master of Almighty" in the history of Chinese painting, especially in landscape painting. Generally speaking, Zhang Daqian's landscape painting is also divided into three periods.

The first period is to copy the learning period. He has a very high level of copying, especially copying the works of Shi Tao and the eight great mountain people. Many collectors and connoisseurs are hard to distinguish true from false. Before and after the age of 38, Zhang Daqian, in mastering the spirit of Tang and Song painting masters, and taking Shi Tao's spirit of "searching for odd peaks", traveled to Mount Huangshan, Huashan and Mount Emei.

The second period is the maturity of landscape painting style. From 1940 to Dunhuang to 1957, Zhang Daqian was deeply influenced by the murals in Dunhuang. Besides the shadow of Shi Tao in the method of coloring and coloring, he gradually appeared more self face in his writing techniques. He used his pen to be round, concise, bright and clear, thick and dense, and vigorous and vigorous. Moreover, it changed the disadvantages of Ming and Qing literati paintings and created a lot of sketching works.

The third period is the peak period of landscape painting. In 1957, Zhang Daqian suffered from eye diseases, and the style of his paintings tended to be enjoyable. At this time, he focused on exploring the innovation of landscape painting, and created a new style of painting, splashing ink and splashing colors. After setting the tradition, he went to the peak stage of painting innovation. Throughout this stage, Zhang Daqian's landscape painting has a novel composition, majestic and independent. In the use of ink color, he often has a lot of colors, often with Meticulous Brushwork, big red and big green, mud and gold bottom, brilliant and distinguished from the general literati painting.

Zhang Daqian's achievement in landscape painting is the peak of Chinese landscape painting, and his series of Chinese figure paintings are also very creative. His figure painting is based on the traditional figure painting method, and absorbs the modern aesthetic thought. The figure is accurate and vivid. In his early years, he was willing to paint ancient Chinese ladies. His figure was thin and thin, weak and unhealthy. But after his middle age, he painted the ladies figure, which absorbed a lot of advantages of the Tang Dynasty's modeling and coloring. In general, it was round and beautiful, full of body shape, rich in color, rigorous in writing, and smooth in lines, giving people a healthy sense of beauty.

Zhang Daqian's artistic views are appropriately expressed in the biographical titles. Chinese painting stresses inheritance of the ancients, and works must have ancient meaning. Copying is a necessary channel. But painters are thoughtful people. After reaching a certain level of skill, they are bound to develop and innovate. While inheriting the painting tradition of the ancients, Zhang Daqian absorbed the way of artistic expression to quietly blend into Chinese painting language. At present, some young artists in Chinese painting circles are also keen on innovation, but their traditional writing skills are worrying. Zhang Daqian once said, "how can we master mastery of painting? First we should start copying and look at famous works. No matter the past or the present, the hand is in sight. " Like other professions, the more solid foundation, the more creative later. The deeper understanding of this simple truth, the path of art can go further.