Ancient and modern, reflecting a long and thick context
-- A summary of the academic seminar activities of "Ink Rhyme Context: Ancient Landscape Paintings from the Collection of Liaoning Provincial Museum and National Art Museum of China".
On September 9th, the "Ink Rhyme Context: Ancient Landscape Painting Exhibition from the Collection of Liaoning Provincial Museum and National Art Museum of China" opened in Beijing, as a continuation of the "Ink Rhyme Context" theme exhibition for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National Art Museum of China. On November 9th, the National Art Museum of China held an academic seminar on "Ink Rhyme and Context: Ancient Landscape Paintings from the Collection of Liaoning Provincial Museum and National Art Museum of China", which was the traditional rheology and contemporary development of landscape painting.
Wu Weishan, vice chairman of the Democratic League, vice chairman of the China Artists Association, and director of the National Art Museum of China, attended the academic seminar and delivered a speech. Also present at this academic seminar were Yu Hui, researcher of the Palace Museum, Huang Xiaofeng, Dean of the School of Humanities of the **Academy of Fine Arts, Zhu Wanzhang, researcher of the National Museum of China, Wang Qi, deputy director of the Painting and Calligraphy Department of the Palace Museum, Lu Xiao, director of the Theoretical Research Department of the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, experts from the National Art Museum of China include Yi Cao, director of the Research Department, Zhu Jian, director of the Collection Collection Department, Han Jinsong, deputy director of the Research Department, Deng Feng, deputy director of the Art Restoration Department, Xue Shuaijie, research librarian of the Collection Department, Wu Guobao, deputy research librarian of the Research Department, Exhibition Department Librarian Wu Yugong and others. The academic seminar was presided over by Zhang Qing, deputy director of the National Art Museum of China.
Wu Weishan emphasized in his speech that the general secretary pointed out at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development that Chinese civilization has "five outstanding characteristics", and outstanding continuity is one of them. Continuity is implemented in art work, that is, we should not only pay attention to modern and modern art works, but also pay attention to ancient excellent art works, so as to reflect its continuity. To this end, the National Art Museum of China has vigorously strengthened its cooperation with museums in recent years, from the Palace Museum to the Nanjing Museum to the Liaoning Provincial Museum, and has continuously introduced excellent ancient art works into the National Art Museum of China, so that the audience can not only appreciate the works of ancient masterpieces, such as the works of Shi Tao and Bada Shanren, but also appreciate the works of the artists of the 20th century, connecting the ancient and the modern, reflecting the long and thick cultural context, which is not only a concrete measure to reflect continuity, but also a feasible new mechanism to promote the cooperation between the two. Through this cooperation, it not only enhances the popularity of art museums and museums, but also expands the influence of the works themselves, so the "Ink Rhyme Context" will continue to be carried out, and the continuity of traditional Chinese culture should be deeply explored and emphasized in the exhibition practice.
Ink Rhyme Context - Liaoning Provincial Museum, National Art Museum of China Collection of Ancient Landscape Painting Exhibition" poster.
1. Explore the ontological characteristics of the picture and promote the theoretical research of landscape painting
Dong Baohou, deputy director of the Liaoning Provincial Museum, focused on the connection between Shen Zhou's "Night Tour of a Thousand People and Stones" and real-life landscape paintings, pointing out that "real-life pictures" are also known as "historical travel pictures" and "scenic spots", which are different from landscape paintings that focus on the expression of ideals. In the real scene, the author depicts the typical characteristics of the real scene, and writes the picture, the intention is documentary, and its appearance meets the aesthetic and documentary needs of the literati for painting, so this kind of works of Shen Zhou can flourish for a long time, and there are many images of thousands of people and stones in the paintings of Shen Zhou that have been handed down, and these images help us to understand Shen Zhou's contribution and status in the field of "real landscape painting".
Huang Xiaofeng set his eyes on the image of the square altar in "Crane Forest Picture", combined with Huang Gongwang's "Tianchi Stone Wall Map", and believed that in Song and Yuan Dynasty paintings, the painting practice of the Taoist altar is traceable. At the same time, comparing the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", "Snow Mountain Travel" and "Dantai Spring Dawn", he believes that there are two kinds of images of "altars" in Song and Yuan paintings, one is Taoist and the other is Confucian, which is different from the image that was previously believed.
Yang Yong, a research librarian at the Liaoning Provincial Museum, believes in his written statement that the Jinbi landscape mainly uses the color of mud and gold to express the sunshine of the picture, so the depiction of the sea and sky scenery in the twilight is the most suitable typical theme for the expression of Jinbi landscape. As one of the scattered paintings and calligraphy of the Qing Dynasty, although it is not the original work of the Tang Dynasty painters, it is very closely related to the formation and development of Jinbi landscape painting, and is an important painting for the study of early Jinbi landscape painting. Although this volume is a copy of the Ming Dynasty, the painting method is delicate and delicate, and the appearance of the original is retained to a certain extent. Its base is related to Qiu Ying's facsimile and even Li Zhaodao's "Falling Picture" recorded in "Xuanhe Painting", which is a useful supplement for us to confirm the history of painting and understand the painting theme of "Falling Picture", which can be said to be a rare "pseudo-good thing".
Starting from the Jinling Scenic Spots, Lu Xiao pointed out that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were many Jinling painters who used the local real scenery (the so-called "Jinling Scenic Spots") as the theme to create, but with the changes in the political and cultural environment in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Jinling scenic spots created by different painters in different periods had different backgrounds, purposes, connotations, There are great differences between the artistic conception style and the selection of scenic spots, which can be seen from the gathering and dispersion of the remnants of the early Qing Dynasty in the Jinling scenic map, as well as the cultural connotation behind it, thus reflecting the characteristics of the Jinling painting circle in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
Zhu Jian pays attention to the image of the fairy mountain in the picture, pointing out that the fairy mountain generally has several most important typical elements, one is on the sea, the second is the peak that pierces the sky like a sword, and the third is the feng shui that surrounds the sentient feelings, this kind of place is the best place for feng shui, gathering qi, and there are more clouds, pavilions, peach blossoms, green pines, etc., the "sea and sky falling pictures" volume exhibited in this exhibition is a very concentrated picture of the fairy mountain in the Ming DynastyThe exhibition exhibits the "Pavilion of Immortal Mountains", which has mountains and no seas, and uses the illustrations of immortal mountains and caves to express the realm of the Peach Blossom Spring, reflecting the idea of retreat or seclusion. In the early days, most of the owners of Xianshan were nobles or extremely wealthy, they had a rich real life, and their only ideal was to continue the current state and pursue immortality, but by the late Ming Dynasty, the aesthetic influence of the literati in turn affected them, making them jump out of the so-called wealth and begin to seek the aesthetic taste of literati.
Starting from the way the ancients constructed the picture space, Han Jinsong pointed out that there is a certain sense of scale and proportion in Song paintings, which is neither visual proportion, nor is it large or large, but intuitive proportion, perception rather than vision, no matter how close the person is or how far away the tree is, the painter feels that the person should be smaller than the tree. This disparity in scale constitutes the sense of sublimeness, sacredness, and space of classical landscapes, and also constitutes the consciousness of transcendence of classical landscapes, especially the landscapes of the Song Dynasty, which are a kind of sacred landscapes, which are both realistic but more accurate, and finally construct a surreal landscape world in a unique spatial structure.
Deng Feng sorted out the basic development context and internal rationale of landscape painting in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and believed that the Wumen school had the characteristics of intergenerational inheritance and profit, that is, the Wumen school skipped the Zhejiang school to learn from the Yuan Dynasty, and the characteristics of the gradual combination of professionalism and literati in the later period were more prominentIn the late Ming Dynasty after the Wumen School, language purification and deformation styles appeared, represented by Dong Qichang, but it also caused a mixture and synthesis of schematic styles and brush and ink language since the Song and Yuan dynasties, giving rise to a potential deformation and stylized styleIn addition, as the six schools of painting in the early Qing Dynasty became the mainstream of the painting world, especially the "Four Kings" formed a great influence of brush and ink styleism, which continued until the late Qing Dynasty, the painting world formed the so-called "orthodox" and mainstream style, but at the same time as the mainstream prevailed, the rise of the Qing Dynasty regional painting school was also unprecedented, and a phenomenon of breaking through from the periphery and region can be seenHe believes that at this stage, painters with strong personality styles began to rise, individualism and teachers returned, and individualist painters broke through the orthodox style of brush and ink, such as the "Four Monks" to re-excavate and discover the perceptual relationship between brush and ink and individual spirits, which was a great breakthrough in the "Four Kings" brush and ink styleism.
2. Excavate the traditional artistic language and serve the current artistic creation
Yu Hui pointed out that the formation of one's own artistic language is the ultimate goal of the artist's creation from ancient times to the present, and that with one's own artistic language one can distance oneself from others, and can be learned, inherited, and even surpassed, and finally merged into the constantly flowing context, but the language is also constantly limited, so we should pay attention to innovation and constantly create a new language that belongs to both ourselves and the times. At the same time, he said that museums and art galleries should continue to strengthen cooperation and work together to not only look back to ancient times, but also pragmatic the present, and find valuable artistic languages in ancient times to promote the new creation of the current artistic language of painting. Pay attention to the times of brush and ink, and abandon the artistic language left by the ancients, and turn it into today's painting art language, providing theoretical knowledge and image services for the creation of more and newer artistic languages at present.
Yi Cao believes that as the mainstream of traditional Chinese painting, landscape painting is an image reflection of traditional Chinese philosophy, and has formed the highest aesthetic realm. On the one hand, today's landscape painters should inherit the fine tradition, on the other hand, they should abandon the traditional landscape painters' passive and secluded feelings, think about the relationship between man and nature, reflect on the interference of man on the natural ecosystem with a broader vision and mind, and reflect the cultural concept and ecological wisdom of "the unity of nature and man" and "Taoism and nature" that China has advocated since ancient times into the creation of landscape painting, and promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature in an artistic way, so as to realize the harmony and harmony of human life.
Wu Guobao believes that brush and ink and illustration are important factors in the formation of a unique artistic language, and that the method and brush and ink can be captured in all painters' schemas, and they are also where their personality language lies. For creators and researchers, understanding the brushwork, methods, and various forms of the predecessors is the way and channel to enter the picture, and it will be helpful for us to understand the artist's personal style and art historical school. In addition, for the law, pen and ink, the Song and Yuan dynasties were the era of law-making, the Yuan Dynasty was the era of legislation, to the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were relatively few creations, but there were some creations in terms of schemas, such as Xu Wei, Bada Shanren, etc., they returned to the ontological language of pen and ink, and the schemas were different, thus presenting different artistic personalities. It is hoped that today's creators can find their own way of expression in it, which will have a certain guiding significance for the current art learning, creation and research.
Xue Shuaijie focuses on the spirit of Chinese landscape painting, and points out that the freehand spirit in Chinese landscape painting is realized through the method of "meaning writing". "Meaning" is divided into three types, one is the ancient landscape pattern, the other is the natural landscape, and the third is the illusionAmong them, "writing the ancient landscape patterns" is not only an important way to acquire landscape painting, but also an important way to create landscape painting. Among the landscape paintings that have survived in the past dynasties, there are a large number of works that depict the existing landscape patterns in ancient times. Writing is not imitation, not to copy, but creative development and transformation, a history of landscape painting, but also a history of landscape painting, Shi Tao to "search all the peaks to make drafts" way to break the previous intention of writing landscape painting, learn from the natural mountains and rivers, and produce a lot of fresh landscape works, and these works have become the object of posterity.
3. Summarize the highlights of the exhibition and create a new mechanism for cooperation
Zhu Wanzhang believes that this exhibition has thoroughly sorted out the development of landscape painting in an orderly manner. From the Song and Yuan dynasties to the middle and late Qing dynasties, it was basically based on the main line of "rich and rich, plain and innocent". At the same time, he pointed out that in the study of Chinese art history, it is easier for big names to attract more attention, while small masters are almost ignored, but in order to make art history more full and three-dimensional, "unknown or small name art history" should not be ignored, and even to a certain extent, many "unknown or small name art history" may be oriented to the public, while more famous artists such as Huang Gongwang are oriented to a niche, but not as wide as "unknown and small name art history".
Wang Qi believes that this exhibition brings together the best works of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties in the collection of the two museums, such as "In the Walking Alley" and other works, which are pleasing to the eyeHe believes that the exhibition breaks the limitations of traditional catalogues, and displays more materials and information such as Tibetan seals and inscriptions in front of the public, providing more detailed information than before, which can bring greater benefits to the public and relevant researchers, and expand the dissemination and influence of excellent traditional culture.
Wu Yugong believes that the core of this exhibition is how to connect the landscape tradition of Song and Yuan Dynasty painting with the landscape of Ming and Qing dynasties in an orderly manner, and finally clearly sort out the development of traditional Chinese landscape painting. From the perspective of exhibition planning and design, he explained the narrative mode of the exhibition construction in combination with the layout of each exhibition hall, and also introduced the content setting of the background wall of the exhibition hall, the arrangement of works in the exhibition hall, and the design and production of exhibition signs. He believes that an exhibition is not only academic work on paper, but more importantly, how to translate academic texts into the physical space of the exhibition hall, so that the information of the works and the actual situation of the exhibition venue should be comprehensively considered, so as to display the exhibit information in front of the audience more systematically and comprehensively.
In her final concluding remarks, Zhang Qing pointed out that the exhibition of "Moyun Context" is a good example of cooperation between art museums and museums, and that museums and art galleries are both public cultural service institutions that play their respective roles in the construction of socialist cultureBut differences also create complementarity, which lays the foundation for cooperation between the two. In recent years, the National Art Museum of China and domestic museums have cooperated many times, reflecting the combination of ancient beauty and modern beauty, and the increasing cooperation between the two is not only a complementary advantage, but also a mutual influence on the curatorial concept and form exploration, and a new display style has been opened, inspiring the creation and innovation of contemporary art works. Therefore, it is necessary to gradually deepen the good mechanism of cooperation between art galleries and museums, not only to expand the quantity and quality of cooperation, but also to strengthen the communication and interaction between curators and researchers, maintain the advantages of each museum, and slowly open up a new situation of cooperation between museums and art galleries. He pointed out that landscape painting continues to develop and change with the times, and the exhibition planning also develops with the times, and the new exhibition form and viewing method can allow more ancient and modern collections to face the society and the audience in the same exhibition, so that we can experience the spirit of ancient and modern landscapes that is different from the past, which is also the direction and goal of the cooperation between museums and art galleries.
Landscape is the eternal theme of Chinese art, landscape painting is the externalization of artistic thinking, Chinese landscape painting with the form of flattery, encompassing the heart of heaven and earth, creating a space for spiritual swimming and inhabiting inside and outside the real world, is a very distinctive symbol in Chinese traditional culture, has become a representation of the soul of the Chinese nation. This academic seminar not only traces the artistic spirit of traditional landscape painting itself, but also highlights the guiding significance of traditional landscape painting to promote the theory and creative development of contemporary Chinese landscape painting, and provides an artistic perspective for exploring the continuity of Chinese excellent traditional culture and promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese traditional excellent culture.
Text arrangement: Lu Panlai, Research Department, National Art Museum of China).
Exterior view of the National Art Museum of China.