In the summer of 2020, I plan to hold an exhibition of "Literature in Painting", Wu Shanming's ink paintings are a must, and we are old friends, so it should be no problem to invite him to participate. I'll give his wife Gao Ye a call. Xiao Gao said: "He is not in good health and cannot participate. "I wondered, Shan Ming has silver hair, a ruddy face, and a childish face, why can't he participate?It is rumored that his wife is very powerful. I guess Madame is in the way. But on second thought, Xiao Gao has always been polite to me. So I went back to my hometown in Zhejiang and went to the door to invite. When I arrived in my hometown, I learned that Shanming was seriously ill and had been hospitalized. Literary into the threesome, Wang Tao, Yang Mingyi and my art exhibitions were successfully held in my hometown Yongkang and Beijing Rongbaozhai. The lack of Wu Shanming is a big regret. On December 4, 2021, he was 79 years old and gone. I will never have the opportunity to hold an exhibition together again, and I will never see each other, and I will regret it for the rest of my life.
Wu Shanming is a master of figure painting in Zhejiang. He has a deep foundation in tradition, and the ink method is applied to the home, freely and naturally. But he was not satisfied with the traditional set, and spent his life experimenting with ink painting. Painting with ink is his specialty. He said that Su Mo has been used by painters since ancient times, and Ni Yunlin and Yanjiang are all wonderful. In modern times, Huang Binhong's landscapes use Su ink, and the picture is lush, forming a special style. In his studio in Hangzhou, we ** we. Seven methods of ink: thick, light, broken, accumulating, splashing, burning, and staying. The so-called Su Mo is the Chen Mo left on the inkstone - overnight ink. I asked him, do you use so much and have so much ink?He laughed: "I went to the rural store to buy unsalable ink. Those inks that can't be sold will become ink when they are degummed. He first painted people with ink, and then he painted flowers and birds. He advocated and practiced "returning to simplicity", diluting the light and shade of Western painting, pursuing the simplicity of brush and ink and the simplicity of linearity, and pushing the figure painting of the Zhejiang School to an extreme.
In order to verify the achievements of his art, Wu Shanming held two solo exhibitions at the National Art Museum of China in 1997 and 2014. In his own words, "I went to Beijing twice to take the exam. Despite the success of his ink experiments, there is still some drumming in his heart. I don't know if the Beijing painting community recognizes it. Because the painting circles in the north and south have different concepts of artistic judgment on painting. I asked him privately, "Why don't you send the painting to Rong Bao Zhai to hang it?"He confessed his concerns. Once, I arranged for him and Fan to meet in Yiwu. On the bus to Jinhua, Fan Zeng flipped through the album sent by Shan Ming and praised: "There is style." The owner of a large gallery in Beijing, who was in the same car, disagreed, saying, "...... like an earthworm."Fan Zeng still said: "There is style." It can be seen that there are different opinions. Shan Ming is confident in Sumo. At that time, some people did not understand Huang Binhong's paintings. Huang Binhong said, if you don't understand it now, you will understand it in 50 years. He went to Beijing twice to take the exam, which was very worthwhile. It has made the Beijing painting circles and critics see his ink experiments and artistic pursuits. The wonderful changes of Sumo left an unforgettable impression on the audience in Beijing. As Liu Boshu, president of the Chinese Painting Research Institute, said, "It was like a gust of fresh wind blowing to Beijing." ”
Influenced by him, many painters in my hometown and I are using Su Mo. Every day, the ink or ink residue left over from the inkstone is collected into the bottle. The ink stinks, but it has a wonderful effect when used on rice paper.
Shanming's hometown is in Pujiang Qianwu. There is a wide body of water in front of the village. I've been there many times and still want to go. The clear green water will wash away the dust and make the heart pure. One side of the water and soil to support the other side. Shan Ming is a kind person, and it is appropriate to say that he is as tender as water. It is said that he is "afraid of guilt", but in fact he is "love guilt".
This article is excerpted from Lu Guang's "Friends Who Went Before Me").