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The birth of the People's Republic of China was an important moment in Chinese history, and on the afternoon of October 1, 1949, 300,000 soldiers and civilians gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. ** and other leaders climbed the Tiananmen Tower, ** Xiangyin announced in the cheers of the masses:
"The People's Republic of China, the People's Republic of China, was established today. ”After the parade, people walk along the old brick stairway towards a new history. After more than two hours of celebration, Tiananmen Square was filled with jubilant crowds, flags, colorful silks and flowers intertwined into a sea of festivities, and the ancient Oriental nation ushered in a new chapter.
On July 1, 1951, the Communist Party of China ushered in the 30th anniversary of its founding, and the whole country celebrated. In a series of commemorative activities decided to be held, the Party Celebration Painting Exhibition has become a unique highlight. In April 1953, a unique art exhibition was exhibited in Zhongnanhai Rentang, **personally with **leading comrades**.
In the exhibition, a masterpiece called "The Founding Ceremony" is eye-catching. This one is four meters long and 2 meters wideThe 3-meter painting vividly presents the grand occasion of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The leaders praised one after another, and even made a bold statement:
"It's a big country, it's what China looks like. ”This is not only a painting, but also a condensation of ardent expectations for the new China and lofty ambitions for the future.
Why is "The Founding Ceremony" so well drawn? The oil painting of "The Founding Ceremony" has gone through 4 versions, which ones have been deleted?
Dong Xiwen, a painter born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, made a name for himself in the art world for his excellence in revolutionary subjects and figure painting. In 1953, at the age of 38, he created the oil painting "The Founding Ceremony" for the historic moment of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Dong Xiwen has studied at Suzhou Art School, Hangzhou Art School and other places, and has also set foot in the southwest and northwest regions, deeply rooted in the roots of art in various places. He spent up to 3 years copying the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, and this experience made his paintings highly praised by many famous painters such as Xu Beihong. He is good at creating revolutionary themes, and he enjoys a high reputation in the industry for his unique skills in figure painting.
At the beginning of 1949, when Peking was liberated, he expressed his joy at liberation with the gouache painting "Beiping Entering the City". Dong Xiwen's brushes have created many portraits of leaders and heroes, and the first oil portrait on the tower of Tiananmen Gate was made by him and his students. Therefore, when he was chosen to create the "Founding Ceremony", it was not only a fair choice, but also a historic choice.
In order to concentrate on this important task, Dong Xiwen rented a studio in the Hutong of the West Headquarters. He spent two months forgetting sleep and food, and independently completed the "Founding Ceremony", an oil painting of revolutionary history. During this period, he once said to the famous oil painter Ai Zhongxin:
"It is a rare fortune to have the opportunity to create such a major revolutionary history painting. ”However, the painter did not rush to brush when faced with this huge project. Instead, he spent his time digging up a lot of material about the founding ceremony. In the process, he found a problem that plagued him, and that was that the leader stood on the tower of Tiananmen Square, and the composition appeared narrow due to the spacing of the columns. This troubled question made him fall into thinking for a while.
Dong Xiwen made a series of bold artistic treatments when creating "The Founding Ceremony", and decided to break the limitations of realism, adopt a combination of expressionism and realism, and choose the composition of the picture according to his own understanding. This decision demonstrates his unique vision and pursuit of art.
His daughter Dong Yisha revealed some creative details, such as when painting the carpet on the Tiananmen Gate, Dong Xiwen actually mixed sawdust and sand to enhance the texture of the carpet, so as to present a more realistic effect in the painting.
The folds on Zhang Lan's robe in the painting seem to be specially ironed and folded, but in fact they are meant to be worn during celebrations. The white marble railings are deliberately painted not so white, but slightly yellow, to highlight the atmosphere of China's thousands of years of history.
As soon as this oil painting came out, it immediately appeared in an important position on the front page of "People's **". The People's Fine Arts Publishing House also quickly printed adult paintings and various fine arts, with a circulation of more than 1 million copies, and incorporated them into primary and secondary school textbooks at that time. The Founding Ceremony is treasured in the exhibition hall of the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and has become an important work in the history of Chinese art.
After the exhibition, "The Founding Ceremony" caused great repercussions in the art world and society. Xu Beihong spoke highly of this, he said:"Dong Xiwen successfully completed the task and deserved 100 points. ”This high recognition is not only a personal praise for Dong Xiwen, but also an affirmation of Chinese art as a whole.
In 1953, ** and national leaders visited the small exhibition of Huairentang in Zhongnanhai for the first time, and the focus of the exhibition was the "Founding Ceremony" created by Dong Xiwen. This moment became a milestone in the history of Chinese art and the pinnacle of Dong Xiwen's career.
In the Huairentang exhibition, ** and other leaders showed great joy. At that time, *** issued an exciting praise: "It is a big country, it is the appearance of China, if our paintings are brought to the world, others will not be able to compare with us, because we have a unique national form." These words are not only a praise for the painting, but also a declaration of confidence in the image of the Chinese nation.
** Interest in the author Dong Xiwen has also gradually deepened. When asking the author of the painting, Dong Xiwen stepped forward, ** held his hand cordially, and said with praise:"It's so good, it's so good! ”Dong Xiwen's heart was undoubtedly filled with great joy, because this was the moment when *** personally praised him.
Why is this painting praised for the founding ceremony of a great country?
The outstanding feature of this painting "The Founding Ceremony" lies in the bold conception and artistic treatment of the painter Dong Xiwen, from the composition of the picture to the addition and deletion of elements, to the use of light and color, and dialectical contrast, every detail shows his unique style.
First of all, the composition and layout of the picture are bold, and Dong Xiwen handles the main characters in less than half of the left side of the picture, showing the demeanor of a great country. This bold and ingenious composition makes the whole picture both solemn and warm, stable and thrilling.
Secondly, the increase and decrease of picture elements is bold, Dong Xiwen dared to break the normal law and removed the big red pillar on the front right side of the painting from the painting, making the square appear more open. This bold innovation was affirmed by the architect Liang Sicheng, who considered it a great success in the art of painting.
Third, the use of light and color in the picture is bold, and Dong Xiwen uses bright colors such as blue, red, and golden yellow to form a solemn and warm tone. He flexibly uses blue, brown, green and other harmonic colors to vividly depict a scene of beautiful wind and sunshine.
Fourthly, the dialectical contrast of the picture is bold, ** creating an interesting contrast with the other leaders and the masses in the square. This layout of the left is real and the right is imaginary, so that the primary and secondary are clear, and the picture is more layered.
In addition, the comprehensive materials used in the picture are bold, and in order to enhance the texture of the carpet, Dong Xiwen actually mixed sawdust and sand into the paint. The folds on Zhang Lan's robe in the painting seem to be specially ironed and folded, but in fact they are meant to be worn during celebrations. This meticulous attention to detail shows the artist's ingenuity and artistic pursuit.
Finally, the painting contains a touching story, which gives people a deeper understanding of the warmth of humanity behind the picture.
Dong Xiwen did not create this work out of thin air, but based on a ** photographed by reporter Chen Zhengqing. Surprisingly, Commander-in-Chief Zhu on ** is not in the picture.
It happened when Chen Zhengqing was about to shoot *** speech. Because the space in front of the position where the *** stood on the upper floor of Tiananmen Gate was very narrow, Chen Zhengqing's back was almost attached to the white marble railing, and he felt that the space was too small, so he had to lean back.
However, this place is quite high above the ground and can be extremely dangerous if you fall down. At this time, Commander-in-Chief Zhu happened to see this scene, quickly stepped over, and hugged Chen Zhengqing's legs, lest he concentrate on taking pictures and accidentally fall.
At this moment, a key historical shot was frozen, but it left an important historical figure, Commander-in-Chief Zhu, who ran off the camera. As a close comrade-in-arms, Mr. Zhu, the commander-in-chief, sacrificed himself to save others at a critical moment, and did not hesitate to rush over to hug his legs in order to protect a reporter, so that he could take pictures with peace of mind.
This scene not only shows the comradeship of the leaders of the Communist Party, but also shows the admirable demeanor of the leaders of major countries. This spirit of breadth and benevolence makes the story behind the painting "The Founding Ceremony" even more precious and touching.
The reason why this oil painting "The Founding Ceremony" can show the appearance of Great China is that it actually carries the great history of New China. However, the painting has undergone four revisions.
In the original version, the leaders of the first row behind ** included**, Song Qingling, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, and Gao Gang.
However, after the "Gao Rao Incident" in 1954, the relevant personnel asked Dong Xiwen to modify the painting and erase the Gao Gang on the far right. In order not to destroy the position of other leaders, Dong Xiwen repeatedly practiced on other drawing papers, and finally removed the portrait of Gao Gang and replaced it with a pot of flowers.
In the second edition, the leaders in the front row became **, Dong Biwu, Song Qingling, Li Jishen, and Zhang Lan. However, in 1972, the Revolution Museum approached Dong Xiwen again and asked him to erase *** from the painting
This time, the revision process was extremely complicated, because Dong Xiwen was already seriously ill. He not only needs to delete the image of ***, but also needs to add the portrait of Dong Biwu to make the picture more complete.
In the third edition, the museum issued new directives to erase the limboqu. However, at this time, Dong Xiwen's condition was quite serious, and his physical implementation of the task of modification became extremely difficult. So, Dong Xiwen found Jin Shangyi for help.
In order to respect his mentor Dong Xiwen, Jin Shangyi proposed a compromise plan, that is, to copy a copy of the "Founding Ceremony" according to the original picture. In this process, he consulted the seriously ill Dong Xiwen while copying, making the whole revision process a profound exchange between master and apprentice.
On January 8, 1973, the famous painter Dong Xiwen passed away with regret because he was over fifty years old. This parting left behind not only a deep sorrow, but also his masterpiece "The Founding Ceremony" after several revisions, facing a new choice.
With the fall of some people, the Museum of the Chinese Revolution decided to restore the "Founding Ceremony" to its original appearance, but because Dong Xiwen's original work has been changed many times, it is difficult to fully restore it. Dong Xiwen's family also did not agree to make further changes to the original work. Faced with this dilemma, the museum had to entrust the famous painter Jin Shangyi to make revisions.
However, Jin Shangyi was busy with other affairs at the time, so he recommended young Beijing painters Yan Zhenduo and Ye Wulin to complete this important task. On the reproduction of the "Founding Ceremony", they skillfully restored the image of *** and Gao Gang. This creation is not only a restoration of history, but also a reinterpretation of art.
In this way, after many twists and turns, the "Founding Ceremony" finally successfully restored its original appearance with the joint efforts of Jin Shangyi, Yan Zhenduo and Ye Wulin.
Today, "The Founding Ceremony" is exhibited in the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and has become the focus of the audience's attention. The paintings are solemn and solemn, with red pillars, palace lanterns, blooming chrysanthemums and fluttering red flags, all implying the independence and freedom of the motherland. This masterpiece, which has endured ups and downs, has returned to its original point and has become a vivid witness to the history of the Chinese revolution.
However, Dong Xiwen's original works are still well kept and become a precious cultural heritage. In this long history, "The Founding Ceremony" is not only a painting, but also a symbol of the times, recording the rise and ups and downs of China, a memory of the past, and an expectation for the future.