In the history of Chinese painting, all those who have achieved great things are inseparable from their own diligence and hard work. However, in the late Qing Dynasty, there was a painter who was known for his laziness, and he established his due position in the late Qing Dynasty painting circle by virtue of his unique talent and aura. He is Ren Yu.
Ren Pre (1853-1901), a Yu, the word Lifan, the owner of Xiaoxiao'an, alias Liweng, a native of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang (now Hangzhou), a famous Shanghai painter in the late Qing Dynasty, was the son of Ren Xiong, a master of the early Shanghai School, and the youngest of the "Four Masters on the Sea". His techniques are comprehensive, and his creative themes are wide-ranging, and his paintings include the scroll of "Jin Mingzhai Small Statue", "Landscape Fan", "Spring Dawn in Jiangcheng", "Kingfisher White Ape" axis, "Human and Horse Picture" axis, "Zhong Kui Picture" page, "Tu Wanzhen's 59-year-old statue" volume and so on. In terms of calligraphy, Ren was instructed by Zhao Zhiqian, a seal carving giant in the late Qing Dynasty, and was also good at seal carving.
When Ren Xiong died, Ren was only four years old, so he had no chance to be directly influenced by his father in terms of painting style. Ren pre-painting talent is very high, but when he was young, he was lazy and refused to learn to paint, and his family had no way to take him, so he often sighed. After Ren Xiong died, the manuscript was all obtained by Ni Tian, a painter of the "Shanghai School", and Ren had no choice but to borrow his father's manuscript to copy, but he refused to learn. Ren Xiong died early, and his brother Ren Xun had no children under his knees, so Ren Xun succeeded Ren Xun. At the beginning, there was no teacher in pen and ink, and then he learned painting from Ren Xun and Ren Yi, and changed the Ren sect. After learning painting from his uncle Ren Xun, Ren Yu made rapid progress. His paintings are not limited to family traditions, but also learn from the painting styles of famous artists at that time, such as Gaiqi and Fei Danxu, breaking through the framework of family studies and forming his own unique painting art style. His paintings are purely talented to show off the flow of the times, and they are unique, just like Wang Xie's children, although they are procrastinating, they have a kind of fun.
In fact, laziness does not mean that you do not want to forge ahead, and it is a predetermined attitude to live in the world with "laziness". From his "Imitation Yuan People Landscape Figures", we can see his chic and bold brushwork, and can further feel his free and easy concept of life. "Imitation Yuan People Landscape Figures" shows the early autumn scenery, in the picture, the leaves begin to turn yellow, the mountains and forests are slightly bleak, and a master rides a horse on the mountain road. The riverbank is lush with vegetation, and there are two or three thatched huts looming among the trees. In the foreground, the mountains are towering, and clouds and mist linger in the mountains. The river is clear without a ripple, and the quiet beauty of autumn is revealed to the viewer.
For example, although he attaches great importance to the relationship between teacher and student, and takes the title of "Slightly Imitation of Yuan Humanism" in his work, he boldly reforms and innovates in the context of traditional Chinese painting because he accepts foreign culture and innovative ideas. He not only inherited the traditional brush and ink, but also combined with foreign techniques, broke through the conservative barriers of Chinese painting, and established another banner, forming his own painting style.
Among the various types of paintings, any pre-landscape, figures, flowers and birds, all of which are refined, all have high attainments, especially landscapes, the style is close to the literati school, and there are innovations in antiquity. His landscape paintings inherited the legacy of the "Four Kings", tracing the Song and Yuan Dynasty pictures, and focusing on the sketching of scenes. In the picture, people, trees and stones, rocks and clouds are added, which is particularly distinctive. The location and appearance, the structure and layout are cleverly conceived, and the cooperation can be especially new, giving people a deep sense of gloom in terms of charm and color.
Ren Zhen's character paintings draw on a wide range of materials, such as myths and legends, Taoist stories, etc., which are the themes of his expression. His figure paintings are a fusion of Chinese and Western, after hooking and threading, the color is dark, the depth of the line is dark, obviously influenced by watercolor, the figure is slightly thin, and the pen is concise and sketchy, which was undoubtedly innovative at the time. The shape of the figure painting is slightly exaggerated, and the lines are concise and strong, which is different from Ren Xun and Ren Yi. The ladies painted the women are beautiful and natural, not colorful, but the light makeup of each other, the portrait is concise and vivid. He has made outstanding achievements in portrait painting, and the portraits he depicted draw on Western perspective and complement each other with traditional brush and ink depictions of Taoist paintings.
In addition, the flowers painted in any pre-use are mostly double-hooked, the lines are strong, the pen and ink are bold, the artistic conception is novel, and it is especially expressive. The roots and leaves are strange, the flowers and leaves are fat, and they are awe-inspiring and abrupt. The composition is chic, there is no bone dotting, the color is elegant, and it can create new ideas in the ancient method, which is unique. The painted feathers and beasts are real and vivid, full of rich life atmosphere.
Xu Kou Zhang once invited him to his home to paint a long scroll, which was completed after many years. This is due to the fact that he is not lazy and sick, and if he is not extremely poor and embarrassed, he does not paint, and he does not want to keep the whole picture intact. Although Ren Qian's temperament cannot be called gentle, it is called a strange composition by those who paint it. It can be said that the unique artistic effect presented by his works is largely due to his character. Ren Yu once lived at the bottom of the society, so there are many works of needlework in some creations, which contain a certain ideology. Ren was deeply influenced by the painting method of Zhao Danian, a calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Danian is known for his ability to describe the scenery between Tingzhu.
Ren Pre once made "Imitation of Zhao Danian's Landscape Page", this picture is Zhao Danian's painting style, in the Song Dynasty, there is no place similar to him. In this picture, the foreground draws tree branches, ink leaves are dotted with hand, there is grass on the shore, a small boat, the boatman is using a bamboo to support the boat, and the shape of the figure is quite vivid. There was a flock of ducks in front of the boat. On the opposite side of the riverbank, the light ink is flat, and the painter uses the brush to bend straight and straight, the concise and sloppy image, and the simple and sparse affection, reflecting the poetry and ink of light and empty.
In the "Molin on the Sea" written by Yang Yi of the Qing Dynasty, there is such a comment on Ren Pre: "Gongshan Shui, don't find a new way, lazy and expanding, when you are embarrassed, you should respond with gold, and you will get a heavy price." He died at the age of 50, and his legacy is very precious. It can be said to be a summary of Ren's life. As a representative of the "Shanghai School", Ren Yu presented a diversified appearance with his chic and free brushwork and innovative spirit in the environment of the era of Chinese and Western cultures, leaving valuable cultural wealth for future generations.
The "Shanghai School" represented by the "Four Artists" had a profound influence on later generations. From the point of view of the form and content of the painting, the Shanghai School integrates the painter's understanding and emotion into the works in a comprehensive way of expression, making the picture more colorful. Shanghai School emphasizes innovation in composition, content, pen and ink. To this day, there are still a large number of Chinese painters who are deeply influenced by the Shanghai School. These painters are pioneering and innovative, with distinct personalities and unique aesthetic pursuits. From these phenomena, it can be seen that the Shanghai School of Painting is an artistic peak in the history of Chinese painting.