Portrait of Ren Bonian is an oil painting by Xu Beihong, depicting the famous painter Ren Yi in the late Qing Dynasty. Ren Yi, whose name is Bonian, is a native of Shanyin, Zhejiang, and has been engaged in painting in Shanghai for a long time.
He has a wide range of painting subjects, such as figures, portraits, landscapes, flowers, birds, etc., and is one of the representatives of the "Shanghai School". Together with Wu Changshuo, Pu Hua, and Xugu, he was known as the "Four Masters of the Shanghai School in the Late Qing Dynasty".
Appreciating the Plum Blossoms: The Wonderful Fate of Ren Bonian and Folk Printmaking During the Opium War, there was a painter named Ren Bonian, whose father Ren Shenghe was a folk portraitist.
Influenced by his family environment, Ren Bonian developed a strong interest in painting since he was a child. When he was young, he lived in Xiaoshan with his father to study painting, and was deeply influenced by folk printmaking, and had unique insights into the composition and use of color in the picture.
When he was a teenager, Ren Bonian once drew a portrait of a visitor, and his father knew the identity of the visitor after seeing it. This painting skill made Ren Bonian famous in his hometown.
When he was fifteen or sixteen years old, Ren Bonian went to Shanghai to sell paintings. He imitated the works of the famous artist Ren Xiong and sold them along the street. It happened that Ren Xiong passed by and saw Ren Bonian's paintings, not only was he not angry, but he appreciated his talent, so he recruited him as ** and passed it on as a good story.
Ren Xiong was a famous painter in the late Qing Dynasty and one of the main figures of the "Shanghai School" art. His painting style is unique and loved by people. Under his tutelage, Ren Bonian's painting skills improved day by day, and he became a popular painter.
Despite his rich life experience, Ren Bonian has always maintained his love and dedication to painting. In his works, his love for life and pursuit of art are revealed, which makes people feel his sincerity and enthusiasm.
In general, Ren Bonian is a talented painter, and his works are full of the breath of life and the charm of art, so that people can appreciate his paintings while also feeling his philosophy of life and artistic spirit.
In 1861, Ren Bonian's father died, coinciding with the capture of Shaoxing by the Taiping Tian** team, and Ren Bonian was forced to join the Taiping Tian** and became one of them.
He waved the flag in wartime and charged into battle as a vanguard. However, on July 19, 1864, Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was captured by the Hunan army, and Ren Bonian was forced to flee back to his hometown.
His family moved to Ningbo and began to make a living selling paintings. There, he met the painters Wan Ting, Chen Duofeng, and Xie Lianshi, and became good friends. In 1868, at the age of 28, Ren Bonian went to Suzhou to study painting with his brother Ren Xun.
Ren Bonian was a straightforward man, he was informal, and studied painting hard, so his reputation gradually increased, and he also got acquainted with well-known figures in the art world, Hu Yuan and Sha Fu.
In the winter of 1868, Ren Bonian went to Shanghai and set up a stall to sell paintings in the Sima Road Night Market with his superb painting skills and excellent popularity. Hu Gongshou, a well-known painter in Shanghai's art world, appreciated his talent and introduced him to Hu Tiemei, the manager of the Guxiang Room, to paint fans in the Guxiang Room Fan Shop.
In addition, Hu Gongshou also recommended him to the Money Industry Association and other groups, introducing him to banker Tao Junxuan, businessman Zhang Jingfu, Jiuhuatang owner Huang Jinshang and other economic figures, which helped him establish his status in the Shanghai painting circle.
In just a few years, Ren Bonian's paintings became famous, and gradually became one of the first-class painters on the sea, alongside the veteran painters Zhang Zixiang, the famous painters Hu Gongshou and Yang Borun, and became the first generation representative of the "Shanghai School".
Ren Bonian's acquaintance and acquaintance with Wu Changshuo occurred in 1883, when Wu Changshuo's painting skills were superb, but he suffered from no one to guide him. When he was in his thirties, he was introduced by his friend Gao Yongzhi to Ren Bonian.
Ren Bonian asked him to draw a picture on the spot to see his skills. Wu Changshuo picked up the pen and drew a few strokes, Ren Bonian saw his paintings, the pen was extraordinary, the ink was thick and straight, and the skills were profound, and he couldn't help but be amazed, and officially accepted Wu Changshuo as an apprentice.
This acquaintance had a profound impact on Wu Changshuo's artistic career, and his artistic achievements were recognized by the world.
Ren Bonian and Wu Changshuo: Master and Apprentice, Painting Friend, and Best Friend Ren Bonian and Wu Changshuo were not only masters and apprentices, but also good friends in painting, and they had close contacts, became close friends, and maintained a deep friendship.
At that time, Ren Bonian lived in the Sanpai Building near Yu Garden, and Wu Changshuo would go to Ren Bonian's house every day to discuss painting with him, make progress together, and encourage each other. Ren Bonian said to Wu Changshuo: "Your calligraphy is very good, you might as well draw flowers with the brushwork of Zhoushu, and draw dry with the brushwork of cursive, which will greatly improve your skills." ”
Wu Changshuo was deeply inspired and began to change his painting style, using his calligraphy expertise, integrating the brushwork and ink of calligraphy into his paintings, and finally practiced the unique skill of "writing flowers in a pattern and doing it in cursive", creating a unique artistic image, and becoming a representative of the "Shanghai School" after succeeding Bonian.
Wu Changshuo's bronze statue Ren Bonian had a harmonious relationship with other painters of the "Shanghai School", and he actively participated in calligraphy and painting activities and public welfare undertakings, which was also an important factor in his wide respect and respect.
Whenever there is a disaster relief activity for calligraphy and painting at sea, he is always the first to stand up and never refuses to participate because of his status and the high price of his paintings. In 1887, the "Authentic Paintings of Mr. Ren Bonian" was officially published, which caused a sensation in Shanghai.
Ren Bonian had a close relationship with Xugu, and he admired Xugu's character and paintings very much, and painted portraits of Xugu. Xugu also appreciates Ren Bonian's outstanding artistic talent.
Xugu, the word is white, Xin'an people, a famous painter in the Qing Dynasty, known as "the first painting garden in the late Qing Dynasty". Xu Gu heard that Ren Bonian had suffered from opium for a long time, his vitality was greatly damaged, his assets were lost, and he unfortunately passed away at the age of 56, and he was grief-stricken.
He wrote down the elegiac couplet and said with emotion: "The pen is impermanent, don't come up with a new machine, Junyi is also the best!" Who can succeed the Tianduosi people, and I will decline it? ”
Ren Bonian's artistic achievements lie in figure painting and flower and bird painting, he pays attention to the use of sketching, sketching, dotting clusters, and breaking ink, and the brush and ink are natural and free, and varied; The lines are simple and calm, vigorous and powerful; The color is bright and elegant, and the shades are appropriate; The layout is novel and ingenious, with virtual and real space; It has formed a unique style that combines fine brushwork and freehand, fresh and bright, and the composition is poetic and pictorial, smooth and natural.
Ren Bonian's "Great Fortune and Fortune" was deeply influenced by Xiao Yuncong, Chen Hongshou, Fei Xiaolou (Fei Danxu) and Ren Xiong, especially in his later years, he absorbed Hua Yan's brushwork, which was more simple and flexible.
His works are concise, accurate, vivid and expressive, and his techniques are diverse, often expressing the entire demeanor of the characters with only a few brushstrokes, using little ink but far-reaching artistic conception. His works draw on a wide range of materials, reflect real life, needle society, entrust personal feelings, and have a certain ideology.
He is a portrait painter who is good at portraits, and the portraits he paints, each of which can be seen in detail, is amazingly high. His works not only have artistic value, but also show the charm and vitality of the characters, making people feel the breath of life.
Ren Bonian's "Forty-eight-year-old Portrait of Fan Hu Jushi" is one of his masterpieces. This painting fully demonstrates Ren Bonian's talent in the field of flower and bird painting. He studied under Chen Chun, Xu Wei, Shi Tao, Yun Shouping, Hua Zhe and the Northern Song Dynasty, integrating the strengths of each family to form his own unique artistic style.
His works have both the fineness of fine brushwork and the free-spirited freehand, which can be used to express the three-dimensional sense of outline, and can also be used to show the soft beauty of the boneless method.
In his early years, Ren Bonian was good at fine brush painting, and later absorbed Yun Shouping's boneless method and Chen Chun, Xu Wei, and Zhu Qi's freehand method, and innovatively combined traditional brush and ink with watercolor painting, the picture was bright and warm, full of poetry, and created a new chapter in flower and bird painting.
His paintings always skillfully combine flowers and birds, so that flowers and birds complement each other, and the whole picture is full of vivid poetic feelings.
Ren Bonian is a famous painter in modern China, and although his landscape paintings are not many, they have their own characteristics. In his early years, he liked to copy the "Jinbi Landscape" with the meaning of fine brushwork and painting, and later studied Shi Tao, and after middle age, he also studied Shen Zhou, Ding Yunpeng, Lan Ying in the Ming Dynasty, and even chased Wu Zhen and Wang Meng in the Yuan Dynasty.
His landscape paintings are characterized by a variety of compositions and layouts, and his brushwork techniques are more creative and ingenious. Although Ren Bonian's landscape painting achievements are slightly inferior to his figure paintings, flower and bird paintings, his landscape paintings still have high artistic value and ornamental value.
His landscape paintings, whether it is the layout of the picture, the use of brush and ink, or the expression of the theme, all reflect his unique artistic style and profound artistic skills. In general, although there are not many landscape paintings by Ren Bonian, each painting is full of vitality and vitality, which is refreshing.
His landscape paintings are the product of his continuous exploration and innovation on the road of art, and also the embodiment of his deep love and unique understanding of nature and life.
Ren Bonian's "Waterfall View" is unique in the modern Shanghai School of painting, his painting style originates from the folk, attaches importance to tradition, absorbs Western art techniques, and forms a unique artistic style.
In Ren's family, there are many outstanding painters, among which the "four" (referring to Ren Xun, Ren Xiong, Ren Yi and Ren Pre) are the most outstanding, but the highest achievement is Ren Yi.
Ren Bonian's paintings had a profound impact on the contemporary and contemporary art world. His creation reached its peak in the 80s of the 19th century, and a large number of works in the 90s, although it seems that it did not surpass the 80s in terms of the ideological nature of the works, but in terms of artistic expression, he was more skilled, bold and generalized, especially in the painting of flowers and birds, reaching the state of "perfection".
Among Ren Bonian's artistic achievements, flower and bird paintings are equally divided with figure paintings. However, in"School of Maritime Painting"In contrast, the flower and bird paintings of Xu Gu, Pu Hua and Wu Changshuo are highly reputable, while Ren Bonian's achievements in flower and bird painting are slightly inferior.
In other words, if Ren Bonian had not made outstanding achievements in figure painting, his reputation might not have been so prominent"Fourth"may not appear as a title.
Ren Bonian's "Pine Crane Longevity" is not only a representative of the figure painting of the late Qing Dynasty, but also a new integration and development of excellent traditional figure painting in the Chinese painting circle since the Ming and Qing dynasties.
His Chinese figure painting is the common source of modern Shanghai school figure painting and other schools of figure painting, and has played a pioneering role in the comprehensive revival of Chinese painting in the 20th century, especially the revival of figure painting.
He is the promoter and enlightener of the transformation of traditional Chinese figure painting from ancient to modern.
Ren Bonian is a rare and prolific painter in Chinese history, his creative career lasted for more than 20 years, and he left behind thousands of posthumous works, including figures, flowers and birds, landscapes and other genres, including "Birds Singing in Spring", "Plum Blossom Ladies", "Five Directions into Wealth", "Banana Shade and Cool Weather", "Pointing to the Sun", "Wishing Longevity of the Immortals", "Three Friends", "Sha Fu Statue", "Zhong Ying", "Portrait of Wu Changshuo", and "Fan Hu Monk Forty-Eight Years Old" painted for the famous lyricist and painter Fan Hu Jushi Zhou Xian and so on are his important works.
His works have been widely circulated, and his descendants have published a variety of albums and collections of Ren Bonian's paintings.
"Flowers and Birds Fan" is a masterpiece of Chinese painting by Ren Bonian, the flowers and birds in the picture are vivid and lively, as if telling the rhythm of life. This work not only shows Ren Bonian's talent for painting, but also conveys his love for nature and life, inspiring people to pursue beautiful things and a positive attitude towards life.