Among the large number of "Shanghai School" painters, there is a group of artists who have left their names in art history by their kinship or teacher-teacher relationship-"Shanghai Four". "Four Masters of the Sea", that is, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the famous painters who were active in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai were Ren Xiong, Ren Xun, Ren Yi and Ren Pre. Because they all have the surname Ren and all belong to the painters of the "Shanghai School", they are called "the four masters of the sea" or "the four artists". Among them, Ren Xiong is the eldest, the brother of Ren Xu, the father of Ren Xuan, as the early painter of the "Shanghai School", Ren Xiong has the merit of opening the school. Among the four, Ren Yi had the highest artistic achievement, and Wu Changshuo respected him as a "painting saint". As an important member of the "Shanghai School", the "Four Masters of the Sea" was a unique school in the late Qing Dynasty painting circle, which deeply influenced the development of painting.
Ren Xiong (1823, 1857), the word Weichang, the word Xiangpu, the number is reluctant, a native of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang. A famous painter of the late Qing Dynasty, one of the representatives of the "Shanghai School" art, together with his contemporaries Zhu Xiong and Zhang Xiong, was called the "Three Bears of Shanghai", and his paintings had a great influence on the "Shanghai School" and modern Chinese painting. Ren Xiong is an all-round painter, and his painting skills are diverse, including figures, flowers, landscapes, feathers, insects, fish, and animals. His works include 10 pages of "100,000 Atlases", "Yao Xie's Poetry Album" and "Self-Portrait" shafts.
Ren Xiong's father, Ren Chun, was a folk painter and was slightly famous in the local area because he was good at painting. Influenced by it, Ren Xiong loved painting since he was a child, and often painted lamp paintings in his childhood. When he was 16 years old, Ren Xiong's father died, the family became poor, and his younger siblings were young. Although his life was difficult, his belief in painting was not dispelled, and Ren Xiong began to learn to paint portraits under the village school. "All the methods of shadow drawing and drawing, painting the faces of men, women and children, can do everything. Because he did not want to rigidly abide by the powder, he plagiarized and changed his method" in order to draw the structure of the human body wrapped in a crown, so that "those who wear the crown of the court wear bald heads, and those who arch their heads are enough", thus arousing the dissatisfaction of the teacher.
Ren Xiong then left the division and painted stone carvings in Dinghaiguan, Zhejiang, and tried to copy the brushwork of the Tang people. Ren Xiong was helped by fellow villager Lu Yeshan in Hangzhou and made many painting friends. At this time, his portraits were already highly valued, but he was still tireless in his study of traditional art, copying the stone carvings of the sixteen Arhats of the five generations of painters Guan Xiu in the Shengyin Temple in Gushan, Hangzhou, and lying under them, so that he could further his understanding of Tang painting.
The strong brushwork, quiet smell, and deep essence of the Song people are one of the characteristics of Ren Xiong's painting techniques. In addition, in all types of painting, Ren Xiong is especially good at characters, mostly with historical stories and ladies as the theme, the characters he paints are ancient, strange and stubborn, exaggerated, the famous calligrapher and painter Chen Hongshou of the Ming Dynasty has the charm and can be ingenious, the lines are round, the image is exaggerated, the outline of the clothing pattern has always been very wonderful, the iron painting silver hook, very skillful. The depiction of his self-portrait is also meticulous and realistic, and the inscription of Ren Xiong is very powerful, which is the same as the painting method. There are paintings such as "The Legend of Yu Yue Xianxian", "The Legend of the Swordsman", "Liexian Liquor License" and other paintings. His flower and bird paintings are eclectic and boneless, integrating folk art with the brush and ink of literati painting, and the style is fresh. The number of landscapes is small, but they are all wonderfully conceived, the layout is ingenious, the brushwork is subtle, and the colors are colorful. He is valued by his elegant brushwork, antiquity and ingenuity.
Zhou Xian, a famous artist of the "Shanghai School" in western Zhejiang, invited him to Fanhu Thatched Cottage because he loved Ren Xiong's paintings, so that he could care for the masterpieces of the ancients all day long, and Ren Xiong was slightly dissatisfied with the paintings, so he would come again, and he would achieve the original work or better than the original, and he was interested, often staying up all night, up to 8 years before and after, so his painting art was becoming more and more profound. Later, he was invited by Ningbo painter and collector Yao Xie to study painting in his home "Dameishan Pavilion", and gradually formed his own creative painting style with both traditional painting and folk painting. The Yao family has a very rich collection, so that Ren Xiong can enjoy the fine paintings and calligraphy of the famous artists of the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Ming and Qing dynasties. During this period, his "Yao Xie's Poetic Intent" is one of his masterpieces, which is admirable for its strange setting and skillful brushwork. In addition, it extracts Yao Xie's various poems, and paints the "Damei Mountain Folk Poems and Paintings" rich in content, with a wide range of themes, including characters, ladies, warriors, immortals, Buddhism, ghosts, Bogu, flowers and birds, insects and fish, beasts, pommel horses, landscapes, buildings, palaces, etc., the poems and paintings are unique, the pearls are combined, in one volume, the work is freehand, the intricacies are mixed, the light is bizarre, and it is impossible to find things.
In the early years of Xianfeng, Zhou Xian recommended Ren Xiong to enter the Jinling Rong curtain of Zhongwu Gong, in order to draw a map, Ren Xiong lived in detention for many years, and with the help of the country, the more healthy the penmanship. After returning to his hometown, he often traveled back and forth to Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou and other places. Zhang Mingke, a Qing dynasty scholar, said in "Hansong Pavilion Discussion Art Trivia" that "the painted figures, the folds of the clothes are like iron painting silver hooks, and they go straight into the room of Chen Zhanghou (Hong Shou), and the one who is unique is also." For a while, the currency begged for each other, and the size of the inch was as precious as a ball. It can be seen that people at the time promoted his paintings. Later, Ren Xiong lived in Huayang Taoist Academy, and Huang Ju, Yang Yunhua, Wei Guanghuang, Sun Dan, Qi Xueqiu and others, formed a calligraphy and painting society in Penglai Pavilion, this period was the vigorous period of Ren Xiong's creation. He was elected as the presiding officer, and successively made handscrolls such as "Penglai Pavilion Yaji Map" and "Evening Qinglou Qixi Small Banquet Map" to record their grand occasions, respectively, after Yao Xie made a picture of the series.
In dealing with his juniors, Ren Xiong showed his inner cultivation and conduct. When he was in Wudi, he was engaged to the painter Sha Fu, and accepted Sha Fu's brother Sha Ying as **, and traveled to Jinshan, Jiaoshan and other famous places with him. Collect Pan Jiaoshi as **, and teach them to paint flowers and fruits, their pen is very sparse, and the chapter is also quite strange. Ren Xiong died of illness at home at the age of thirty-five. On the day of his death, the people of Wu Yue sighed. His posthumous work "The Biography of Gao Shi" is not finished, only 26 pieces, still lack two pictures of cloak and Yanzi, after being engraved by Cai Zhaochu, Ren Qi belongs to the title page, and Wang Xiling funded the publication. Yang Yunhua and Wei Guanghuang poured out their support for his funeral. Therefore, Ren Xiong's unfinished work was completed by his ** Sha Ying, who could do his best. Zhou Xianwei wrote "The Biography of Ren Shishi", mourning his best friend, describing his life and personality. As the founder of the "Shanghai School", Ren Xiong created magnificent and colorful paintings in his short life, and his works are limited but still show his artistic style.