Now in the collection of the Beijing Fine Art Academy, Dramatic Figures is a set of ink albums created by the famous Chinese artist Guan Liang in 1953. The album consists of four pages, in which the artist uses smart lines and bright colors to create a group of naïve, quaint and humorous opera characters. The characters of this opera are quite typical in the history of modern Chinese art, and their creative techniques are simplified, striving to convey the spirit, attaching importance to the expression of interest and atmosphere creation, and integrating the Chinese freehand spirit with Western expressionist techniques, which has had a great impact on the development of opera and painting art.
The album is inscribed with the title "Baishi's predecessors correct, 1953, Guan Liang", and it can be seen from the inscription that this set of albums is an important testimony of Guan Liang's interaction and friendship with Qi Baishi. According to the research of relevant scholars, Guan Liang created this set of works in 1953 and handed it over to the old man Qi Baishi through Li Keran. Moreover, Qi Baishi created two works of "Crab" and "Eagle" to Guan Liang, of which "Crab" was inscribed "Good brother and brother, ninety-three-year-old Bai Shihuang, please speak". Because Qi Baishi listened to the fortune teller of Changsha Shuyi at the age of seventy-five, he used the law of concealment to cross the sea, and signed himself at the age of seventy-seven. Therefore, it can be deduced that this 93-year-old work was also created in 1953, that is, painted in the same year as the work donated by Guan Liang. It can be seen that the act of exchanging paintings undoubtedly reflects the artistic sympathy between the two painters.
Guan Liang is a dramatic character (one of the ink albums).
Ink and color on paper 345 cm 35 wide5 cm.
Collection of Beijing Fine Art Academy.
Guan Liang's ink opera character painting.
In the history of the development of Chinese art, the creation of opera characters not only has a long history, but also a large number, and Ye Qianyu once reviewed its development context: "Painting opera has been in the Chinese painting tradition for a long time. There are two sketches of miscellaneous dramas in the 'Song Dynasty Album', and there is a scene of opera performance in the murals of the Yuan Dynasty in Guangsheng Temple in Zhaocheng, ShanxiThe New Year paintings of the Ming and Qing dynasties have quite a lot of drama themes. It shows that the tradition of painting has a long history. We are now painting plays, so to speak, a continuation of this tradition. Through Ye Qianyu's description, it can be seen that the creation of opera characters not only exists in the literati painting system such as Song painting sketches, but also exists in the folk art system such as murals and New Year paintings.
In modern times, opera figure painting began to appear and exist as an independent art form, and along with the modernization process of Chinese art, it itself has also undergone many changes, mainly in the painting language not only based on ink painting, but also in oil painting and other Western paintings, forming a unique "opera character painting phenomenon" in the history of modern Chinese art. At the same time, opera character painters such as Lin Fengmian, Guan Liang, Ding Yanyong, and Ye Qianyu emerged, who, as pioneers and explorers of Chinese modern art, invariably deeply integrated the oriental freehand spirit and Western expressionism in the creation of opera characters, opening up a new path of traditional transformation for the development of Chinese modern art.
Guan Liang, as one of the best opera character painters in this group, judging from public information, his creation of opera character paintings began in the mid-to-late twenties of the twentieth century. But if we look further, Guan Liang's relationship with opera can be traced back to his childhood. According to the "Memoirs of Guan Liang", he had the experience of listening to opera in the guild hall when he was a child, and the vivid stories, interesting characters and colorful colors performed on the stage made Guan Liang indulge in this rich world of opera. In addition, he also fell in love with collecting cigarette paintings, which are mainly based on classical ** and opera themes, Guan Liang took the initiative to understand the story behind the subject matter, and also began to pick up a brush to copy and doodle. Therefore, his life as a teenager made Guan Liang form an indissoluble love affair with "opera", and it became the spiritual prototype of his future creation of opera character paintings.
In 1923, Guan Liang returned to China after graduating from the Pacific Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo, and successively taught at Shenzhou Women's School and Shanghai Art College. At this time, Guan Liang was still in the painting thought of "academic impressionism" in Japan, trying to find a breakthrough point in the creation of oil painting from the expressionist style. After returning to China after returning to China, Guan Liang rekindled his love for the art of opera, not only indulging in watching operas in his spare time, but also bringing a sketchbook to record the expressions and gestures of the characters in the opera, and sorting out the materials on rice paper or oil canvas when he returned home. Judging from the works publicly displayed by Guan Liang during this period, his creative themes are complex, such as landscapes and still lifes, and opera figure painting has not yet become his main creative direction, but is recorded in a familiar way.
After the thirties of the twentieth century, Guan Liang's artistic thinking began to undergo major changes, mainly in the mentality of traditional painting, which began to shift from denying tradition to focusing on learning tradition, and shifted the focus of his creation to ink opera figure painting, realizing the inner vitality of traditional Chinese painting, which prompted his artistic style to begin to mature. In 1935, under the introduction of Yao Bolin, Guan Liang studied with Zhou Qiubin, who was born in Beijing's Fulian Cheng class, and learned the whole book "Catch and Release Cao" in two months. Through the study of opera, Guan Liang gained an in-depth understanding of the breadth and profundity of the art of opera, which provided him with profound artistic accumulation for his future creations. In addition to recording the wonderful moments of Gai Zhaotian's performance in the sketchbook, the two often exchanged artistic experiences in each other's apartments, and Gai Zhaotian would even demonstrate his body and posture in person at Guan Liang's request, so that Guan Liang could deeply understand the subtle relationship between the limbs. Gai Zhaotian once pointed out very clearly the place where Guan Liang's opera characters are expressive, he said: "I play Wu Song fighting the tiger, and I always wait for the gong and drum idea 'jumping-climbing-choking' before anyone applauds and takes pictures, which is a 'good' idea." During the actor's tense performance, the audience had no time to applaud, and I myself thought that the appearance was the most beautiful. Therefore, when I first came into contact with your paintings, I didn't understand them very well, and I thought they were distracted. Later, I slowly understood, you chose me to appear when it was not decided, that is, when the gong knocked on the idea of 'jumping-boarding-', and it was not yet time to 'choke', and seized this momentary momentum on the picture. Therefore, the characters on the picture also give people a kind of aesthetic enjoyment, you are using this method to convey the spirit, it is really a play in the painting. Therefore, when we go to see Guan Liang's opera character paintings, we can silently recite "jumping-climbing-" in our hearts to experience the moment before the "choking" comes out, and we will deeply understand the tension before the "appearance" conveyed by the picture. If the moment of depiction is fixed at the moment before the "appearance", the audience's mind will automatically supplement the posture behind, but it will give people a broader space for imagination, and the picture will also have a sense of movement due to the tense situation, which is undoubtedly the most touching place of Guan Liang's opera character painting.
Guan Liang painted. In 1942, Guan Liang held solo exhibitions in Chengdu and Chongqing, which was also the first large-scale public display of his opera character paintings, with an endless stream of audiences. After this exhibition, Guan Liang drew an album of dramatic characters for Li Keran. Later, Li Keran moved to Beiping to teach at the ** Art School, and showed him this set of albums when he visited the old man Qi Baishi, Qi Baishi was very interested after reading it, and wanted to meet Guan Liang, but because Guan Liang was inconvenient to visit in Shanghai, he inscribed the four big characters of "Guan Liang ink fun" on the title page. The friendship between the two people who gave each other paintings written at the beginning of this article may have started from this experience of not being able to meet. It was not until 1956 that Guan Liang went to Beijing for a meeting due to his work, and he met with the old man Qi Baishi. According to Guan Liang's recollection, Qi Baishi was not only impressed by him and had a great time seeing him, but also painted for him on the spot. This friendship, which lasted for more than ten years without making an appointment, undoubtedly reflected the mutual attraction of Qi Baishi and Guan Liang in art, as well as the high recognition of each other's talents and abilities, and became a good story of exchanges between the north and the south painting circles.
Guan Liang not only loves painting, but also loves to watch and sing operas, and loves to socialize with people in the opera industry, and his love for opera has been cast in his blood and life. In the process of modern art reform in the first half of the 20th century, Guan Liang did not get lost between "Chinese and Western" and "ancient and modern", but adhered to the "national character" and opened up a new world rooted in the inherent vitality of Chinese art for his art.
Guan Liang Drama Character (Ink Album No. 2).
Ink and color on paper, 42 cm long, 35 cm wide.
Collection of Beijing Fine Art Academy.
The inspiration of Guan Liang's opera character painting.
Some scholars have researched the source of the contents of this set of albums created by Guan Liang, and probably recognize two of them as "The Drunken Concubine", one as "Oolong Courtyard", and the other as "Tongtian Rhino". The author agrees with the practice of researching the source, based on Guan Liang's love for the art of opera, his creation is by no means created out of thin air, and he has studied singing systematically under his teacher, and has befriended many opera performance artists, which will make his creation extremely exquisite. As he himself said: "Every time I make a painting, I must focus on my own understanding and feelings of a certain drama plot when I conceive it, and devote myself to portraying the mental outlook, psychological state, and personality temperament of the drama characters in a specific situation." I don't faithfully simulate or pursue the external image of the people in the play, such as their appearances, movements, costumes, etc., and I don't even stick to some specific plots, stage scenes, and scene compositions of the play. If I faithfully ingest any scene, a picture or composition on the stage, the result will be nothing more than a kind of plot and an embroidered image of the characters. Therefore, I repeatedly understood, comprehended and scrutinized the plot and characters, rearranged the relationship between the stage images, and dealt with them in a more subtle and honest artistic way, so that the readers could not see the works at a glance, but have room for imagination. ”
This kind of "room for imagination", in addition to the moment before the "appearance" of the performance mentioned above, is more about the artistic "re-creation" on the basis of the real stage scene, and the specific methods include simplifying the complex and making bold choices. Guan Liang once took the creation of "Empty City Strategy" as an example: "For example, when painting "Empty City Strategy", according to the stage sketch, there can be many people on the scene, but when I performed, I abandoned the veterans guarding the West City and the soldiers brought by Sima Yi, and only took Zhuge Liang who was a lupine scarf on the city tower and Sima Yi who was skeptical under the city. Through this kind of 'conception', the 'taking' and 'giving' are set, the key points are highlighted, and the theme of the work is more distinct. In traditional Chinese painting theory, this is called 'a little is better than a lot'. And this little bit did not fall from the sky out of thin air, nor was it simply omitted, but obtained after careful consideration, so to speak, 'one in a thousand considerations'. In fact, it is the embodiment of 'those who do not work, and the work is extreme'. Therefore, when we face this set of albums, we can not only find the opera stories that we are familiar with, but also feel the noise of gongs and drums, or the sad singing and singing and playing in one scene.
The development of Chinese art in the first half of the twentieth century was often inseparable from the entanglement and entanglement of "Chinese and Western" and "ancient and modern", especially Guan Liang's perception of identity, which was in a state of vacillation between "modernism" and "traditionalism". As Guan Liang studied in Japan in his early years, he was influenced by Japan's "academic impressionism", and his early works can be seen to integrate various painting styles such as post-impressionism, expressionism, and cubism. In 1924, he joined Chen Bao, a member of the "Shanghai Oriental Art Research Association".
1. Xu Dungu held an exhibition of three artists in Shanghai, and the unrestrained colors and brushstrokes displayed in his works are considered to present a "new attitude" in the foreign painting world, and it is also known as the first exhibition of expressionist works in China. After the fifties of the twentieth century, Guan Liang focused more on the creation of ink opera character paintings, and was also called a "returner to tradition". Therefore, the development of Guan Liang's artistic style seems to follow a logic of "modernist pioneers" and "returners of traditionalism". However, the charm of history lies in the fact that there are pores within the grand narrative that can be tactful and spread, so for the interpretation of Guan Liang's artistic identity, the author believes that "modern" and "traditional" are not separated or contradictory, as one scholar said: "The collision of cultures is not a 'zero-sum game' of simple confrontation." Seemingly different cultural resources have subtle and sinuous cognitive pores, and form a mutually inclusive and intertwined relationship. The new historical subject can achieve strategic equilibrium in the subtle crevices, so that the 'game relationship' can change from tense confrontation to interactive growth. The formal language of 'Guan Liangmen' is a similar strategy: formal language is both modern and traditional discourse. They have thus answered their own 'identity confusion'. Therefore, whether it is an oil painting opera character painting that uses the language of Western painting to express the interest and artistic conception of Chinese brush and ink, or an ink opera character painting that introduces the traditional Chinese literati ink language, Guan Liang follows the persistence of the vitality rooted in the inner vitality of Chinese art, that is, the exploration of various ways of painting with national painting language and expression.
Guan Liang Drama Character (Ink Album No. 3).
Ink and color on paper 345 cm and 35 cm wide.
Collection of Beijing Fine Art Academy.
The integration of China and the West undoubtedly constitutes a major topic in the development of modern and contemporary Chinese art, and whether it is "introducing the West to run the West" or "introducing the West to the West", it is the path chosen in the major historical transition. Although there are controversies and disagreements, "controversies" and "disagreements" are themselves a kind of knowledge production activities, which lay an important foundation for us to rethink the relationship between Chinese and Western art and the revival of national art. Guo Moruo once commented on Guan Liang's art: "He does not want to be brilliant in pure Western painting; He is even more reluctant to drill the horns of the bull in the style of Chinese painting. He recognized the preciousness of the inherently enthusiastic spirit of Chinese painting, and at the same time, he also deeply realized that the enthusiastic and unrestrained spirit of the times must be carried forward. He uses Western painting as the body, the soul of Chinese painting, and the simple, bright, solid and rich skills of Western painting to express the charm of Chinese painting, which is quiet, free and easy, elegant and transcendent, in an attempt to create a new painting that carries forward the spirit of traditional Chinese art with the progress of the times. Therefore, Guan Liang's exploration of character painting in Chinese opera seems to be a fit between the freehand nature of Chinese art and the expressiveness of Western painting, but in fact it is a re-revision of cultural perspective and cultural value, which is based on the "inner enthusiasm" and "inner vitality" of Chinese art, which touches not only the national issue of Chinese art, but also a re-examination of the "soul of China", which in turn promotes the revitalization of Chinese artistic confidence.
At the end of the article, the author returns the focus to the relationship between Guan Liang and Qi Baishi, who once recalled Qi Baishi's support for his art: "After the liberation of the country, some comrades in the cultural department had mixed opinions about my paintings, and some even held a negative attitude......Qi Baishi came out to defend me many times, and Mr. Qi talked eloquently, believing that this was an innovation and a ...... of its ownWith the moral support of Mr. Qi Baishi, I held my first solo exhibition in Beijing in 1956. "We often sigh that Qi Baishi's art is always new, and there seems to be a spirit that transcends the barriers of time in the picture, so that people of every generation can find their own touch. In 2020, the Zhejiang Art Museum, where the author works, held the "Autumn Ruixiang - Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong Flower and Bird Painting Exhibition", which caused a sensation in Hangzhou, and every day there were audiences lining up to see the works of Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong. When we look at Guan Liang's opera character paintings, there is also a vitality rooted in the spirit of art, and Guan Liang's exploration is also more diverse, whether it is oil painting or Chinese painting, whether it is modern or traditional, the inner vitality constitutes the immortal background color of his art.
Guan Liang Drama Character (Ink Album No. 4).
Ink and color on paper 345 cm 35 wide5 cm.
Collection of Beijing Fine Art Academy.
This article was originally published in the 37th issue of Beijing Fine Art Academy's "The Gate of the Great Craftsman", and the author works for Zhejiang Art Museum).