There have been many famous painters throughout the ages, such as Gu Kaizhi, Zhou Wenjue, Yan Liben, Han Di, and so on, but only one person is called a painter! He is the great painter Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty!
Wu Daozi was born in the grassroots, his parents died early, and how did he become a painter saint without any background? Don't worry, the flowers will reveal you!
Wu Daozi's artistic achievements are manifested in many ways, the most popular of which is his unique style of religious painting and figure painting. Wu Daozi came from a grassroots background, and his religious paintings also have a strong secular tendency, which is what we now call grounded gas.
▲ "Sending The Son of the King" 35.5 cm in length and 338.1 cm in width is now treasured in the Osaka City Museum of Art, Japan
In his masterpiece "Sending Sons to the Heavenly King", the image of the warrior he depicted was taken from the warrior figurines of the Tang Dynasty.
▲Left: Martial General Right: Tang Dynasty warrior figurines
There is also the fact that when he helped paint murals in the West Pagoda Courtyard of Senfuku-ji Temple, he directly painted the bodhisattva into his own form;
In the "Hell in Disguise" chart, he depicts in detail the various experiences of people going to hell after death, whether it is a high-ranking official or a commoner, as long as the evildoers are beaten into hell eighteen times, they experience all kinds of torture, and it is rumored that butchers and traders will shudder after seeing it, and they will change their professions, afraid that they will be punished for killing.
▲ Wu Daozi Guanyin Bodhisattva statue rubbing
Wu Daozi's religious paintings are good at shaping the characteristics of the characters, the images are real and vivid, with a strong appeal, and have a great influence at that time. Wu Daozi also circled a large number of fans, and when he painted at Longxing Temple, there were too many fans and blocked the entire temple.
Wu Daozi can not only paint all kinds of grounded religious paintings, in fact, he is a painting all-rounder, landscapes, flowers and birds, bridges, houses and other aspects are all exquisite, but also to conquer the current Tianzi Tang Xuanzong in minutes.
For example, the "Golden Bridge Map" completed in cooperation with Wei Wuchen and Chen Hong (depicting Tang Xuanzong passing through Jinqiao when he returned from Mount Tai in the East, and the army on both sides of the road was solemn and stretched for thousands of miles) was praised continuously, "when it is said that there are three absolutes";
At the request of Tang Xuanzong, the Jialing River and Water in Shuzhong were painted, although there were already pearls and jades created by the famous landscape painter Li Sixun for several months in front of him, but after his own perception and thinking, he could still extract the essence of the Jialing River and water after being highly summarized, concentrate on the brush, and paint the scenery of the Jialing River for three hundred miles a day, which caused Xuanzong to be amazed!
▲ Tang Xuanzong
There are very few all-round painters in history, but Wu Daozi is not satisfied with this, he always thinks positively and constantly innovates. It is said that Wu Daozi created the landscape "loose body", making landscape painting an independent kind of painting; he also created a "lettuce strip" style depiction (also called "orchid leaf drawing") to depict the characters, the strokes are round, the twists and turns, the figures, sleeves, and streamers painted have the momentum of dancing against the wind, known as "Wu belt when the wind".
▲ "Eighty-Seven Immortal Scrolls" (according to Wu Daozi) 292×30 cm, ink on silk, Xu Beihong Memorial Collection
▲ "Eighty-Seven Immortal Scrolls" Partial Fairy stands still, but the belt seems to be windy, and it is like dancing
Wu Daozi is proficient in landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, Buddha, from the emperor to the commoners, everyone likes his paintings, and it is reasonable to say that such a person is enough to call him a painting saint! But there are always people who are not convinced! A painter like Wu Daozi, who has a wide range of knowledge and innovations in art, is not without ah, why is he a painter? Because Wu Daozi stood tall and thought far, he taught classes and carried forward the art of painting, so that the "Wu family style" could be passed on to future generations.
According to the "Illustrated Treasure Book" and the "Records of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties", Wu Daozi had many disciples, among whom the more well-known ones were Lu Lingjia, Li Sheng, Zhang Zang, Han Qi, Zhu Xuan, zhai Yan and so on. From generation to generation, Wu Daozi's painting art has had a profound influence on many painters in later generations, such as the murals of Dunhuang in the Tang Dynasty and Yongle Palace in the Yuan Dynasty, all of which have Wu Daozi style.
▲Tang Dynasty mural "Vimal Sutra Variation"
▲Yongle Palace mural "Chaoyuan Tu"
The simple and elegant "white painting" of the Song Dynasty painter Li Gonglin was also born from Wu Daozi's white painting.
▲ Li Gonglin "Statue of Vimal Resident" Kyoto National Museum Collection
In addition, Wu Daozi also created the folk traditional painting school that dominated the folk painting world for more than a thousand years, and to this day folk painters still respect him as the grandfather...
Wu Daozi is a rare painting all-rounder in history, from the emperor down to the people, other painters who are also involved in a wide range of topics like him are not as skilled as his painting skills, like him, he is skilled in painting and he will not innovate, like him will be innovative and not as good as his peach and plum all over the world... Such a person is not a "Hundred Generations Painting Sage" and who else is?
Cui Hua believes that Wu Daozi's spirit of not falling into the clichés of painting, bold innovation, teaching skills, and extending future generations will continue to be passed on and continue to influence future generations!
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