Figure 1 Nativity
Romance with a Nordic fairy tale temperament, or a night scene written by Jans, in the manger of the simple countryside, with a strong realist tone:
Fig. 2 Nativity Oil painting on oak
Geldgen Tort Zint Youngs (Netherlands)
25x34cm
Collection of the National Gallery, London
What would have happened if Jesus had been in China? During the Republic of China period, several painters of Fu Jen University used the creation of Chinese paintings to help us make up this picture. Generally speaking, there are few exotic visual elements in the history of Chinese painting, and even if there are sporadic phenomena, they are still in a position where art history is not important, and they are occasionally outlined by historians, highlighting the mainstream idea of artistic prosperity and blossoming. But it did not really exist in the mainstream, and occasionally mentioned the different terroirs of exotic painters, but it was also a national brother on the land of China, but in the change of dynasties, it was excluded from the margins due to political problems.
I will not list the tedious cases in history, but let's take a look directly at how the three painters of the Republic of China painted the images of the Lord, the Virgin mary and the little angel in the West into the world of Chinese painting.
Figure 3 Chen Yuandu Christmas chart
73×44.5cm
224,000rmb 2010 Rongbao auction
The first one is a heavyweight: Chen Yuandu. However, even if he is in the top position, I believe that people who have gone through art history in undergraduate universities may not know him. It can also be seen from the inscription in the painting that Chen Yuandu, formerly known as Chen Xu, a Native of Guangdong, once taught in the Fine Arts Department of Fu Jen Catholic University. He formed a special school with the following 2 painters, and just by listening to the name, there is a feeling that it is not favored by the harsh academic historians: the Catholic school.
The usual Chinese paintings are basically not interested in religious themes, and are mainly attached to the traditional images of Chinese historical legends, novels, and customs, so the Western religious painting school headed by Chen Yuandu showed special cases and personalities at this time, and even the meaning of the sword taking the side.
Figure 4 Chen Yuandu Statue of our Lady of the Supreme God
51×31.5cm
Figure 5 Chen Yuandu The three kings came to the dynasty
Another of the three painters, Lu Hongnian, a native of Taicang, Jiangsu Province, graduated from the fine arts department of Fu Jen University in Beijing in 1936, where his father, grandfather, and maternal grandfather all served as high-ranking officials. Looking back on his childhood, he once said, "My European friends sometimes sent me greeting cards, when I was a child, but I also kept a few Christian postcards, of which I particularly noticed one that said: Jesus blesses the child." And I asked my mother, 'Why aren't there any Chinese children in the picture?' Mom said, 'Jesus loves all people, including Chinese, but this painting was painted by Europeans, so this painter only paints European faces.' Then I said, 'I'm going to paint some new paintings in the future, and in my paintings Jesus will also bless the children of China.' ’”
Figure 6 Lu Hongnian The angel summons a shepherd
Figure 7 Lu Hongnian Four screens of religious mythological stories
39×28cm×4
Figure 8 Lu Hongnian The Birth of Jesus (a Chinese celebration of the birth of Jesus)
Figure 9 Lu Hongnian Angel Annunciation
The last Wang Suda, a native of Hebei and also a graduate of Fu Jen University in Beijing, has done exhibitions with Lu Hongnian and Chen Yuandu.
Figure 10 Wang Suda The Virgin and the Angel in the garden The Virgin and the Angel Figure The beginning of the 20th century
Figure 11 Crown of the Virgin Mary of Wang Suda Early 20th century
Figure 12 Wang Suda The Last Supper
Other members of the sect include Xu Jihua, Liu Yanbin, and others, all of whom studied art at Fu Jen University and are alumni of all three. The figures of the school also have the same frame of photographs.
There are also four teachers and students jointly drawn the "My Lord's Transmission of the Holy Map" (Figure 13-Figure 21), the brushwork integrates the style of the Southern Song Dynasty courtyard body (rigorous and simple), but the environment in which the characters are located, there are also realistic characteristics, giving people a sense of compassion for the Lord's presence in the world, which looks very grounded. Note that there are also characters in the Dunhuang murals, this kind of theater picture that travels through time and space and region, filmed into the current costume drama, is not inferior to the Internet celebrity drama with small traffic.
Figure 13
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Figure 17
Figure 18
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Figure 20
Figure 21
How, isn't such a work interesting? Our Chinese painting is so inclusive and creative, and the Tao is "Hai Na Bai Chuan", as long as you want, it can collide with various elements to create a strange and brilliant spark.