Previous painting histories generally regarded Shi Tao as an outstanding landscape painter.
Also used as a flower.
Few have called him an outstanding figure painter.
But the appearance of this volume of "Shi Tao Hundred Pages of Arhat Album",
Maybe it will completely rewrite this history,
Shi Tao is an outstanding figure painter.
The 310 images in the painting,
Each has its own characteristics,
The deformation is even more beautiful,
From this, you can feel the charm of Chinese painting different from Western painting.
Western culture speaks of science,
Eastern culture speaks of philosophy.
Specific to painting,
Western painting pursues figuration,
Pursuit of skill;
Oriental painting pursues imagery,
The pursuit of the realm,
Skills are limited and realms are infinite.
Chinese painters are different from foreign painters, and foreign painters only need to have good painting skills. Techniques are used to represent the object being painted. Chinese painters have more foundations, one is that the skill must be good, and the sublimation of technology becomes the skill; the second is that the calligraphy must be good, and the third is that the learning should be good, including poetry and philosophy; the most important thing is to learn well; otherwise, the technology cannot be sublimated into skill, the calligraphy cannot be good, the calligraphy must have the ancient tradition and culture, and this must also have the foundation of learning, "one hundred books at every end", and each stroke must have the foundation of a hundred books. The main thing that Chinese painters want to express with their brushes is not the object, but to express their hearts and feelings through the object. Among them, personal knowledge, cultivation, temperament, personality, mind, consciousness, etc. are all expressed in the pen. Therefore, the works of foreign painters must have different forms, or visual impact. The works of Chinese painters must have rich connotations. The form may be similar, but the contrast in connotation is enormous. Foreign paintings are mainly based on "sight", while Chinese paintings are mainly based on "divine encounters". The art of "divine encounter" must be rich in connotation. The connotations of poetry, calligraphy and painting are integrated and indispensable. The painting can be untitled with poetry and not written, but it must be poetic and have a calligraphic connotation.
Genius painter, painting, poetry, calligraphy, theory, everything is good. Shi Tao's paintings, landscapes, flowers, and figures are all first-class, Shi Tao's poetry and calligraphy are also first-class among painters, and Shi Tao's theory "Painting Quotations" is also very prominent and indispensable in the history of Chinese painting theory. The works of ordinary painters will be bored for a long time, and Shi Tao's works are like the sun and the moon, although they are seen day by day, and the scenery is always new, and there is no sense of boredom. Therefore, the study of Shi Tao and his poetry, paintings, paintings, and theories is a permanent topic in China and the world.
"Shi Tao Luohan 100 Pages Album" is a work of Gongbi characters painted by Shi Tao in his youth, which is a complete 100-page album, painting a total of 310 Arhat figures in the background of landscapes, and the luohan in each album is accompanied by many characters and divine beasts such as dragons, tigers, deer, and lions.
According to Shi Tao's self-title in the painting, the earliest creation was in "Ding Wei" (1667), when Shi Tao was 26 years old. The entire set of album works was composed in 1667, 1669, 1670, and 1672, that is, from the age of 26 to 31, which lasted for 6 years.
"Shi Tao Luohan 100 Pages Album" is a collection of characters, landscapes, flowers and birds, is Shi Tao's skills are becoming more and more mature works, the characters painted, vivid shapes, different looks, pen and ink washing, clear narrative, full of humanistic feelings.