In the history of the development of Chinese painting in the 20th century, there are only a few figure painters who can be called famous. They all have their own strengths and contributions at different times, and Wang Ziwu is one of them. He is one of the few controversial, and the one with the fewest number of publications and exhibitions. The industry firmly remembers Wang Ziwu's works and unique pen and ink language, but almost forgets the actual existence of Wang Ziwu, and exhibitions and activities cannot see him.
The pool contains this called Sambo 1980 69cm *46cm
The height of Prince Wu
The development of new Chinese figure painting can generally become famous by relying on one or more influential theme creations to lay the foundation, from Huang Yin, Yang Zhiguang, Tang Wenxuan, Fang Zengxian to Zhou Sicong. Wang Ziwu, like many painters of the same era, although he painted the theme creation, did not have much influence, and the later "Cao Xueqin" and a number of character pictures that were not created by the theme were impressed by his simplicity and precision, pushing the figure painting to a new height.
Rong Er 1973 69cm*46cm
Prince Wu's indifference
In today's highly developed media, it is not easy to cut yourself off from the media, because the temptation is too great. Undoubtedly, moderate publicity is necessary, and the wine aroma is afraid of the deep alley, but there are indeed people like Wang Ziwu who live deep in the alley, just make wine, brew good wine, and no matter how deep the alley is, no matter whether the outside can smell the fragrance, whether it can be sold or not. In this way, it is not that he has much self-confidence, as if he does not see his art as great.
Portrait of Mr. Jiang Zhaohe 97cm*69cm in the 1970s
Liangshan Young Woman 1970s 138cm*69cm
Changes in Prince Wu
If you look at it lightly, you can calmly face the society, and like Qi Baishi in those years, they all came to the door to ask for it, and the money that should be collected is not a lot of money. Therefore, Wang Ziwu painted Qi Baishi many times. Unlike Qi Baishi, Qi Baishi drifted north when he was not named, and because of the north drift, he had the opportunity. Prince Wu is different, he drifted south because he had a name. It is not seen that Nan Drift gave Wang Ziwu the opportunity, on the contrary, after arriving in Shenzhen, it affected his artistic development, and the characters changed to flowers and birds.
Statue of Master Shiraishi 1997 138cm*69cm
Wind God Sprinkle Occupies Autumn 2000 69cm*46cm
Prince Wu's character
If, in fact, the development of life is no if, but it can still be imagined. If Prince Wu was still in Xi'an, what kind of situation would it be? His departure was naturally due to the influence of his surroundings on his choices. Then, not raising people, not keeping people, so as to ruin people's social environment, of course, is not only the face of Wang Ziwu. Due to his personality, stubbornness and stubbornness were the nature of Prince Wu, so those who left like him all went back, and he was still hidden in the city.
Shuguo Mountain Color 1980 97cm*69cm
Fan Kuan Snow Appreciation 1983 138cm*69cm
The charm of Prince Wu
Wang Ziwu's influence came entirely from his art. Wang Ziwu's case tells his peers that the fairness of the world is in people's hearts, and social recognition is still a professional consideration, so the painter still has to paint well, and after painting a good painting, everything is there, and it is people's convincing for a long time; if you can't paint well, the reputation created is the temporary of the clouds.
Wang Ziwu's charm still comes from his paintings to impress people. Wang Ziwu's paintings could not be learned, and The people of Wang Ziwu could not learn them.
(This article was written in October 2016)
From left: Chen Lusheng, Shi Qi, Wang Ziwu, Wang Xiaoyan in Beijing
Author: Chen Lusheng
Famous historian
Former Deputy Director of the National Museum
He is currently the director of Chen Lusheng Art Museum