▲Chen Zishan (Professor, Department of Chinese, East China Normal University)
A picture of the history of the maritime art scene
At the beginning of the new year, I saw many good books one after another, some of which were long-awaited, such as "Wooden Heart Manuscript" and "Yu Dafu Chronology" (by Li Hangchun and Yu Junfeng); some were unexpected, such as "The Biography of John Sheng" (by W.T. Bate) and "Cui Wei but Gu Ji" (by Xu Jun). Of course, the "Great Shen Gong", which commemorates the first anniversary of Mr. Shen Changwen's death, must also be mentioned. Among them, the "Memoirs of forty Years of Art" (by Ding Shu) and the commemorative edition of "Fu Lei's Family Book" can be particularly mentioned, because these two books are directly related to Shanghai.
In the first half of the 20th century, the name Ding Ho was a household name on the beach. He is versatile and harmonious with ancient and modern Chinese and foreign countries, and has made great achievements in many fields such as fine arts (including comics, monthly cards, advertising, illustration, art editing and art education), drama, film, photography and even literary creation. "Forty Years of Art Memoirs (1902-1945)" is the first collection of Ding Shu's column text, like a brilliant and colorful historical picture, Ding Hu's extremely extensive social travel, the unique observation and meticulous depiction of the Maritime Art Circle Wenyuan, like the precious photos he took, is real and vivid, quite readable, and also indispensable for the study of Shanghai culture. The advent of this book should enable more readers to know that Ding Shu, the father of the famous painter Ding Cong, is also very remarkable.
40 years ago, "Fu Lei's Family Book" was launched by Beijing Sanlian Bookstore and became a cultural event that attracted attention at that time. The latest commemorative edition of "Fu Lei's Family Letter" coincides with the first anniversary of the death of pianist Mr. Fu Cong, which is of special commemorative significance. For the first time, the commemorative edition includes Fu Cong's letter to his parents that year, thus making this "Fu Lei Family Letter" a true two-way "family letter". From this, you can also appreciate the charm of Fu Lei and Fu Cong's two generations of literary and artistic masters, which is really rare.
Author: Chen Zishan
Editor: Xue Weiping
Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Zifen