Xiyue Huashan, known for its steepness, is known as "the first mountain in the world of strange dangers". Gong Xian, a great painter of the Qing Dynasty, once visited Mount Hua, but due to the steepness of the mountain, he did not reach the top, but only reached the vicinity of the mountain gate. He stood in the Black Dragon Pond and looked up at Mount Hua and created this "Map of Youhua Mountain".
The first feeling of appreciating this painting is that the landscape in the painting is not like Mount Hua. If Gong Xian did not explain through the inscription poem, it would even make people mistakenly think that it was the landscape of Jiangnan. The real-life landscape painting is not like that, is Gong Xian's ability insufficient, or is it not enough level? Gong Xian learned to paint from an early age, and was able to complete his works independently at the age of 13, and has been working with pen and ink for more than 50 years since then. His status in the early Qing Dynasty painting circle was comparable to that of the Four Monks and the Four Kings. If you want to question his level of ability, many people do not have this qualification.
Gong Xian Youhua Mountain Map
Then we must return to the above question, how to understand, called Huashan, but it does not look like it. From a geological point of view, Mount Hua is a complete and huge granite. From a visual point of view, the grass and trees on Mount Hua are not lush at all. Gong Xian completed the creation according to his customary ink accumulation method, showing a deep and profound effect. The ancients' understanding of similarity was divided into similarities and god-likenesses, and the images were not like to be analyzed from these two perspectives.
Ancient painters captured the emotions through images and completed the aesthetic needs of writing gods in shape. The ancients' understanding of shape and god was slightly different from that of modern people. Writing belongs to the initial stage of artistic creation, and successful painters disdain to carry out one-to-one restoration. Writing about God is the purpose of a good painter's creation, even if Huashan is bare, Gong Xian can feel the beauty of grass and trees with the artist's keen feelings. This is what he understands as a god, unlike many modern people.
Gong Xian Youhua Mountain Map Partial
Yuan Dynasty painters put forward a creative point of view, "the simpler the form, the more complete the god". Gong Xian also dialectically absorbs this sentence, and he uses delicate and dense brushwork to present a simple and empty effect, and then expresses his understanding of the charm of Mount Hua. This is the high-level beauty that Gong Xian found in his creation, not kitsch, not deceitful, and the magic lies between similarity and dissimilarity.
Similar and dissimilar, according to popular understanding, is at the critical point of likeness and dissimilarity. The most wonderful thing about the work of art is this mysterious and mysterious feeling, which can only be understood ineffable. After comprehending the aesthetic taste of the like and the different, it will not be entangled in Gong Xian's painting likeness. At this time, there is a more important point of attention, that is, whether the painting is interesting or not.
"You Hua Shan Tu" depicts Gong Xian's inner feelings about Hua Shan, he feels the atmosphere of grass and trees, so there are many dense forests in the painting. He felt the smell of paleness, so he painted the rock stream. He felt that the landscape was calm and thick, so he had the introverted clarity presented by the ink accumulation method.
Gong Xian did everything he could to paint the Huashan he felt. At this point, there is no need to tangle at all like it. Although painting is a plastic art, the painter needs to use the image to express emotions, but Gong Xian tries to get rid of the limitations of the shape. Understanding these truths and looking at "Youhua Mountain Map" again, you will applaud Gong Xian's efforts.
He did not exaggerate or deform, he tried to find a way to depict gods from the perspective of "processing". "Youhua Mountain Map" is an exploration of his creation, and Gong Xian is more satisfied with the results. So he inscribed a poem in the painting, guiding people to go one step further when appreciating, reminiscent of the night scene of Mount Hua.