Author: Wang Qisen
Prosperous and prosperous. Contemporary collections have many national treasures, calligraphy and painting treasures, rare cultural relics in the auction to show the mountains, full of water, full of limelight, "100,000 snowflake silver" is a piece of cake, often tens of millions or even more than a few hundred million, is also not alarming, so the industry called it "100 million yuan era". However, it also shows such hidden worries: the works soar out of the sky-high price, the top goods are on the list, and the rational cognition and thinking practice of collectors have not been able to keep up, resulting in only collection, little research, collection soaring, monograph scarcity, only out of the collection of big guys, difficult to see the embarrassing situation of collectors.
Dong Yuan's "Evening View of the River Embankment" does not have an inscription, according to the collection convention, all the famous works of all generations have the inscriptions of famous descendants, which is called circulation. However, Zhang Daqian had a unique vision of treasure and exchanged it for 500 taels of gold and 20 Ming Dynasty paintings. Subsequently, he collaborated with his friends Xie Zhiliu and Wu Hufan to identify and work together to achieve a good story in the history of collection
Zhang Onyu, who is famous in the collection circle for "only eye uniqueness", collects the treasure of the town house is Zhang Xuan's "Tang Hou From the Line Map" (the above picture is a part). This painting was due to its age, the weaving silk has been indistinct, many collectors have doubts about it and turned their backs, but he bought it with heavy money, and made a specific and comprehensive study of the silk, pen, color, ink, composition of the painting, and made a detailed record in his "Notes on the Appreciation of Muyan Zhai Calligraphy and Painting", so that a collection has the discovery value of art history and the elaboration significance of ancient classics
"Notes on appreciation of paintings and calligraphy of Muyan Zhai"
There are only collections, few studies
As a materialized form, the collection has a long tradition on the mainland, and there are records as early as the Zhou Dynasty. It carries the inheritance of civilization, the recognition of history, the legacy of humanities and the pursuit of aesthetics. A history of collection is the confirmation of the value of civilization and the docking of attributes. Only in this way can the collection need the guidance of research, the care of scholarship and the promotion of theory. However, driven by the current collection fever and under the action of the price storm, the status quo of the entire collection industry is subverted by the market-centric theory, and its ecology is also shrouded by the utilitarian efficiency theory. There is only the continuous increase of collections, the rise of prices, the rapid expansion of categories, etc., and there are few follow-up of research, theoretical observation, professional combing and examination discussion. The thinness of the study air and the lack of cognition have directly led to a climax but no peak, luxury but no sublimation, stunning but not amazing, a lively scramble with people and a surprise at the auction of rare and superb products, but no real era of collection has been formed.
The study of collecting is fundamentally a historical responsibility, a cultural mission, a professional responsibility and a humanistic realm. It should be confirmed that the mainland's sense of collection and professionalism were expounded as early as the ancient "Zhou Yi": "Kun thick load, German unity without boundaries." Contains Hongguang, and the products are salty. This reminds me of the six major Chinese collectors of the 20th century who have been evaluated by the international collecting community: Pang Laichen, Wu Hufan, Zhang Daqian, Zhang Liangyu, Zhang Boju, and Wang Jiqian, whose collections are all based on the blue wisps of the yanlu road, lasting and in-depth, and unique and subtle research. The treasures in their collection have become the treasures of the country by virtue of their unique and in-depth research, creating a classic in the history of collection. And they themselves have become recognized as giants of the collecting world, and they are expected by all. At the same time, Chinese collections have also gained worldwide respect and reputation.
The collection's demand for research is respected and even relies on reverence, highlighting a kind of collection spirit, the establishment of collection consciousness and the recognition of collection consciousness. Whether it is historical empirical evidence, literature analysis, systematic comparison, comprehensive examination, or vertical and horizontal reasoning, true judgment, etc., all of them use research as a way to explore the subtle and enter the mysterious and psychic, which is what has always been advocated: "Knowledge is the beginning of action, and action is the completion of knowledge." For example, Zhang Liangyu, who is famous in the collection circle with "only eyes", his collection of treasures in the town house is Zhang Xuan's "Tang Dynasty From the Line Map" of the Tang Dynasty. When he saw this painting of silk coloring, due to its long age, the weaving silk had been obliterated, and many collectors had doubts about it and turned their backs on it, but he bought it with heavy money, and made a specific and comprehensive study of the silk, brush, color, ink, and composition of the painting, and made a detailed record in his "Notes on the Appreciation of Muyan Zhai Calligraphy and Painting", so that a collection has the discovery value of art history and the significance of expounding ancient classics.
Collections are rampant, monographs are scarce
Collection requires corresponding knowledge reserves, historical material accumulation, examination and analysis, cultural review, context sorting and academic foundation. The professional composition and functional construction of this collection need relevant works to bear and bear, which is not only the basic project of the construction of the collection discipline, but also the evaluation standard for measuring the achievement of the collection.
Nowadays, the publication of collectible monographs is quite scarce, and it does not correspond to or match the grand situation of the soaring auction price of the collection. Thus affecting the historical value, cultural significance, professional achievements and humanistic achievements of contemporary collections, resulting in a kind of stage blank. If the collection does not have the bottom of the writings and paves the way, it will not be far away.
"Shen Jiang is good, antiques are searched, Shang Ding Zhou Yi rewards wanyi, Tang stele Song Thesis weighs thousands of sickles, and the authenticity has been known several times." This is the bamboo branch word that was popular on both sides of the Pujiang River at the time of the rise of the Hai school of collection, which pointed to the historical responsibility and cultural continuity of the Tibetan community. It was also in order to answer the questions of this era that Pang Laichen, the leader of the Haipai collection who called himself "addicted to painting into the bone" at that time, also specially hired Lu Hui and Zhang Dazhuang, famous painters of the Haipai calligraphy and painting, to assist him in the appraisal and examination, and compiled a catalogue of calligraphy and paintings. Wang Jiqian called Pang Laichen "the world's largest collector of Chinese paintings and calligraphy, with thousands of famous calligraphy and paintings." To this end, Pang Laichen has carefully compiled twenty volumes of "Catalogue of Famous Paintings of Virtual Zhai" and four volumes of "Continuation of Famous Paintings of Virtual Zhai", which have been regarded as classics by the international art circles, collection circles, and cultural circles. Zhang Liangyu is also a generation of masters who collect examination and research writings, his collection began in the 1930s, and later combined with his appraisal work as the Cultural Relics Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, he wrote four volumes of "Notes on the Appreciation of Muyan Zhai Calligraphy and Painting", which examined records, appreciated and demonstrated, combed and commented on 2192 masterpieces of calligraphy and painting from the two Jin Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, down to modern and modern calligraphy and painting, and made detailed and concise records of the name texture, size inscription, seal collector, and collected literature bibliography, which is known as " Textbook" collection monograph. As the most important collector and connoisseur of contemporary Chinese painting and calligraphy in the world, Wang Jiqian wrote thousands of reading notes in 1959, 1963 and 1990 respectively, with rigorous text, solid content, accurate examination, precious information, and rich pictures, so that Wang Jiqian's Reading notes were compiled by The Chinese-American Yang Kailin, leaving us with quite high-end and valuable cultural resources, theoretical exposition, collectible thinking and artistic documents.
Only out of the collection of big guys, it is difficult to see the collection of everyone
The construction of collection culture ultimately relies on the support of talents. The optimization of the collection industry is ultimately inseparable from the efforts of the group. The improvement of the level of collection is ultimately inseparable from the leadership of the elite. From this point of view, the current situation of collection in contemporary China, talent support is thin, the group composition is loose, and elite leadership is lacking. Therefore, although the auction exceeds 100 million, the collection is getting hot, there are often "record-breaking" of the golden hand command, the "excitement point" stirred by the blockchain, the "new target" created by the big guys, etc., and the private museum has also mushroomed, but this is only an incremental and qualitative sublimation, only "big guys" and no "famous masters", only "local tycoons" and no "giants".
Turning over a history of Chinese collecting, there have been roughly four climaxes. It is worth studying and paying attention to the rise of these four climaxes, all of which are inseparable from the three elements of talents, groups and elites. The first collection climax appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty, and reached its peak in the period from Daguan to Xuanhe (1107-1119), and its leader was Zhao Tuo, who was known as the "Emperor of Art" and "Genius of Calligraphy and Painting", and the Xuanhe Painting Notation was the first imperial collection ceremony in China compiled by Emperor Huizong of Song, and its group composition included Ouyang Xiu (writing the "Jigulu"), Zhao Mingcheng (who wrote the "Golden Stone Record"), Wang Yi (writing the "Xuanhe Bogutu") and so on. The second climax occurred in the late Ming Dynasty, with the Jiajing to Wanli period (1500-1573) as the peak, and its leader was Xiang Yuanbian, who was famous for his "Tianlai Pavilion", and his "Nine Records of the Banana Window" and "Shiqu Baodi" are famous collections in history. The group includes Feng Mengzhen, Hu Zhengyan, Dong Qichang and so on. The climax of the third collection occurred during the Kangqian period, especially during the Kangxi period (1662-1722), which was led by Gao Shiqi, who was knowledgeable and commanded the shiqun, and his representative work is the legendary "Jiangcun Summer Record". The group includes Song Jie, Bian Yongyu, Liang Qingbiao and so on. Only in this way, without the talent highland, group composition, elite leadership, the heyday of collection is difficult to truly rise.
As the fourth climax in the history of Chinese collection, Haipai Collection is of landmark significance. The Collection of Haipai flourished in the 1930s and 1940s, and achieved a comprehensive revival in the aspects of calligraphy and painting, official kiln porcelain, Zhong Ding bronze, stele ancient books, gold and stone coins, and jade purple sand. More importantly, it has formed a strong lineup in the gathering of talents, the composition of groups and the emergence of elites, including collectors of the older generation such as Pang Laichen, Di Pingzi, Fei Ziyi, etc., as well as middle-aged collectors such as Wu Hufan, Zhang Daqian, Liu Haisu, etc., as well as young collectors such as Zhang Liangyu, Wang Jiqian, Xu Bangda, etc., and formed a good tradition of "appreciating good products together, analyzing doubts and meanings". For example, there is no inscription on Dong Yuan's "Evening View of the River Embankment", according to the collection convention, all the famous works of all generations have inscriptions by famous descendants, which is called circulation. The untitled one is taboo and suspicious for posterity. However, Zhang Daqian had a unique vision of treasure and exchanged it for 500 taels of gold and 20 Ming Dynasty paintings. Later, he asked his friend Xie Zhiliu to identify, and the erudite Xie found the basis from Zhao Mengfu's letters and inscribed a long trek. Soon, he asked Wu Hufan to hang this painting in the Meijing Bookstore for many days, and asked Wu Hufan to make a delicate appraisal of pen and ink. It is through such collaborative examination and collective wisdom that a good story in the history of collection has been achieved. Unfortunately, such an atmosphere is lacking today. To change the current situation of the contemporary collection industry, to strengthen the construction of contemporary collection culture, and to enhance the realm of contemporary collection, the only way to start from the construction of talent echelons, the effect of group combinations and the direction of leading guidance. (Wang Qisen)
Source: Wen Wei Po