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Zeng Xiaolian Photography / Liu Xiangcheng ◎ Brother
Exhibition: Painting and Phase - "The First Person of Chinese Botanical Painting" Zeng Xiaolian solo exhibition
Duration: 3.5-5.22
Venue: Shanghai Center of Photography
Interlocutor: Zeng Xiaolian, born in 1939 in Kunming, Yunnan, entered the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1958, and was hired as a researcher-level senior engineer of the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1995, and a member of the China Artists Association. He has successively illustrated scientific works such as "Flora of China", "Flora of Yunnan", "Flora of Tibet" and other scientific works, and still has no ink and ink.
The exhibition "Painting and Phase", which opened in the spring of Shanghai Photography Art Center, presented painting as the main one in the exhibition - the flower and bird museum painting from Zeng Xiaolian, the "first person of Chinese plant painting", not only popularized the relatively niche painting of plant science painting and naturalist painting to the audience, but also presented the information that photography and art are based on nature as a teacher and science as a mirror to express the beauty of all things through the combination of painting works and other art works.
Zeng Xiaolian, who has been engaged in plant science painting for more than 60 years with the aim of revering nature and depicting the truth of nature, said that what he did was a kind of work that was beneficial to himself and society, and it was also his hobby. Taking nature as a teacher, it is never too late to start.
"When you are young, it is a hobby, work is a responsibility, and when you retire, you are a secluded person"
Beiqing Art Review: How did you come into contact with the field of plant science painting?
Zeng Xiaolian: In 1958, I graduated from high school and was not admitted to college, I was confused, I received an employment notice from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and I worked half a day and studied half a day. I quickly went to check in, when the road was not easy, sitting on an old-fashioned bus carrying an airbag every day, but at that time I was very happy and felt that it was a godsend.
At that time, the state issued the task of compiling the "Three Chronicles", including "Flora of China", "Flora of China", "Flora of China", "Flora of China", China is a big country of animal and plant resources, the country must have its own zhishu, which is a major project. I have loved graffiti since I was a child, and when the unit saw that I could paint, they assigned me to the classification room to be an illustrator for the Flora, which is a coincidence, a combination of wishes and objective needs, so I embarked on this road.
Beiqing Art Review: For more than 60 years, I have only done one thing, which is very incredible for young people today, what makes you think of plant science painting as a lifelong ambition?
Zeng Xiaolian: Willing and unswerving, this is not only the need of the country, but also the thing he likes, and he has not thought of anything else, which has become a lifelong pursuit. When you are young, it is a hobby, work is a responsibility, and after retirement, it is a secluded habit that cannot be changed. If it hadn't been for this, I probably wouldn't have been as happy and my body wouldn't have been as good.
Beiqing Art Review: When we hear "plant science painting", most people will be confused: is this a painting or a scientific illustration?
Zeng Xiaolian: Plant science painting is the official name of our country, each country has a different name, no matter what it is called, this painting is for the service of science. Scientists use logical thinking, use language and words to describe the growth law of plants, find the systematic relationship between them, and finally summarize the paper, in addition to text description, but also use the method of image thinking to record the species in nature in the form of painting.
In some art schools and art systems, it is generally called biological illustration, whether animals and plants or microorganisms are biological, using the form of painting to express its characteristics, and most of them are used in scientific works, so it is called biological illustration major.
Beiqing Art Review: How is this painting different from other paintings?
Zeng Xiaolian: First of all, the concept is different, mainstream painting is to express the inner world of the painter himself, such as painting plum blossoms to paint its backbone, anthropomorphize and personify it. But plant science painters should draw plum blossoms to draw the morphological characteristics of plum blossoms, including how many petals it has, how many stamens it has, how long its leaves are, and so on.
Plant science painting has a certain scientific connotation, and its premise is to express the morphological characteristics of species, especially for the identification of species in plant taxonomy. At the same time, it must also have independent aesthetic value, this kind of beauty is different from the concept of pure artistic beauty, there is no absolute standard for pure art aesthetics, and plant science painting should be close to objective existence, close to the original natural state of animals and plants. As long as you draw it right, it is indeed beautiful, because nature itself is beautiful.
An illustrator who has served "Flora" all his life
Beiqing Art Review: Do you position yourself as a botanist or a painter?
Zeng Xiaolian: I am not a botanist, nor am I a pure art painter, I am an illustrator who has served the Flora of China all my life.
At that time, there were more than 160 people who illustrated "Flora of China", and we had little merit and were an obscure team. After the completion of the Flora of China, this group has been at a low ebb for a long time, where to go? A lot of people have changed careers, moved to other paintings, or done other work, and I don't want to turn, I still have a lot of things I want to paint.
The completion of "Flora of China" is a watershed, before the characteristics of plants should be rigorously expressed, and then we must go out of scientific research institutes, face nature, paint some readers are more happy to hear, improve aesthetic appeals, but my work has not changed, the scientific connotation of the work has not changed, to drive more people to pay attention to nature, popularize natural science.
Beiqing Art Review: So now you are no longer aiming at "painting like" and turning to plant art painting?
Zeng Xiaolian: In the past, standard plant paintings did not paint sunlight, only scattered light, because sunlight had projection. However, the colors are particularly rich under the sun, the contrast between light and shade is relatively strong, and the introduction of sunlight will give the painting more visual tension. I now pay more attention to the change of color in painting, if I do pure science painting, I will inherit its tradition and not paint sunlight, but now in order to express the vitality of plants, I will be closer to nature.
Now I no longer need to do anatomy and paint those details, which have been done clearly in the work of "Flora of China", and now I want to paint the original natural conditions more clearly, which also improves its popularity and allows more people to obtain a sense of intimacy and identity.
Beiqing Art Review: Is it necessary to see live plants before you can draw plant science paintings?
Zeng Xiaolian: In the past, this was a prerequisite, if you want to portray a certain creature, there is no direct impression or first impression of it, it is almost difficult to paint vividly. However, in the process of painting the "Flora of China", there were 15,000 species of higher plants that needed to be painted, and it was impossible to see all of them, nor did they have the conditions to go to remote places to draw sketches, so at that time, it was mainly based on plant specimens.
Drawing accurately is our first requirement, and it is another matter whether it can be painted alive, to restore its growth state, to draw its thirst for life. Nor does the average scientist, nor does botany.
Beiqing Art Review: Why do you emphasize "first impression"?
Zeng Xiaolian: In the face of a living species, the first impression of its state of life is very important, and that feeling will lead the entire creative process, of course, this process can also refer to some photos, photo details are more accurate than brain memory.
But if you haven't seen the species at all, lack this knowledge, or just speculate on the photos, the effect is different. Because of this desire to survive, that strong expression, it is difficult to draw without actually seeing it, or even impossible to draw it. The state of the life force is a higher standard above accuracy.
In the past, the illustrations of flora and fauna generally did not require painting the ecological environment, mainly based on individuals, and it was necessary to draw individuals clearly. There is also a category of books on ecology, which specifically require painting ecology, showing the relationship between species and species or between species and the environment.
If I have the conditions, I want to paint, so that I can better express its desire to survive, the state of survival, such as "net cover porcini mushroom", it only grows under the fir forest, I painted the dead branches and leaves of the fir tree, and a fallen fir fruit and a little weed, the real ecological environment is partially expressed.
"Our grandfather is nature"
Beiqing Art Review: You mentioned before that you have two wishes, one is to paint the plants in the Book of Poetry, and the other is to return to Xishuangbanna and complete 100 ecological paintings about the tropical rainforest.
Zeng Xiaolian: The work on the Book of Poetry is basically over, and together with two other painter friends, I have created a total of one hundred and forty or fifty illustrations, and I have painted about 80 paintings. Strictly speaking, this part is not a biological science painting, it is a naturalist painting, which must be painted relatively flexibly and vividly, with a certain national form, with a certain composition of Chinese painting. Japan's Edo period has drawn this famous object Tu kao, Japan all paint our own why not paint? Now this work is basically over.
Painting a hundred ecological landscapes is my long-cherished wish for many years, and I want to paint a landscape of a hundred and ten kinds of trees in three years, between trees, between trees and the environment, especially with the feeling of sunlight. I have gone to Xishuangbanna twice this year, more is to find the original feeling, a large number of materials, sketches, take pictures from different angles, in the future there are conditions to paint in Banna, there is no condition to return to Kunming to paint, you can do it.
Beiqing Art Review: Is it in the form of Chinese painting?
Zeng Xiaolian: I think there are some unique features in the form of Chinese painting, one is that its painting format is relatively large, and the Chinese rice paper is more than one meter and two meters, which will also add a lot of my personal experience. I spent seven or eight years studying Chinese painting. Xu Beihong once said: Chinese painting needs to develop, and traditional Chinese naturalism should be combined with Western realism. I particularly agree with that statement.
In combination with Western realism, the specific object should be expressed more objectively and realistically, so that many traditional pen and ink and techniques are not enough. I still paint biological paintings, painting the relationship between the individual and the environment, not to paint literati paintings, freehand paintings, and brush strokes in general, it is precisely because the biological species and plants and animals in our country are so rich, you only use some fixed traditional methods, it is impossible to express some images that objectively exist in real life.
I have this confidence, it is one thing to paint well or not, I must dare to practice, I must use action, I must use painting to practice my long-cherished wishes, and I must practice what the old predecessor Xu Beihong said.
The combination of traditional naturalism and Western realism, I follow this path, but the content of my paintings still belongs to the system of biological painting. It may or may not be achieved, but the idea is said so as not to give yourself a way out.
Beiqing Art Review: This is what you call a plant science painting with Chinese characteristics?
Zeng Xiaolian: This is also consistent, because I use traditional brush and ink to paint things with modern scientific connotations, which is the characteristic of China. I'll paint some flowers and I'll have some new looks.
I always tell myself: don't think that you are old, there is a reason, what is familiar to paint, there is no need. You think you can still do it, why not do it? You can't do what others will do, or start ahead.
Beiqing Art Review: What advice do you have for today's young people who like naturalist paintings and plant science paintings?
Zeng Xiaolian: Now the situation is different, the spring of plant science painting has arrived, and I hope to have the opportunity to bring together very good young painters, hold an exhibition, and exchange ideas together.
This kind of painting has no threshold, no sect, professional or unprofessional, have not studied art can be painted. Many paintings have to ask who your grandfather is and who he learned from, we don't, our grandfather is nature. So as long as you take some courage and communicate quietly with nature, in this special atmosphere, you will feel very peaceful and very comfortable.
This is a very good hobby and career choice, people and nature blend together, with the eyes to observe, with the heart to feel, it will accompany you for a lifetime.
Botanical Science Painting: A Double Look from Science and Aesthetics
◎ Brother.J
You must see Zeng Xiaolian's flower and bird paintings with your own eyes, and observe them closely, in order to understand how exquisite and mysterious this nature-themed painting is. Refinement comes from fine, neutral, flawless strokes of the line, while mystery comes from natural and realistic shapes and colors, like clusters of flowers, birds in front of you to present their most beautiful appearance. This beauty is both depicted by human hands and the true beauty of nature.
In front of us are lifelike paintings of flora and fauna, written by a painter over eighty years old. Zeng Xiaolian is a top plant science painter in mainland China, a researcher-level senior engineer at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is known as "the first person in Chinese plant painting". The exhibition features 40 masterpieces by Zeng Xiaolian, which are based on nature and include plant science paintings, plant art paintings and naturalist paintings.
In fact, paintings on plants have a very long history, and can be found as early as 4,000 years ago in tombstones in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, with images of plants carved by ancestors. Early depictions of plants were mostly to record the medicinal effects of plants, and in China, they can be traced back to the Song Dynasty's Bencao Tujing. In the West, the earliest atlases of medicinal plants can be traced back to the Treatise on Medicines, circa 65 AD.
With the seafaring adventures of the West in the 15th century, all the way to the global trade in the early 18th century, the geographical discoveries led to the records of plants and animals in different regions by people who went out to explore, and a large number of specimens were collected, combined with the Western realist painting tradition, which greatly enriched the painting of animals and plants as objects, forming a long tradition of naturalist painting. The Chinese depiction of plants and animals stayed in the stage of freehand writing of flowers and birds for a long time, until the introduction of plant taxonomy to China in the 19th century, and the real Chinese plant science painting appeared.
"Since you already have photography, why do you have to draw by hand?" This is one of the most asked questions in the exhibition. Indeed, plant science painting was born before the invention of photography, and after the advent of photography, imaging technology could record objects more realistically, and paintings seemed to be thankless. The "Painting and Portrait" exhibition actually throws up this problem.
In today's symbiosis between photography and painting, the process of painting creation is indispensable to the assistance of photography, and photography in turn draws on the form of painting. In the exhibition "Painting and Photography", zeng's paintings are as realistic as photography, while the photographic works of artists such as Araki Jingwei use different creative methods, more like the expression of painting.
But it is not enough to be as realistic as photography, plant science painting relies on the insight and superb skills of the artist to capture the essence of plant form, which cannot be achieved by pure photographic technology and digital revolution.
Relying on human scientific observation, plant science painting can be selectively presented. For example, in the exhibition "Net Lid Porcini Mushroom", the plant science painting focuses on its network structure, the depiction of the structural texture is clearer than the photo, and the shape of the different growth periods of the porcini mushroom is drawn, as well as the ecological environment in which it grows - under the fir tree.
Painting is also a kind of inheritance, along with the requirements of plant taxonomy for species determination, the species expressed in plant science works are still mainly hand-drawn black and white ink line drawings, such as the European authoritative "Curtis Journal of Botany" founded in 1878, which still uses hand-drawn illustrations. If photography records the moment, the plant science painting depicts the eternity of the species.
In 2021, in order to facilitate his work plan, Zeng Xiaolian returned to the Kunming Institute of Botany and began painting for at least 8 hours a day. In the same year, in the Kunming Expo Park, the Zeng Xiaolian Art Museum, which was transformed from the former site of the Pakistan Pavilion, opened, where Zeng Lao's paintings were used as a permanent exhibition, and a group exhibition of young people was planned around plant science paintings and naturalist paintings.
The German scientist Alexander von Humboldt once said that the gaze of the natural sciences and aesthetics is the only way to understand the universe, and it will become a natural religion. The paintings of Zeng in "Painting and Photography" make the human body feel this dual gaze from science and aesthetics.
Photo courtesy of Shanghai Center of Photography