Mr. Yu Shui Tian has been recorded in history as a well-known artist and educator in the field of modern and contemporary Chinese sculpture, and his exquisite sculptures have been cherished by many art institutions. But in fact, the world still knows very little about Hua Tianyou, a modern art master who was once praised by Xu Beihong as "Rodin's rebirth". How did he choke the throat of fate, break through the nets of the class, and finally sail to the other side of the artistic realm for the "life of sculpture"? Faced with this question, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where Mr. Shuita Yu's work unit and the place where his energy gathers in the second half of his life, recently gave a good answer with a large-scale exhibition. This "Don't Lose And Don't Forget - The 120th Anniversary of the Birth of Sculptor Shui Tian You" not only displays many of the fine sculptures of Shui Tian You, but also concentrates on presenting a large number of documents and archives related to Mr. Shui Tian You's sculpture cause, providing a new historical reference for the study of Mr. Shui Tian You and the development of modern Chinese sculpture.
It is also because of this prompt that the author remembered that when Dong Li recently wrote a book entitled "The Shanghai Library Collects Ye Gong's Friends and Friends", he had fabled several letters related to the early deeds of Slippery TianYou, retrieved the copies in his hand, and obtained a total of slippery tianyou to Ye Gongqiu letters, Xu Beihong to Ye Gongqiu letters, and Jiang Xiaohu to Ye Gongyu letters. In these five correspondences, it may also describe the life experience of Yu Shuitian, such as Yu Yu's study in Paris and the restoration of the statue of Luohan at the Holy Temple of Lu Zhibao, or the ambitions of Yu Yu of Shui Tian, such as the letter to Ye Gong and his early artistic thoughts. The author believes that picking up these lost beads scattered in the letters and stringing them together in the specific events of the exchange between Hua Tianyou and Ye Gongqiu and Xu Beihong not only has a refining and promoting effect on the study of Shui Tian You, but also a rare new material for the study of Ye Gongyu and Xu Beihong. Therefore, these five correspondences are sorted out separately and slightly examined to provide reference for the research of successors.
The first correspondence is from Hua Tian You to Ye Gong Qi, the original letter is three pages, written by Hua Shi's fountain pen, specifically in the shanghai dictionary publishing house recently launched the book "Shanghai Library Collection of Ye Gong Yu Yu Peng Zhi Mu" (volume 2, pages 89-92), the content is now summarized as follows:
Reading the March 25th Day Dazha, respecting the moraine sand dispatch, moving the museum as much as possible, very comforting! "List of Tang Sculptures" has been sent to Chen Jun, and I feel very much! The Buddha statue is a problem, and there is a hut outside the door of the first road, which is like a public property in the town, empty and useless (at this moment, I want to be still there, and the people in the town will be allowed). After a few minor repairs, a few stomata holes were chiseled under the wall to accommodate the Buddha's body and its door was sealed. It is best if someone can raise funds to preserve it, otherwise it will be another day. Then the Vajra Hall can be started, I don't know what to think? All of Tian Youjue's art (whether it is sculpture, painting, and others to life) seems to have a common point, that is, how to be beautiful is also. Now paris is being used as a pastoral garden (the whole city) and a school as a laboratory, and the income seems to have been slightly hinted at. This year, the school died in the competition, carving third, painting first, and zongping also ranked third, and the person who got définitif was also. The patterns, utensils, buildings, gardens, towns, and cities to be further deduced may have the same effect. The illness of the chinese people is that they only know how to use their ears and mouth, but they do not know how to use their eyes and hands, and they do not seek correctness in everything, and Tian You is also deeply aware of it. Both in Europe, the situation is suddenly cheerful, all human feelings, the environment is unobstructed, and its art equipment has a great achievement! Wooden planks, wood carvings, oil paintings, stone carvings, Tian You are willing to try one by one, cover fundamentally solved, and other when there is no problem. Since Tian You came to Europe with Mr. Beihong, he was undressed and pushed to eat, and regarded him as a brother. His performance in the Fazhi Painting Exhibition is excellent, and the twelve paintings purchased by the National Museum have been equipped with fine curds, and the special Chen room is much higher than that of Japan. Subsequently, two exhibitions in Germany and all in Italy were very satisfied. Today for the Russian government please go to the exhibition, the situation may be more different also. However, in this year, he traveled to various countries, exhausted and exhausted, and his debts had reached six or seven thousand yuan, and Tian Youshi accounted for nearly two thousand. When he was about to go to Russia, he was given two thousand to return the capital, and he really did not know how to repay it. However, Tian You was very interested at this time, and if he returned, the purpose of the plan was not achieved, and the life of not returning was gradually tightening (the work was extremely difficult to find, and the returned capital had been used in half). Moreover, when he went abroad, Xianjun was still in good health and spirit, and did not want to die of illness within a year, and Tian You's sins were deep and heavy. When he was parting, he was asked by his father, but Tian Youjian did not realize it, and to this day he sincerely regrets it. If there is no hanging in this life, no discussion, and no empty return, the bandits will not be able to treat the ancestors underground, nor can they comfort the expectations of those who have comforted us. Mr. Meng knew that when he was parting, his words were too heavy and he remembered them. If Youmeng ding helps, Tian You's academic ability is enriched, and he has the gift of Mr. Jun. Linying is full of spirits, not full of dependence, and praises Da'an! Evening slip making Tomogami. May 20th
School certificates can only be made during the summer vacation. Attached to last year's Salon letter and a pass, I don't know if it is necessary to use it?
YuMitsu Tomitsu Ye
This correspondence was written after YuMida went to Study in Paris, France in 1933. Before interpreting this communication, it is necessary to sort out the interaction between Yu Shuitian and Ye Gongqiu. The interaction between Shui Tian You and Ye Gong Yu began around 1930 in the restoration of Tang sculptures at Baosheng Temple, according to the "Self-Description of Slippery Tian You": "In the autumn of 1930, Mr. Jiang (citation note: jiang Xiaolu) served as the Ministry of Education's Suzhou Luzhi Town Preservation Committee. Because he couldn't leave Shanghai, he wanted me to see it. At that time, Tang's plastic background had been removed by the workers and could not be restored to its original state, so he called me a supervisor. I saw that the kind of work was by no means something that the workers could restore to their original state, so I took the original printed materials and the photos together and wrote to Mr. Jiang, explaining that if I let that kind of work continue, I would not be able to complete the task in the future. He had seen the letter to Mr. Ye Gongqiu, who was in charge of the matter, and Mr. Ye was very sympathetic to my views, so he decided that I would preside over the repair (zhongluo), so Mr. Ye Gongqiu was very important to me. According to the "Annals of Slippery Friends", when Slippery Friends went to France in 1933, Ye Gongqi also funded him with two hundred yuan. From this, it can be seen that Ye Gongyu, a young student who aspires to dedicate himself to art, is quite important. Moreover, from the "Reading of the March 25 Daza", it can be seen that after YuMida went to France, Ye Gongqi still maintained correspondence with him and cared about his study life in France. It is worth saying that in 1950, twenty years after the completion of the activities to preserve the Tang sculpture of Baosheng Temple, Ye Gongqiu and Hua Tianyou reunited in Beijing, and looked back at the past, Ye Gongqi gave a poem to him: "Tang Plastic Lai Jun for the continuation of life, twenty years of the past to remember." Only now the magic hand crossed the former zhe, and even more saw Yang Huizhi at that time. At the same time, Ye Shi also explained in the poem notes: "Twenty years ago, he reshaped the hand of Lu Zhi Yang Hui to mold the Arhat, and Brother Tian Youshi did his deeds, and he went to Europe to learn art, and became a great success." Now that I have met the Beijing master again, when Fang Jin's art is at its peak, it is a gift because of Man Zhan. From this, it is known that despite the passage of time and the twenty years of dying, Ye Gongqi has always appreciated the talent of Slippery Tianyou, and the interaction between the two has always been filled with the sincere friendship of "pouring over as before".
Knowing the background of the interaction between Slippery Sky Friends and Ye Gongqi, let's take a look at the specific content of Slippery Sky Friends' letters of more than 800 words. Of course, the first thing to figure out is the time of writing, and there are two hints in the letter. One is that in the letter, Xu Beihong cared deeply for him, "because he undressed and pushed him to eat, as a brother", and Xu Shi "when he was about to go to Russia, he was given two thousand (francs) to return to him" as a capital. According to the "Long Genealogy of Xu Beihong", Xu Beihong left Europe for Russia in April 1934. Another is the letter mentioning the death of his father: "When he went abroad, Xianjun was still in good health and spirit, and did not want to die of illness within a year, and Tian You's sins were deep and serious. According to the "Annals of The Friends of Slippery Fields", the Slippers went to France with Xu Beihong in January 1933, and the death of his father was in the first half of 1934, so the letter said that he "did not want to die of illness within a year". Therefore, this letter must have been written in 1934, the date of this letter was May 20, and then contact the time when Xu Beihong left Europe for Russia, the two prove that the time of writing this letter should be May 20, 1934.
At the same time, there are several other things worth noting in the letter. As mentioned at the beginning, "moraine sand is removed from the museum", which refers to the relics of the Moraine Yansheng Temple, which is located in the same place as the Baosheng Temple, and was moved to the Baosheng Temple Antiquities Museum in 1934 for protection. Moraine Sand Yansheng Temple is famous for the Southern Song Dynasty Jiading school magazine "Moraine Sand Collection", during the Republic of China, "Moraine Sand Collection" reappeared in the world, Ye Gongqi, Jiang Weiqiao, Fan Cheng and other people launched a rescue photocopy of the "Moraine Sand Collection", at the same time, Ye Gongqi began to pay attention to the protection of the ruins and relics of the Moraine Sand Yansheng Temple, after the opening of the Baosheng Temple Antiquities Museum, after many efforts, finally moved some of the relics of the Moraine Sand Yansheng Temple into the museum for protection. This matter is explained in detail in Ye Gongqi's article "Xiaozhi of the Moraine Sand Yan Sacred Temple": "There are several broken houses in the Temple of the Temple of the East Lake, which reflect the clouds and water. When I went to repair the Zhibao Holy Temple, I repeatedly asked people to take pictures of the return, and the temple offered an ancient statue that was not complete. In the open space, there are stone pagoda roofs, stone foundations, and tile ridges, which resemble relics of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and are temporarily in the antiquities museum of the Zhibao Holy Temple. He had the opportunity to build a fine house for the purpose of photocopying the "Moraine Sand Tibetan Scripture", fu Yixian monks were conservative, the traces of Shu Sheng remained, and Xuan Feng was also zhen. "It can be seen from Ye Wen that the relics moved from the Moraine Sand Yansheng Temple to the Baosheng Temple Antiquities Museum are: a statue of an ancient statue for the courtyard and Song and Yuan antiquities such as the top of the stone pagoda, the stone foundation, and the tile ridge.
In addition, the preservation of the Buddha statue mentioned in Yushin Kada refers to the restoration of the Buddha statue in the Vajra Hall of Baosheng Temple. After the Ministry of Education Suzhou Luzhi Town Preservation Committee to restore the Baosheng Temple Tang Sculpture and the construction of the antiquities museum, the antiquities museum preserved the tang sculpture luohan nine statues and a plastic wall, while collecting the temple hall broken tiles and brick carvings, etc., according to Yue Jieqiong's biography of Slippery Tianyou "Sculpture Life" article: "After the completion of the antiquities museum, there are still Vajra Halls and buddha statues in the halls as Relics of the Song Dynasty, all of which have been destroyed and should also be protected and restored, but have not yet begun to repair. Therefore, the protection of the Buddha statue mentioned by YuMida in his letter should refer to the Buddha statue in the Vajra Hall. In his letter, he suggested that the Buddha statue in the temple should first be moved to a hut outside baosheng Temple for preservation, and specify the method of preservation, that is, "there is a hut outside the door of the first road, which is like a public property in the town, empty and useless (at this moment, it is still there, and the people in the town will also allow it." After a few minor repairs, a few stomata holes were chiseled under the wall to accommodate the Buddha's body and its door was sealed. It is best if someone can raise funds to preserve it, otherwise it will be another day. Then the Vajra Hall can be started, I don't know how to think "clouds." It should be said that this idea was very well thought out and somewhat operable, but it was delayed due to the lack of funds and the lack of responsible people, and in the end, both the Vajra Hall and the Buddha statues in the temple were destroyed in the War of Resistance.
Of course, the more important content in the letter is the artistic insight expressed by Shui Tian You, which is an extremely important document for us to understand the development process of Hua Tian You's artistic creation thought.
When YuMitsu Tada wrote to Ye Gongqi, he had been in Paris for more than a year, and with the changes in the environment and vision, his understanding of art and even life had changed completely differently from that of his previous home, that is, as the letter said: "(Whether it is sculpture, painting or other life) there seems to be a common point, that is, how to be beautiful is also." Now paris is being used as a pastoral garden (the whole city) and a school as a laboratory, and the income seems to have been slightly hinted at. He believes that "the purpose of all art and even life is to find beauty and express it", and he is quite confident and even ambitious, saying that he is practicing this understanding with "Paris as a pastoral garden and the school as a laboratory", and "has a little clue". At the same time, the letter also made a comparison of Chinese and Western art: "The disease of the Chinese people is that they only know how to use their ears and mouths, but do not know how to use their eyes and hands, and they do not seek correctness in everything they do, and Tian You is also deeply aware of it." Both in Europe, the situation is suddenly cheerful, all human feelings, the environment is unobstructed, and its art equipment has a great achievement! Wooden planks, wood carvings, oil paintings, stone carvings, Tian You are willing to try one by one, cover fundamentally solved, and other when there is no problem. Young students who have just gone abroad, when they first see the new world of Western art, especially when they are in a world metropolis like Paris, where novel art gathers, it is inevitable that they will not be attracted or even intoxicated by it, and You You will confess in the letter: "Both in Europe, the environment is suddenly cheerful, all human feelings and environments are unobstructed, and its art equipment is really successful!" Wooden planks, wood carvings, oil paintings, stone carvings, Tian You are willing to try one by one, cover fundamentally solved, and other when there is no problem. It should be said that at that time, the state of Slippery Friends was exactly as Fan Di'an summed up in the preface to the "Slippery Friends Album", "full of the desire to seek new knowledge of art, sucking fresh artistic experience in the new art world."
Of course, The critical attitude of Hua Tianyou to the "disease of the Chinese people" of Chinese art, although there are rebellious and extreme points of "today's me, not yesterday's me", but also contains the very real and serious artistic thinking of young students in foreign countries. The role of this critical reflection in the artistic creation of Yu Shuitian is also worthy of attention. In fact, because Slippery TianYou studied abroad with China's own sculptural experience, past scholars often emphasized the "old self" Slippery Tianyou with Chinese background and the path he took to "zhonghuan the West", and rarely discussed in detail the "new self" Slippery Tianyou who studied modern sculpture in Paris for fifteen years like "going up to the tall building alone and looking at the end of the world" in the most exuberant years of learning ability. The author believes that this correspondence from Yu Yu of Slippery Field to Ye Gongqi is a reminder that we should not ignore this problem. As for the final artistic achievements of the "neo-self", it can be seen in the words of Ma Xieya, the sketcher of The Slippery Tomo in the "Self-Description of The Slippery Field Friend", "The technique of the slippery field friend has reached the peak of the academy, and the foreigner who won the gold medal in Paris was only a Swede thirty years ago." All this shows the depth of "getting inside" modern Western sculpture. Therefore, the critical reflection on Chinese art in this correspondence of Hua TianYou is not only of profound significance to the study of his artistic career, but also of great reference value for us to examine the evolution of the artistic thought of modern Chinese sculptors represented by Hua Tian You.
In his early years, as a primary school art teacher, he went to Suqian, Gaoyou and other places in northern Jiangsu to find food, like a colt under the rudder, and he could not reach out. And his final ability to gallop in the modern art world, although it is related to his supernatural artistic talent and perseverance, it is undeniable that at the critical moment of life's counterattack, Bole Xu Beihong's help to him is crucial. Regarding this point, Yu Shuitian has said it many times in the "Self-Statement", and there are words such as "These ten years of hard work, I can sustain myself and not fall, it is really because I often think of Mr. Misery and many gentlemen who have brought me up like that". In fact, even in the above letters, Xu Beihong's figure also appeared twice. One said: "Since Tian You came to Europe with Mr. Beihong, he was undressed and pushed to eat, and regarded him as a brother. Another is more specific: "However, he (Xu Beihong) traveled to various countries in this year, exhausted and exhausted, and his debts had reached six or seven thousand yuan, while Tian Youshi accounted for nearly two thousand." When he was about to go to Russia, he was given two thousand to return the capital, and he really did not know how to repay it. Not only can it prove that Xu Beihong is highly accomplished after promoting the post-learning, but also can also show the mentality of Shuitian You's feelings of shame and friendship.
In the story of Slippery Friends and Xu Beihong, there is still a debatable point, that is, the known information comes from the narrative of Slippery Friends, and the character of Slippery Friends who have not forgotten is certainly worthy of affirmation, but the "testimony" based on this one-dimensional degree is not comprehensive enough, especially according to the biography of Slippery Friends: After the two met in 1930, Xu Beihong not only recommended the sculpture works of Slippery Friends to the "Good Friends Pictorial" and "News News" to publish, but also "everyone said how good Slippery Friends were". The relationship between the characters involves two parties, and if one party's literature is missing to corroborate each other, there is always a suspicion of partiality. Following this line of thought, we found a letter from Xu Beihong to Ye Gongyou in the "Shanghai Library Collection" and found content related to Hua Tianyou in it, which not only confirmed that Xu Beihong's love for him was not a lie, but also showed xu Beihong's high style and elegance in promoting his successors, and part of the content of this letter is as follows:
Mr. Yufu gave a lesson: The recent visit has not been met, and it is good to use pity. Smell the slippery king's words, the big driver will go straight, has it been done? For thoughts. Slippery Jun is extremely arduous, the future is proud, this time the brother invited him to Lu sculpture scattered original Weng Elephant, radiant, really a masterpiece. Mr. Master's degree is highly anticipated, if the wings are winged, it will become a great instrument, and the luck of the art forest will also be. (Middle Omitted) Praises Ton. Sadness, October 4.
Xu Beihong sent a letter to Ye Gong
The contents of Kao's letter were written in 1932. Xu Beihong mentioned in his letter that he invited Huatian You to Lushan to sculpt Chen San's original portrait, according to the "Annals of Hua Tian You", this matter was in 1932, so the year should be able to be determined. In addition, Xu Beihong's letter contains a date of October 4, which may be in the solar calendar, that is, October 4, 1932, or it may be in the solar calendar, that is, November 1, 1932. The reason for this judgment is that the letter mentions that Ye Gongchen "will go to Luzhi", this detail refers to Ye Gongqiu's visit to Luzhi to attend the opening ceremony of the Baosheng Temple Antiquities Museum, and the nuclear literature shows that the specific time of the opening ceremony was November 12, 1932, and the time of Xu Beihong's letter was october 4, whether it was the solar or lunar calendar, before November 12.
Of course, the more important part of this correspondence is that Xu Beihong praised Shui TianYou to Ye Gongyu for "arduous and brilliant, the future is great", and he hopes that Ye Gongchen will "have wings" to Shui Tian You, then Shui Tian You will "become a great instrument, and yi lin is fortunate to be also", Xu Beihong is so attached to the talent and character of Shui Tian You, that Shui Tian You is "the future hao", so he strongly recommends it to Ye Gong. In just a few lines, the heart of fist and love is visible. The content of the letter can not only be the best footnote to the incident in the biography of Slippery Tianyou that Xu Beihong "said how good Slippery Friends were" in the biography of Slippery Tianyou, but also confirmed that the stories of Xu Beihong and himself described by Slippery Friends are true and reliable letter history. At this point, Xu Beihong's love is thirsty and vigorously promotes this yilin story of Slippery Tianyou, which can be drawn to a successful end. In addition, according to xu Beihong's statement in the letter, "This time the brothers and others invited him to go to Lu to sculpt the original Weng Xiang, and he was full of vigor and vitality, and it was really a masterpiece.", it can be seen that Xu Beihong's invitation to Hua Tianyou to go to Lushan to make a statue of Chen Sanli is indeed a matter, and the argument that doubts or even denials about this can be put to rest.
Some scholars have likened academic research to cave exploration, thinking that "academic life is not a journey to the peach blossom garden, but more like a cave exploration: full of mud, darkness, loneliness, panic, and the ecstasy of candles occasionally illuminating the magnificent murals on the walls." When we examined the early deeds of our friends, we were very concerned about it. In the cave of life full of mud, loneliness and thorns, Shui TianYou finally saw the "magnificent mural" of "ecstasy" and lit the candle of his life for him and inspired him to move forward bravely, which was undoubtedly Mr. Xu Beihong.
P.S.
In 1931, as an assistant to the sculptor Jiang Xiaolu, Yu Shuitian participated in the restoration of the statue of Luohan at the Zhibao Holy Mosque in Jiangsu Province, which was a very important event in his early artistic career. The host, Jiang Xiaolu, was too busy with trivial matters to visit Lu Zhi for a long time, so at the end of 1931, he entrusted the matter to Shui Tian You, who also seized this heavenly opportunity. At that time, Ye Gongqi was the specific person in charge of the Luzhi Tang Plastic Committee of the Ministry of Education, and Jiang Xiaolu presided over the restoration, and the correspondence between the two naturally included the restoration of the Tang sculpture of the Luzhi Baosheng Temple. Therefore, looking at the "Shanghai Library Collection of Ye GongYou Peng Zhi Zhi Zhi
First, Mr. Yuhu's great appreciation: A long time, I think so. (Middle Omitted) The luzhi project has recently been surveyed, the plastic wall color has been completed, the technicians are quite satisfied, but the elephant body intends to repair the color again, hereby the party is repairing the cement floor, the wooden frame has been folded, and the ground must be repaired and the wooden frame must be rebuilt. In terms of construction, the flat roof has been repaired inside and out, and the barrel tile part has not been changed, and it is unknown whether it does not need to be replaced. All the projects can be completed, only the internal display needs to be arranged, and everything is warm in spring when the class opens. However, part of the bucket arch is incomplete, and it is not easy to piece together, and the new dang is responsible for trying it. If there is anything that should be done before the opening, it is specially to be shown so that it can be carried out. (Middle omitted) Jiang Xindunshou. January 15.
Second, Mr. YuHu Jian: Coming and not respecting qi, Lu Zhishi, after the slippery Jun left, has increased the focus of workers. The next day there was a report submitted, and the period slipped to Shanghai. The new one has drawn up the overall situation, and the layout can be obtained from the original plastic wall eight or nine. The plan is attached to this, but the model is not very clear. The Vajrayogini Hall was reopened by local craftsmen, which were larger than before and needed to be attached. Hearing this, Yao Xinji had to still be consulted, but he had not yet received a definite reply. The new one will be resolved within the day. Gui Qi's first recovery, the spirit has not recovered, so he did not disperse to talk about it. Hereby honor and praise the peace of mind. Jiang Xindun head. October 6.
Third, the reverent: Slippery Jun worked quite diligently in Lu, and there was a report every other day, taking photos twice and attaching them, and the work was still carried out quickly. The patio layout matter has met Fan Jun, do not talk about the valuation, seems to feel dazed. The King Kong Temple has been directly negotiated with Yao Xinji several times, not only can it be reduced, that is, the price previously offered cannot be handled, and the business has been allowed to reopen the simplest and most detailed valuation table several times, which has not been sent so far, for the day before yesterday returned from Beijing, has not yet gone to the inquiry. Have you been cured? I would like to meet and talk, and I hope to give it to you. Prayer. This repetition, Shunsong healed. Jiang Xiaolu nodded. October 22.