On March 30th, the "Majestic Wind of Grass - Exhibition of Animal Paintings from the Past Dynasties of the Guangzhou Museum of Art" opened at the Zhao Shaoang Art Museum on the third floor of the Guangzhou Museum of Art, exhibiting dozens of works on the theme of walking animals, including tigers, lions, monkeys, horses and so on.
Animal paintings are rich in meaning, and famous creators have emerged from generations
"Walking beasts" is an important subject of traditional Chinese painting, whether it is a tiger, lion, leopard, deer, ape, monkey, horse, or small cat or beaver can be classified as a walking animal in Chinese painting. As early as the Petroglyphs of the Neolithic Age, vivid images of cattle, sheep, deer and other walking animals have been seen, and have continued to evolve. The history of painting includes Cao Ba, Han Ganshan painting horses, Dai Songshan painting cattle, Li Guizhen painting tigers, Zhao Bowen painting dogs, etc., which shows that there were many famous animal masters in the Tang Dynasty.
The subject matter of animal painting is also loved by painters of all generations with its rich allegory, such as painting monkeys on horses, harmonic "immediately sealing marquis"; painting cats and butterflies, harmonic "elderly", meaning longevity and auspiciousness; tigers, lions, leopards, can be compared to mighty and good war; horses, meaning free and unrestrained; cattle, showing rural leisure and so on.
Curator Hao Jinxiu said in an interview with Nandu reporter that animal paintings can be classified into the category of flower and bird paintings, but in flower and bird paintings, animals can be independently formed. "Generally speaking, as long as there are animals in the picture, it will be the protagonist, unlike other flowers, perhaps stolen by butterflies and bees." This year is the Year of the Tiger, and the Tiger is the king of the hundred beasts. In people's eyes, the tiger is fierce, the other is majestic and just, and this image can also have a certain deterrent prayer for the current epidemic. ”
According to reports, there have been many talents in Painting Tigers in Chinese history, and the earliest tiger painters in the Southern Dynasty included Zhang Shengxuan; Wu Daozi and Li Xiang of the Tang Dynasty; Li Guizhen and Shi Ke, who were searching for tigers in the mountains in the five generations; Bao Gui and Bao Ding fathers and sons in the Song Dynasty; Bao Yu and Zhou Gengyun in the Yuan Dynasty, who were also famous for painting tigers; Zhao Lian, Dai Jin, and Shang Xi in the Ming Dynasty were also experts at drawing tigers; in modern times, "tiger idiot" Zhang Shanhui raised tigers and painted tigers; Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng, and He Xiangning in the Lingnan region even drew a large number of tiger pictures in the depiction of the image of the beast in which revolutionary enthusiasm was placed.
She admits that there are probably two problems encountered in the curatorial process: one is that the collection is limited; the other is that many painters like to paint an animal, some painters focus on horses or cows, and some even paint apes for a lifetime. "So we can't choose too many of the works of these painters and try to avoid repetition." Under the premise of not repeating, because of the need to take care of the age, the characteristics of the painter and the exhibition line, there are also some works of quality, and even more than the limit height of the exhibition hall, and finally abandon some good works. It can only be left behind or the new museum has the ability to show it. ”
The difficulty of animal painting is "constant form", and it pays attention to the unity of god and form
Gu Youyun "has a constant form of the old painter is difficult to work", it seems to be similar or not, everyone knows. The difficulty of animal painting is "constant form", and great attention is paid to the unity of god and form. In ancient times, due to the limitations of conditions, the depiction of animals relied on imagination, so there would be a situation of "drawing a tiger according to a cat" and "drawing a tiger is not an anti-dog". Modern painters have the conditions to observe sketching up close, and at the same time, they are influenced by the realism of Western painting, which makes the animal painting have a breakthrough in the accuracy of modeling, the coordination of movements, and the expression of fur texture.
According to Hao Jinxiu, the tiger on the poster of this exhibition chose Zhao Shaoang's "Caoze Xiongfeng Map" by Zhao Shaoang, the second generation of the Lingnan School, "This tiger's eyes are not very fierce but very tender, but the action is ready to go, as if it is going to rush out of the grass on the hillside." The tone of the whole exhibition is allegorically beautiful, and this tiger stripe is very delicate, so there is some low-key luxury temperament. ”
She also introduced that when the audience views the paintings of famous artists, they should focus on the various dynamic movements and expressions of the animals, especially the presentation of the eyes. Like Zhao Shaoang's "Ape Cry in the Moon and Night" and Rong Da's "Sleeping Beaver Diagram", they all depict the eyes of the beasts in detail. "Animals also have inner monologues."
Zhao Shaoang,"Moon Night Ape Cry"
Yang Shanshen,"Double Tiger"
Cheng Zhang's "Pine Monkey Diagram"
Zhang Shanxiao's "Four Horse Figures"
Important works:
Gao Jianfu "Tiger Howling Mountain Moon High"
Zhao Shaoang's "Kusakazawa Xiongfeng Map"
He Xiangning "Lion"
Ma Youqing and Xu Fang, "Five Horse Diagrams"
Xu Beihong,"Horse"
Zhu Wei "Ju Cat Diagram"
Lu Zhenhuan,"White Ape Red Leaves"
Deng Fen's "Oleander Cat Diagram"
Ding Yanyong "Cat, Stone, Bird"
Written by: Nandu reporter Zhou Peiwen Intern Zhou Zhengying Correspondent Li Kaiyu
Photo courtesy of Guangzhou Museum of Art