Written by | Qiu Shuwan
Source | Interface art
Feng Shaoxie is known for his realistic oil painting portraits. He is good at exploring and revealing social reality through his works, drawing and showing the spiritual connotation of characters through details.
A critic once wrote: "Feng Shaoxie is a thinker who pays attention to society, he does not deliberately emphasize the purity of art, but takes the sense of social responsibility as the banner." It feels like a creation closer to the ground, with the courage of a 'people's artist' and representing the will of the 'majority'. In a previous interview with the media, Feng Shaoxie once said that "art is not just a wind and snow moon, not just a small emotion of an individual." Those things, as ornamentation, as the joy of everyday life, are very useful and useful. As a cultural person, we still have to look at the present from the height of history, culture, and home and country feelings, and create some good works to reflect the responsibility and responsibility for society and the nation. ”
From "Pay attention to the Chinese cultural market" in 2003, "Pigeons in the Middle East" in 2006, "One Hundred Years of Guangzhou" in 2009, "Maritime Silk Road" in 2015, "Chinese Communist Party Member - Zhong Nanshan" in 2020 to "China! rise! " and other large-scale series of works, Feng Shaoxie's creative attitude of paying attention to society has continued... He believes that a truly capable painter should paint more works that can be left for history.
1. Works collected by two of China's top cultural temples
Among them, in 2020, Feng Shaoxi's huge oil painting "Member of the Communist Party of China - Zhong Nanshan" made its debut, which caused widespread concern in society. Although the eye sockets of Academician Zhong Nanshan in the picture are full of tears, the eyes are full of perseverance, and the impactful picture shows his iron man tenderness vividly, and this work is also permanently collected by the National Art Museum of China because of its strong artistic appeal. Recently, Feng Shaoxie was invited to create a work of the same title again, which was permanently collected by the National Museum of China. The works of the same title have been collected by two of The Top Cultural Palaces in China, which is rare in the history of Chinese art.
Collection certificate from the National Museum of China
Collection certificate from the National Art Museum of China
Second, painting that strikes the heart is never simply copied
The outbreak that occurred in the spring of 2020 is still not over. However, the spirit of unity and common fight against the epidemic of the Chinese people is still exerting great energy, especially the medical workers represented by Academician Zhong Nanshan, who have been sticking to the front line of the fight against the epidemic.
During the lockdown in Wuhan, Academician Zhong Nanshan suddenly choked up during an interview, with tears in his eyes, a picture that has touched countless Chinese people. "In the face of the disaster, the great spirit of Academician Zhong Nanshan who dared to take responsibility and did his duty also touched me and made me create this work." Feng Shaoxie immediately used this as a prototype to create, and completed a huge oil painting "Member of the Communist Party of China - Zhong Nanshan" in half a month.
The work has a great artistic appeal, and many visitors were shocked by the content of the picture when they first saw this work. Because it is not the past, nor the future, it is the current epidemic. With the most affectionate strokes, it records thrilling and unforgettable moments, and also transmits spiritual strength to the current society. "Seeing this painting, my thoughts also returned to the anti-epidemic scene in Wuhan last year, when the epidemic situation was very severe, and my mood was also very anxious." Zhong Nanshan said, "I have paid attention to this work a long time ago, this work painted me rather haggard, but it truthfully reflected the situation at that time, and I am very grateful to Dean Feng for leaving me a very memorable work." ”
In the work, the painter's treatment of the characters not only restores the main social roles of the characters, but more importantly captures the spiritual world and emotional connotations in the expression. Feng Shaoxie once said, "My creation strives to capture and express the complexity and uniqueness of the objects I create. If there is a lack of expression of the mind and soul of the character, what is the use of just drawing like it? Painting that strikes the heart is never simply copied. ”
Li Jinkun, vice chairman of the China Artists Association, chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Artists Association, and president of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, once commented on the work: "Feng Shaoxie vividly shows us a heroic image who stepped forward in a time of crisis with realism, and the tears flowing from the characters' resolute eyes further deepen the theme, so that the characters have more power to directly hit the soul of the audience in their emotional interpretation." ”
"This masterpiece can be described as an extremely shining and outstanding representative work in the Guangdong Academy of Painting's special creation of 'Art War Epidemic'." Xu Qinsong, former vice chairman of the China Artists Association, chairman of the Guangdong Artists Association, and president of the Guangdong Academy of Painting, mentioned that Academician Zhong Nanshan in the picture is dignified and profound, and his heart is concerned about the people of his home country. And the finishing touch in the painting, the tears that the boy does not flick, excellently reflects the great love of Academician Zhong Nanshan and the magic of benevolence.
As Li Jinkun, vice chairman of the China Artists Association, chairman of the Guangdong Artists Association, and president of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, said, the reason why it touches people's hearts is related to the fact that the painting vividly shows a heroic figure who stepped forward in times of danger, and it is more related to the fact that the work has the power to directly hit the soul of the audience in terms of emotional interpretation.
Kong Wei, president of the Shandong Academy of Painting, said that whether it is the gray hair on his forehead, or the eye sockets full of tears, the anxious and resolute eyes, or the neck with vicissitudes, a large number of details deeply portray the spiritual characteristics of Academician Zhong's all-out struggle and the "epidemic" and the great love for the country and the people.
Hu Bin, dean and professor of the School of Arts and Humanities at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, believes that Feng Shaoxie is an artist who always pays attention to major social events and is good at promoting his own language exploration in social participation. In particular, the artist highlights the tears in his eyes and expresses a deep concern for the safety of the people. This is not just a portrait of an individual, but a "monument" to a group in which the party and the people are united in their will and overcome difficulties together.
Third, use art to record the moving, and freeze the moment for history
Up to now, Feng Shaoxie has created a total of four works of the same title, two large and two small. Two of them, with a width of 2.3 meters and a height of 1.8 meters, have now been collected by the National Art Museum of China and the National Museum of China, and the other two are 0.9 meters wide and 0.7 meters high, which are collected by Academician Zhong Nanshan himself and the Shanghai Art Broadway Art Museum.
Among them, the fate with the National Museum of China occurred in 2020, when the "Unity of Purpose - Anti-epidemic Theme Art Works Exhibition" was held at the National Museum, and "Member of the Communist Party of China - Zhong Nanshan" was displayed in the most conspicuous position at the entrance of the exhibition hall. "The oil painting portrait of Zhong Nanshan created by Feng Shaoxie has unique characteristics. Feng Shaoxi carefully portrayed Zhong Nanshan's inner world in the form of traditional Chinese painting, which included his perseverance and courage, his fearless dedication, his love and compassion, and his responsibility to the country and the people," commented Chen Lusheng, former deputy director of the National Museum of China.
"Unity of Purpose - Anti-epidemic Theme Art Works Exhibition" exhibition site 2021
Since then, the work has been unveiled in many important exhibitions such as "The Great Journey and the Picture scroll of the times - Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China", "Beauty in Science and Technology - Exhibition of Fine Art Works on the Theme of Science and Technology collected by the National Art Museum of China", "Beauty in Cultivation - New Year Exhibition of the National Art Museum of China", and "Centennial Fanghua - Exhibition of a Hundred Years of Party History in Fine Arts Classics" held by the Propaganda Department of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China.
"Member of the Communist Party of China – Zhong Nanshan", collected by the Shanghai Art Museum, 70x90cm, 2020 Feng Shaoxie
"Struggle - Echoes of the New China Years" Red Art Theme Exhibition Exhibition Site
In 2021, the work "Member of the Communist Party of China - Zhong Nanshan", which was collected by the Shanghai Art Badai Art Museum, was unveiled in the red art theme exhibition "Struggle - Echoes of the New China Years" organized by the museum, and together with "Tell the Truth - Zhang Wenhong" and "Smile from Wuhan - Li Lanjuan" created by Feng Shaoxie, it constituted a series of anti-epidemic character oil paintings. This group of realistic theme works showing the theme of the anti-epidemic spirit is portrayed in detail and touchingly, which makes many audiences admire, and also reflects Feng Shaoxie's strong concern for reality, and conveys the spiritual strength to the audience from the perspective of history, culture and family and country feelings.
Feng Shaoxi once frankly said that his creative path, in the selection and portrayal of the picture, he went through a large number of image materials at that time, hoping to achieve the effect is not only to paint like, but also to "have flesh and blood, have thought and depth and both form and spirit", and the creative process also changes its manuscript several times. In the end, the tearful close-up of Academician Zhong Nanshan left the finishing touch for the painting. "I want to use the form of oil painting to make this feeling forever frozen in the history of art, but also to record the contribution of a Chinese to the world in the history of human disasters."