In the first half of the twentieth century, some painters, represented by Lin Fengmian, actively sought a development path that combined oil painting with the spiritual charm of Chinese painting. His disciple Su Tianci (1922-2006) also adhered to this spirit, combining brushstrokes, boldness and brilliance, and created many excellent "freehand oil paintings" works, forming a unique oil painting expression style, and eventually becoming a generation of outstanding oil painters and art educators.
Su Tianci (1922—2006)
"Su Tianci is the staunchest and most loyal executor of Lin Fengmian Art. It can even be said that Su Tianci was the most important person who further advanced Mr. Lin Fengmian's ideas and art of integrating Chinese and Western ideas after Lin Fengmian," said Li Dajun, founder of Potential Image Space. From the market level, in the Lin Fengmian system, several of his students such as Zao Wou-ki, Zhu Dequn, and Wu Guanzhong have been widely recognized in the market, and the price has already exceeded 100 million yuan. However, Su Tianci is an artist who is undervalued by the art market, and his personal maximum transaction price is still stuck at 8.05 million yuan, and there is still a lot of room for appreciation.
Three-dimensional presentation of Su Tianci's artistic life
At present, the "Writing persuasion to live in the spring - Su Tianci Centennial Birth Anniversary Exhibition", which is being exhibited at Guardian Art Center, reviews the growth path of oil painting master Su Tianci, bringing together more than 60 artistic masterpieces such as Su Tianci's oil paintings, watercolors, wax paintings, and drawings, covering the representative works of various periods of his artistic career, and presenting Su Tianci's artistic life in a three-dimensional and comprehensive way.
Exhibition site
The works in this exhibition come from the three parts of "Family Collection", "Art Museum Collection" and "Museum Collection", all of which are treasures carefully cherished by all parties and rarely displayed to the public. Here you can not only enjoy Su Tianci's early 1940s masterpieces "West Lakeside", "Statue of the Woman in Blue", "Tina" (Guangdong Museum of Art), and you can also see su Tianci's three "last masterpieces" "Autumn Willow", "Winter Lake" and "Morning Dawn" before his death, as well as the scenery, still life and flower theme works that are highly respected by the Tibetan community, which is a panoramic reproduction of the artist's tireless artistic life. Lu Yinghua, director of the Middle Art Museum, said: "From the perspective of the study of art history, this exhibition provides us with good materials and materials, and opens up many new perspectives for us to understand the historical context of Contemporary Art in China in the 20th century in a deeper and more concrete way. ”
Portraiture triggers a more mature artistic exploration
Su Tianci's "Portrait of Tina" was written in 1948
Collection of Guangdong Museum of Art
Among them, the highlight of the exhibition is Su Tianci's most famous early figure painting "Tina Statue" created in the 1940s, which is a collection of the Guangdong Museum of Art and can be said to be the treasure of the town hall. This work was only borrowed at the National Art Museum of China when it was in the 100-year exhibition, and the rest of the time is rare to see. This work is one day in 1948, he went to visit Lin Fengmian's home, it was lin fengmian daughter Tina's birthday, as a birthday gift, Lin Tina sat on a rattan chair in the courtyard, Su Tianci painted "Lin Tina" in more than an hour, which was greatly appreciated by Lin Fengmian, and asked Su Tianci to paint a portrait of himself the next day, that is, the later "Mr. Lin Fengmian in the Forties". Both of these oil paintings were completed in an instant, but they were greatly appreciated by Mr. Lin Fengmian, which made Su Tianci's confidence double.
Su Tianci's "Statue of the Woman in Blue" was written in 1948
On the basis of these two paintings, Su Tianci created "Statue of the Woman in Blue" and "Portrait of the Woman in Black", these two paintings based on his wife not only poured out Su Tianci's love, but also triggered his more mature artistic exploration. "In the painting, I seek the combination of form and line, the combination of form and God, and try to indulge my feelings and give the painting a rhythmic life." This also marked the first maturation of Su Tianci's painting style. Elder Su himself said, "I think I have arrived at a station." This is the end of a journey, and it is the beginning of a road. I looked excitedly into the future, and I saw my avenue paved right in front of me. From these two works, you can see the traces of masters such as Matisse and Modigliani in terms of shape and color, but Su Tianci's lines obviously belong to China. Today, "The Woman in Black" has been included in the National Art Museum of China as one of Su Tianci's only remaining early masterpieces.
Su Tianci "Spring Wind And Willow Thousands"
Estimate: RMB 1,500,000-2,000,000
Realized price: RMB 7,475,000
The second highest price for individual artists
China Guardian Autumn Auction 2016
This exhibition also brings Su Tianci's portraits of people from different periods such as "Portrait of Pseudo-Ancient Style", "Thousands of Willows in spring wind", "Snow Cicada", "French Girl" and so on. Looking at Su Tianci's lifelong creation, this is not the style he is best at and most representative, but it has the meaning of coordinate points. This is the effort made by artists to adapt to the requirements of literary and artistic creation in a specific historical period, and to reconcile the needs of the times with their self-pursuit.
Su Tianci "French Girl" (1987).
Landscape painting is perfect for the environment
What makes Su Tianci's art perfect is his landscape painting. In Su Lao's landscape masterpieces, he always maintains a soft smudge, a brisk point, a contrast tension between smooth lines and powerful brushstrokes, especially the depiction of branches of different rings, overcoming obstacles in rhythm, some like swallows dotting water, some like flying horses galloping, the inner emotional rhythm is pulled to the limit, and the works are more concise and imagery, even abstract.
Su Tianci's "West Lakeside" was written in 1949
"Spring light" is the key word for interpreting su Tianci's oil painting art. Behind the bright and bright colors and vigorous and vivid brushstrokes, it is actually Su Tianci's tortuous experience. The dark and narrow house of his childhood, the haze and rain of adulthood, and everything in the first half of his life made Su Tianci scarred, but he was not cynical, did not give up on himself. He chose to use his poetic eyes to find spring light in a world full of suffering, standing in front of the canvas and writing the beauty in his heart.
Su Tianci's "Photograph" was composed in 1984
The spring light that Su Tianci was looking for never stopped at vision. For example, he was passionate about classical music, loved Vivaldi's violin concerto "Four Seasons", had a special love for Beethoven's violin sonata "Spring", and even danced with the melody during the painting process. When he smeared these inner feelings, his pen was the benefit of spring.
Su Tianci", "Peach Blossom", 2002
In "Li River" created in 2002, you can see the strong oriental taste and inner imprint. In terms of painting techniques, "Li River" draws on the brush and ink and expression methods of traditional Chinese freehand landscapes, showing the scenery and meaning of the Li River. Through the transparent brushstrokes, the beautiful scenery of the Li River is displayed, and the realm of "the unity of heaven and man" is achieved in traditional Chinese landscape painting. The work has a wide field of vision, the part of the visual center of the picture is written, the overlapping of the distant mountains and the misty sense of water, which perfectly fit the three distances emphasized in classical landscape painting. Without the thick coating method, diluted paint and light brush strokes, ethereal and dashing, add to the hazy poetry of the painting.
Su Tianci 'Li River' (2002).
In "Frost Leaf Rudan", a large number of warm orange and red tones are used as the main body and slightly embellished with light yellow dots and light pink, and the color is bold and direct. With informal depictions, the whole picture gives people a warm and comfortable visual enjoyment. The works fully sublimate the beauty of objective objects and images, and the beauty of art arises spontaneously. For the depiction of the trees of Xiao Ser, we can glimpse Su Lao's ease with the use of lines.
Su Tianci "Frost Leaves Like Dan"
In Su Tianci's "Autumn Willow", Su Lao borrows the natural scenery of Jiangnan to express his feelings for nature. The color of the picture is bright, the lines are colorful and ethereal, showing a strong oriental rhyme and the aesthetic mood of the Chinese nation, full of poetry rhythm. In particular, the brushwork of traditional calligraphy such as dry pen, astringent pen and flying white is used when depicting willow branches and wicker, which makes the picture full of chewiness, full of charm, and full of rich oriental temperament, which can be described as a major feature.
Su Tianci "Autumn Willow"
Su Tianci "Autumn Willow" (partial)
Ethereal floral still life
In addition to portraits and landscape paintings, another major theme created by Su Tianci is floral still lifes. The flowers he creates with oil paints are both moving and full of ethereal and beautiful artistic conceptions, as if a light musical melody is slowly flowing. For different flowers, Su always grasps their essence: Narcissus is simple and simple, spitting out fragrance, full of stars flashing and jumping, personality is lively, Ziwei is gorgeous and luxurious... Each floral still life is full of unexpected brushstrokes and fun, while being lyrical and poetic.
Su Tianci's "Cockscomb Flower" was written in 2000
Su Tianci 'Oleander' was written in 1964
At present, the third most expensive work in Su Tianci's personal auction is a floral still life work "Self-Chunhui Full Acacia", which is the cover work of "Su Tianci's Complete Works", when the Nanjing Academy of Arts edited this book, the members of the organizing committee who participated in the compilation unanimously agreed that this was the most wonderful still life flower work of the painter, and it was also one of the most important creations in Su Tianci's artistic career. The painter expresses his nostalgia for spring by depicting acacia flowers, the colors are fresh and elegant, the formal language is colorful and ethereal, showing a strong oriental charm and national aesthetic atmosphere, full of fresh vitality and poetic rhythm, with a very high artistic realm.
Su Tianci "Self-owned Spring Hui Full Of Locust" (not this exhibit)
Estimate: RMB 800,000-1,200,000
Realized price: RMB 5,290,000
The third highest price for individual artists
China Guardian Spring Auction 2018
Su Tianci's "Flowers and Peaches" was written in 1982
Su Tianci's "Yellow Flowers in Clay Pots" in 2001
Set an example for future generations
In his creative practice, Su Tianci boldly integrated the essence of traditional Chinese painting and formed a unique oil painting expression style. He is a practitioner who really brings oil painting to localization, and his persistent pursuit of the concept of oil painting art has set an example and model for countless future generations, and inspired a new generation of oil painting artists. "This commemorative exhibition of su Tianci's centenary of birth is neither an auction preview nor a commercial exhibition, but an exhibition of an art institution and a group of art practitioners, paying tribute to the artistic sages and predecessors." All the tones and tastes of this exhibition, as well as all the beautiful words contained in it that belong to the sublime artistic realm, can be interpreted in this exhibition," said Li Dajun, founder of Potential Image Space.
Exhibition site
In addition to the academic presentation of Su Tianci's career, one of the highlights of this exhibition is the addition of multimedia display methods. "I hope that younger audiences can better appreciate the beauty of Su Lao's artistic conception of these works, and better contact and interaction with Su Lao's art works through a more relaxed and interactive way." Zhu Lin, senior business manager for 20th Century and Contemporary Art, said in an interview with Artron Art Network.
"Writing to persuade the spring to live" can be called a portrayal of the lifelong artistic pursuit of oil painting master Su Tianci. It is believed that after academic sorting and operation, Su Tianci's art market still has a large room for growth.
Exhibition site