The Paper's reporter Lu Linhan
The creation of red themes is an important part of the works in the collection of the Shanghai Academy of Chinese Painting, and Chairman Mao's poems are an important creative theme in the red theme. On September 18th, the "Picturesque Landscape of Jiangshan - Exhibition of Mao Zedong's Poetry Theme Works collected by the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy" opened at the Shanghai Cheng Shifa Art Museum, presenting 42 works (groups) on the theme of Chairman Mao's poetry collected by the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, covering painting, calligraphy, seal carving and other categories, including Feng Zikai's book "Seven Words vs. Chairman Mao's Verses", Wu Hufan's painting "Lushan Immortal Cave", He Tianjian's painting "Northern Scenery Map" and so on.
Showroom scene
Chairman Mao's poems and literature
Painting with poetry is a tradition of Chinese painting, and Su Dongpo said that Wang Mojie "has poetry in painting and painting in poetry". The landscape idylls since the Wei and Jin dynasties have influenced later landscape paintings, and now Mao Zedong's poetic realm is born from nature, and from his revolutionary career and life experience, and the grandeur and romance are poured into the landscape of the motherland.
The surging news reporter learned that "the relationship between poetry and calligraphy and painting" and "the relationship between Chairman Mao's poetry and traditional calligraphy and painting" are the directions explored in this exhibition. Through the presentation of exhibits and document explanations, the exhibition answered the visitors' three questions: "Why should Mao Zedong's poetry be the theme of creation", "how painters search for the artistic conception of Mao Zedong's poetry in natural mountains and rivers", and "What is the significance of the creation of Mao Zedong's poetry theme", in order to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
Poetry Journal
Mao Zedong handwriting
In 1957, the inaugural issue of the Poetry Journal launched 18 poems by Mao Zedong, including Mao Zedong's "Qinyuan Chun Changsha", "Xijiangyue Jinggangshan", "Bodhisattva Man Dabaidi", "Yi qin'e Lou shan guan", "Sixteen Character Orders and Three Songs", "Seven Laws and Long March", "Qingping Le Liupanshan", "Nian Nu Jiao Kunlun", "Qinyuan Chun Xue", "Huanxi Sha and Mr. Liu Yazi". As soon as the inaugural issue was published, Mao Zedong's poetry set off a nationwide learning boom for the first time. At this time, the painter of the academy began to create the theme of Mao Zedong's poems. For example, in 1958, Wang Fu'an composed the calligraphy "Chairman Mao < Water Tune Song Head > Words", and Lai Chusheng's engraving of "Counting the Popular Figures and Looking at the Present Dynasty" published by Lai Chusheng to celebrate the thirty-seventh anniversary of the founding of the Party.
Explanation of Chairman Mao's Poetry
Mao Zedong's poems published by the People's Daily
Mao Zedong's poems published by Guangming Daily
Since then, Mao Zedong's poems have been published or published in people's dailys, cultural relics publishing houses, people's literature publishing houses, etc. At the beginning of 1964, "Ten Poems of Chairman Mao" were published in people's dailys and guangming dailys. On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Shanghai Academy of Chinese Painting launched a creative task with Chairman Mao's poems as the theme. Ying Yeping's "Scenery Is Unique here", Wu Hufan's "Lushan Immortal Cave", He Tianjian's "Infinite Scenery in Dangerous Peaks" and so on were all created for the National Day in 1964.
Thirty-Seven Poems of Chairman Mao
"Poems of Chairman Mao"
In addition, the exhibition hall also presents "Poems of Chairman Mao" and "Thirty-seven Poems of Chairman Mao". The 1963 edition of the poetry collection was compiled with the personal participation of Mao Zedong, with a summative character, and has special significance. The Cultural Relics Publishing House published "Thirty-Seven Poems of Chairman Mao" in the style of the Song Edition, while the People's Literature Publishing House's "Poems of Chairman Mao", with the same content as the Cultural Relics Publishing House, contained 37 poems, and the cover used Mao Zedong's favorite plum blossom pattern.
The painters' poetic conception of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong's poems are picturesque, "thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow", "infinite scenery in the dangerous peaks", "the scenery is unique here", "when the mountains and flowers are full of flowers, she laughs in the bushes" and so on are all familiar famous sentences in his poems. Therefore, the painters of the Shanghai China Painting Academy combined with sketching to find many paintings that are in line with traditional landscapes, thus creating many works that are different from the ancient customs since the Qing Dynasty.
Curator Liu Yuqian told The Paper, "There are about 100 calligraphy and painting works on Mao Zedong's poetic imagery in the academy, and 42 pieces are presented in this exhibition. The exhibition line is arranged according to the timeline of Mao Zedong's poetry, such as "Qinyuan Chun Changsha", written in 1925, which is also his early poetry, and related works are also at the front of the exhibition hall. ”
Feng Zikai's book "Seven Words to Chairman Mao's Verses", 1965
Shen Yin's book "Three Poems of Chairman Mao", 1964
Qian's thin iron seal "Chairman Mao< Bu Operator Yongmei >", 1965
Liu Danzhai, "Mao Zedong < Butterfly Loves Flowers> Word Meaning", 1960
Tang Yun, Lu Yifei, Wang Qiyuan, "Dare to Teach the Sun and Moon for a New Heaven", 1965
Most of the works in the exhibition were created in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in 1964 and 1965. Among them, Shen Yinmo's juzhang xingshu "Three Poems of Chairman Mao", Feng Zikai's six-foot long link, Wu Hufan's Chairman Mao's poetry cursive calligraphy union, Qian Shantie's "Chairman Mao's Poetry Seal Engraving" long volume, Ying Yeping's "Ten Thousand Mountains Red All Over the Forest" and so on were exhibited for the first time. In addition, some of the works present a style rarely seen in the personal art of the painters of the Shanghai China Academy of Painting, such as Tang Yun's "Dare to Teach the Sun and The Moon for a New Heaven" with Lu Yifei and Wang Qiyuan.
He Tianjian's "Northern Scenery Map"
In the center of the exhibition hall is a section on the "Long March", and the curator said, "These works are all painted according to the poems he created during the Long March, and his Long March spirit is also what we need to learn." Among the exhibits, He Tianjian's work "Northern Scenery Map" is a typical representative. He no longer uses the Four Kings formula to create, but starts from the natural mountains and rivers, using Mao Zedong's poetry as the carrier to make his landscape paintings look new.
Zhang Dazhuang, "Chairman Mao Yongmei Words (Part III)", 1964
After the "Long March" plate, it is the "Yongmei" plate. Plum blossoms are the things that have been loved by poets of our country for generations, and Mao Zedong's plum blossoms are intended to create a beautiful and tenacious image of plum blossoms, so as to encourage people to have an indomitable spirit. Among them, Zhang Dazhuang's works embody the spirit of positivity and optimism; while Chen Peiqiu uses a delicate female technique to show the purity of plum blossoms.
Chen Peiqiu, "Chairman Mao's Yongmei Words", 1964
In this exhibition area, the most interesting thing is undoubtedly Qian Shantie's long volume of "Chairman Mao's Poetry seal carving". The long volume is inscribed with ten poems by Mao Zedong, composed in 1964, also to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of New China. In January 1964, people's daily and guangming daily simultaneously published ten poems by Mao Zedong, including "Seven Laws: The People's Liberation Army Occupies Nanjing", "Seven Laws, Denglushan", "Bu Operator Yongmei", "Seven Absolutes, Photographs of the Immortal Cave of Lushan Mountain taken by Comrade Li Jin", "Seven Laws and Comrade Guo Moruo", and "Seven Laws and Winter Clouds". The content of this volume is the same as the ten poems of Chairman Mao published in the newspaper, and Qian Shutie should have used this as the inspiration for his creation.
The exhibition hall scene Qian Skinny Iron "Chairman Mao's Poetry Seal Engraving" long volume
Unfortunately, the long curl edges do not contain the associated seals. According to Wu Yiren, a disciple of Qian Skinny Iron and a well-known golden stone seal engraver, "In the early 1960s, the first master began to systematically print Mao Zedong's poems, expanding them into a spectrum, and many of them were printed several times, which shows his meticulous attitude of creation. Most of the seals of the "Ten Poems of Mao Zedong" of the ancestors are multi-faceted prints, and the stone quality is very poor, the original 68 sides, and now several of the original seals have been lost. ”
Qian Shutie's "Seal Engraving of Chairman Mao's Poems" (Partial)
The final section of the exhibition is Mao Zedong's poetic imagery works during the construction period. Since the beginning of the preparation of the academy in 1956, the academy has organized painters to go out to sketch and investigate every year and go deep into life. From Suzhou to Nanjing, from Fuchun River to Xin'an River, from Yandang Mountain to Jinggang Mountain. The painters integrated the new look and atmosphere of new China into the romantic poetry of Mao Zedong's revolution, and developed into a new look of "red" landscape with epochal significance. In these works, we can see the image of the vast number of working people rooted in natural mountains and industrial construction.
Wu Hufan, "Lushan Immortal Cave", 1964
Ying Yeping, "Scenery Alone", 1964
This is an important process of traditional painting in the 20th century. It not only reflects the new exploration and experimentation of painters in art, but also shows the strong vitality of traditional Chinese painting to keep pace with the times.
The exhibition will be on view until February 16, 2022.
Editor-in-Charge: Li Mei
Proofreader: Shi Gong