In Xi'an in March, the drizzle was endless, and about three or five friends came to Xintai Garden in the south of the city to visit the old artist Mr. Zhang Zhen. Elder Zhang is 78 years old this year, in addition to reading, writing, painting, usually rarely go out. According to Elder Zhang, when he was sketching, he basically ran all over the country. Usually like to practice martial arts, once worshiped a monk as a teacher, until now every morning to play three sets of boxing, 66 years old also often to the basketball court to play, can be described as old and strong. Usually, I read a lot of books, but also more miscellaneous, all kinds of classic ancient books, four books and five classics, character biographies, strange things... Omniscient, omniscient, omniscient. Zhang Lao was inspired to become a mathematician from a young age, and because of his love of calligraphy and painting, he often observed painting from the ancient books left by his ancestors, or studied calligraphy, learned to learn, painted, and decades passed in a flash.
When Zhang Lao was young, he loved to paint Chinese painting, and he also engaged in oil painting for thirteen years, taught more than 300 outstanding students, never one of whom fell off the list, and often went to the Academy of Fine Arts to substitute for classes. Since 1979, he has changed to painting landscape painting, because he realized that the flowers in Chinese painting are mainly vivid and interesting, and the figure paintings are expressive and expressive, and only landscape painting can express the author's broad feelings. In fact, the mountains and rivers have an open mind and a quiet tolerance, and the so-called benevolent Leshan wise people Leshui are also.
Zhang Lao usually devotes himself to painting and rarely goes out to participate in pen meetings, mainly because such occasions are too noisy and noisy, and a little disrespectful to the audience; as an artist, first of all, you can't think that you are on top of yourself, you can't live forever, and you can't show your might in front of the people; a good painting should have emotions in it, otherwise they are all short-lived secular products, which are all the disasters caused by the sublime and charming. The culture of foreigners is concrete, they are built with ideal emotions; the culture of Chinese is intentional and metaphysical; so Western culture is "pizza culture", and some things are all expressed outside; and Chinese culture is "dumpling culture", which is simple and rich in connotation.
Zhang Lao's paintings come from life and know how to pay, he is willing to serve the society, and there is a spirit of not seeking returns. The ultimate enjoyment of life should be to live and work in peace, a bed, a mouth, no amount of money is useless, clean to come, clean to go; not waste years, do not do nothing. Therefore, Zhang Lao's creation has truth, goodness and beauty, real reality, goodness is reasonable, and beauty is natural. He writes about life and records the times, such as the traces left on some walls after withstanding the test of history, and its own value is a work of art that has experienced the vicissitudes of history. For example, when rural women wash their clothes, they throw dirty water on the ground outside, although it is a lump of dirty water, but it is also the fruit of labor, and it is a beautiful painting in itself. These are the most simple, natural, living, emotional historical classics, all these real histories have been recorded by Zhang Lao with a paintbrush, and never sensationalized, let alone willing to leave people with an immature or shallow feeling.
The standard of art has a road, there is a boundary line up and down, you can't cross the boundary, and you can't lose the main route. Appreciating a good painting is like appreciating a beautiful woman, the more you look at it, the better it looks, everyone loves to look at it, indicating that it is really good-looking, this is the real beauty, the real beauty can withstand a closer look!
Today's painters, many of whom are a little impetuous, and palatial, flashy things have become a common phenomenon. For the sake of the future of the motherland and the hope of the nation, we must revitalize Chinese art, although it is difficult and difficult, we should also establish a relatively rational aesthetic standard, so that the people have a simple understanding of art. In order to enhance the self-confidence of the nation and the great rejuvenation of mankind, this requires the popularization of the cultural accomplishment and aesthetics of the whole nation, one level is the technical level, and the other level is the spiritual field. Let us pay tribute to the older generation of artists who are still fighting in the frontline, follow the example, and work tirelessly for the popularization of art.
Zhang Zhen, Zi Zhen, Shiqiao, Ruogu, etc., are from Wugong County, Shaanxi Province. He was a tutor at home, liked poetry and books, and had been visiting the ancient sages to paint the Fa Ti and lay a solid foundation. He has been tirelessly pursuing the art of Chinese painting for nearly 60 years, and is known for his landscape painting, forming an artistic style with deep brush and ink and magnificent atmosphere.
His Chinese paintings have participated in many art exhibitions in the five northwestern provinces and the country, won dozens of awards, and have been collected by professional institutions and private collectors in the Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and other professional institutions. He has published "Zhang Zhenguo Painting Collection", "Zhang Zhen Landscape Painting Collection", "Zhang Zhen Sketch Painting Collection" and other works.
Zhang Zhen has taught at Xingping Shaanchai Middle School and Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, and has trained more than 360 students to enter Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and foreign universities with noble teacher morality, and has been loved by students and widely respected by society. He named the studio "Feng Jingzhai", expressing the unremitting pursuit of an artist. The wind and the grass are Zhang Zhen's character and his art. Zhang Zhen in life is humble and low-key, without the slightest "artist's face" that people commonly see.
Zhang Zhen is currently the vice chairman of the China Modern Calligraphy and Painting Art Association, a national first-class artist, a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Artists Association, a researcher of the Xi'an Academy of Literature, History and Art, and the vice president of the Shanglin Academy of Calligraphy and Painting.