Tang Liang is a painter who has almost disappeared, and his name and life deeds are not recorded in various published dictionaries of Chinese artists.
According to the sporadic records in the literature such as Tsinghua Weekly, Tsinghua Annual Report, and Tsinghua Classmates, Tang Liang (1904-1944), Zhongming, a native of Wujiang, Jiangsu. He was admitted to Tsinghua University in 1918 and graduated in 1926. During his time at the school, he joined the art club initiated by Wen Yiduo and others, and served as a member of student clubs such as the Pingyin grade reviewer, the principal of the civilian school, and the educational society, the Esperanto Research Society, and the Donkey Husband Reading Institute. In 1927, he studied in the United States, specializing in Western painting. Three years later, he went to Paris for further study, and his works were exhibited in the French National Salon many times. He returned to China in August 1933. He died in the autumn of 1944. In addition to painting, he also published articles such as "Ingres", "Visiting Paintings in Spain", and "Going to Romantic Spain" in newspapers and periodicals such as "Ta Kung Pao", "Yilang", "Shanghai Art Monthly" and other newspapers and periodicals.
In the summer of 1933, Tang Liang, who was in his hometown of Wujiang, wrote a letter to Wen Yiduo, asking Wen Yiduo to "find trouble". Wen Yiduo "First, because there was no way to find things, and second, because of his recent lazy habit of writing letters, he did not reply to him." On January 11, 1934, Tang Liang's classmate Li Xiaobi (Xiaomin) visited Wen Yiduo. Knowing that Tang Liang was "still unemployed and too poor to even pay for the journey from home to Shanghai", Wen Yiduo consulted with Li Xiaobi and asked Tang Liang to immediately bring his works to Beiping, open an exhibition first, and then try to find a teaching position for him at the Beiping Art College prepared by Yan Zhikai. Under the circumstances of tight family expenses and extremely embarrassing life, Wen Yiduo sent 40 yuan to Tang Liang and said that Tang Liang could live in his house after he came. The reason why Wen Yiduo decided to "save" Tang Liang was because the death of his friend Zhu Xiang hit him hard and made him feel emotional. He once advised Rao Meng kan (Zi Li) not to send money to Zhu Xiang, thinking that "if you send it to him, you will save his life if you don't see it." For this reason, he "always felt uneasy", as if he "should be responsible" ("To Rao Mengkan", "The Complete Works of Wen Yiduo", vol. 12, Hubei People's Publishing House, 1993 edition, pp. 271-273). Therefore, when he aided Tang Liang, he did not want to see similar "tragedies" happen again.
After Tang Liang arrived in Beiping, he once lived in the home of Gu Yuxuan (Yiqiao) in Tsinghua Garden, but often painted in Wen Yiduo's home.
From February 3 to 10, 1934, Tang Liang's painting exhibition was sponsored by the European and American Returned Scholars Association and the Tsinghua Alumni Association, and was held in the European and American Alumni Association along the South River. The exhibition room is located in the west living room of the association, occupying two rooms, displaying more than 80 works of figures, landscapes, still lifes, compositions and other works.
Before the exhibition was officially opened to the public, Wen Yiduo, Gu Yuxuan, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Ye Gongchao, Rao Mengkan and others jointly wrote an invitation letter. This letter has not been mentioned by commentators, and it may be recorded as follows:
Mr. Tang Liang, a friend of qi qi, has studied in Europe and the United States for many years, specializing in fine arts. After returning from Paris, it is scheduled to start on February 3 (Saturday) and end on the tenth day, and more than 80 pieces of his works will be organized by the European and American Tsinghua Alumni Associations, and the exhibition will be held in the European and American Alumni Association along the South River. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon on February 2, I would like to prepare a cup of tea and invite a friendly visit to pray for a timeless visit to the Netherlands.
Gu Yiqiao, Liang Sicheng, Yu Shangyuan, Lin Huiyin, Ye Gongchao, Jin Yuelin, Wen Yiduo, Li Xiaomin, Li Tangyan, Rao Mengkan Tongqi. ("Artist Tang Liang's Works in Ping", Beijing Daily, February 1, 1934, 5th edition)
On the afternoon of February 2, about 110 people were invited to visit the European and American Returned Scholars Association, most of whom were professors from Peking universities (mostly Tsinghua University) and journalists. According to the tianjin "Ta Kung Pao" reporter, the exhibition room "has a signature book at the entrance, after signing, it is given a volume of exquisite catalogs, the beginning of the book has heard more than one "On the Form" an introduction to Tang paintings, about 1,000 words, the success of Tang paintings in the physical expression, elaboration of details" ("Tang Liang Painting Exhibition Starts Today", Tianjin "Ta Kung Pao", February 3, 1934, 1st 4th edition). The so-called "exquisite catalog" refers to the "Tang Liang Western Painting Exhibition". This 13-page booklet contains seven paintings and a catalogue of all exhibits, including "The Gardener", "Inside the Studio", "Still Life", "Wujiang Xianli Bridge", "Rest", "Sketch" and "Sketch", and the first of the book has a number of "On Form- An Introduction to Mr. Tang Zhongming's Paintings". On February 3, Wen Yiduo's article was published in Beiping Morning Post Beichen Academy No. 635. By the way, "On Form" was not included in the Enlightened Bookstore's 1948 edition of "Wen Yiduo's Complete Works", and although Zhu Ziqing and others had already compiled its title ("Preface to the Catalogue of Painting Exhibitions") into the "Proposed Heading", they had never found the original text. After the publication of the complete collection, Zhu Ziqing found an article "Kuang Zhai Talking about Art" from Wen Yiduo's posthumous manuscripts, which was published in the "Literary Magazine" in September 1948, Vol. 3, No. 4. "Kuang Zhai Talks about Art" has three chapters, and the second chapter is the main part of "On Form". The 1993 edition of Hubei People's Publishing House's "The Complete Works of Wen Yiduo" included "On Form", but the basis was not "originally contained", but a text compiled and reprinted by Chen Mengjia on November 17, 1956, in the "PEN Club" supplement of Shanghai Wen Wei Po on November 17, 1956. The text published on the "PEN Club" differs slightly from the album and the Beiping Morning Post, and the text at the end of the article reads "January 1934, Beijing." "When it was Chen Mengjia who added it."
After the exhibition of the European and American Returned Scholars Association was completed, Tang Liang held two painting exhibitions at Tsinghua University on March 3 and 17, and gave three consecutive speeches, namely "Art Appreciation" (13th), "Art of the Italian Renaissance Era" (19th) and "French Art of the Nineteenth Century" (20th). On March 31, Tianjin Municipal Art Museum held a painting exhibition, and Tang Liang was invited to participate. From April 4 to 6, he held a three-day solo exhibition at the Muzhai Library of Nankai University. Several new works were added to the exhibition, one of which was titled "Mr. Wen Yiduo's Study", which he painted at Wen Yiduo's home and was published in the 5th issue of Tianjin Yishi Bao Literature Weekly on April 4, 1934, "Unfortunately, the printing was bad, it was a mess" (Liu Yazi, "After Watching Tang Zhongming's Painting Exhibition", Tianjin Yishi Bao Literature Weekly, April 25, 1934, No. 8). This work was later published in Oriental Magazine, October 1, 1935, Vol. 32, No. 19 (Autumn King), entitled "Shuzhai" (below).
Tang Liang's painting exhibition has caused great repercussions in the Pingjin area, and even Yu Shan and Bing Xin have visited it. However, there are many opinions and different evaluations of his paintings.
In his diary of February 2, 1934, Zhu Ziqing briefly recorded the views of Ye Gongchao, Zhang Xiaochu, Li Jianwu and others:
"In the afternoon, I went to the European and American Students' Association to see Tang paintings, and according to Rao Zi leaving the clouds, the still life had entered the salon for several frames. Yu did not dare to criticize, Gong Chao said that the still life is the worst, unattractive, the best sketch. The painting of Lady Yu Shangyuan, Zhang Xiaochu said that the non-explanation did not recognize it. Ask Kengo, saying that in the past, the works were only practiced, and the scenery of the Wujiang River that he made after returning to China was better. Gong Chao said that there are too few Chinese topics. (The Complete Works of Zhu Ziqing, vol. 9, Jiangsu Education Publishing House, 1998, p. 279)
Liu Bannong wrote in his diary on February 10, 1934:
"In the afternoon, when I went to the European and American Alumni Association to see Tang Liang's painting exhibition, his skills were very deep, and he had a thorough study of light and color, and his oil-color sketches were particularly unique." ("Liu Bannong's Diary (January-June 1934)", New Literary Historical Materials, No. 1, 1991)
Many people believe that Tang Liang's paintings are "technically mature, and the materials are divorced from reality" (Keyi's "Tang Liang Painting Exhibition", Tianjin Ta Kung Pao, February 12 and 13, 1934, 4th edition of the 13th edition of the "City Annex")," "The most significant flaw in Tang's works is his disregard for real life" (Yan,"GuanHua Ji- Tang Liang's Western Painting Exhibition", North China Daily, Vice Leaf, February 11, 1934, No. 571). Wen Yiduo highly affirmed the value and significance of Tang Liang's painting in "On Form", in his view, "Form is the first meaning in painting, and there is nothing more important than it." He believes that "Mr. Zhongming's success in painting is multifaceted, and the most basic point in the interior is the expression of form."
Although Tang Liang's paintings are divided into opinions, his exhibition is undoubtedly successful. During the exhibition, he also sold some works. At the same time, he was hired as a professor of Western painting at the Beiping Art College. All this is inseparable from Wen Yiduo's all-out "rescue".
Author: Chen Jianjun
Editor: Xie Juan