Famous painter Mr. Wu Guanzhong
When the late famous painter Mr. Wu Guanzhong was alive, a reporter asked him: "What do you think of attachment?" Mr. Wu Guanzhong replied: "Persistence should be a kind of truth." "I feel that this can be said to be the master's own way. I have seen Mr. Wu Guanzhong's persistence with my own eyes.
I can't remember whether it was 2000 or 2001, when Wu Guanzhong and his old friend Zhu Dequn visited the Lu Xun Memorial Hall in Shanghai. At ten o'clock in the morning, Five or six people from Elder Wu and Elder Zhu arrived at the memorial hall, and I received two highly respected elderly people in the art world with great respect. When I led them through the large staircase in the lobby, ascended to the second floor, stepped into the preamble hall of Lu Xun's life exhibition, and was about to give a lecture, Wu Guanzhong suddenly asked: "Is this the former residence of Mr. Lu Xun?" "I was amazed and thought, isn't that what you know at first glance?" Of course not! So he replied, "This is the Lu Xun Memorial Hall, not the Former Residence." "Ah! Then I don't look. I want to see the former home. Let's go! After saying that, I turned my head and went downstairs, I tried to explain and stay, but he didn't listen at all, and the group hula followed him downstairs, leaving me alone behind.
This left me dumbfounded. Our new museum, just renovated and expanded shortly after the completion of the completion, is a brand new memorial hall, which displays a large number of first-hand Lu Xun cultural relics, obviously not the same thing as the former residence, Elder Wu will not understand, why would he resist it so much? Did he see something that disgusted him so much? And, before he came, didn't know that this was a memorial? Maybe it's because of the tight schedule?
Despite my surprise, I immediately returned to my senses, hurried to follow them, and enthusiastically led them to Lu Xun's former residence in the new village of mainland China on Shanyin Road. When I arrived at the former residence, I carefully told them about the situation of the former residence, about all aspects of Lu Xun's time here, about what people had borrowed from those rooms, and what the origins and stories of those furniture and furnishings were. Elder Wu looked very slowly and carefully, as if they were contemplating, and didn't say much. The small three floors, the average person looks at it for twenty minutes, even if it is very careful, Elder Wu they watched for more than half an hour before they finished it. Downstairs, Elder Wu suddenly proposed: I want to see Lu Xun's bathroom. I was surprised again: in general, the more important guests, the time is relatively tight, so often do not look at the bathroom, even if you look at the bathroom, the original inside is very simple, the introduction is relatively simple, guests generally at the door probe a look at the departure. This time, because there was a delay in the memorial hall for a while, it was not early, so I did not make an introduction when I took Elder Wu and them through the door of the bathroom on the second floor. But After Reading It, Elder Wu had to go upstairs again to see the bathroom! Well, I'll take them back upstairs to see the bathroom. In the large bathroom on the second floor, he pointed to the bathtub and asked me, "Is this the original?" Hasn't it changed inside? After reading it, he asked, "Is this one bathroom?" Anything else? I was stunned again: who looked at the bathroom so carefully? Lu Xun's bathroom actually has three places, but the most important is the large bathroom on the second floor, with a cast iron bathtub, which is the kind of bath with the sea baby in Pu Cunxin's "Lu Xun" movie. There are also two places that we generally do not open to the audience: one is opposite the kitchen in the back door on the first floor, which is set up at the corner under the stairs; the other is on the landing of the stairs on the third floor, both of which are very small and have only a flush toilet. Elder Wu didn't let go of every place, and I had to look at them one by one, so I had to take them there. In the small bathroom on the third floor, he opened the door and went inside to take a closer look. Then he turned around and pointed to the cast iron tank inside and asked, "Is this the original?" I said, "Yeah! Elder Wu said, "This kind of water tank is now invisible!" I said: The original state of Lu Xun's former residence in Shanghai is very well preserved, and there are a total of 400 items in it, except for an eight-immortal table, which was specially bought from the "Huaiguo Old" on Huaihai Road when Xu Guangping personally went from Beijing to Shanghai to arrange Lu Xun's former residence in 1950 and prepare to open to the outside world, and the rest are all the originals of Lu Xun's lifetime.
After looking at the small bathroom under the stairs on the first floor, it was already past twelve o'clock. As soon as Elder Wu turned around, he saw that the kitchen opposite Lu Xun's house was there, and asked me, "Is this a kitchen?" I replied yes. The kitchen door was locked, and Elder Wu asked, "Can you see this?" "I was surprised again, and I was embarrassed: this kitchen room, which was not yet open to the public at that time, was not cleaned inside, it was a bit chaotic, and the key was in the memorial hall, and it could not be opened for a while. I said apologetically, "Elder Wu, this has not yet opened to the public." The keys are not here. Elder Wu asked stubbornly, "Where is the key?" Can I go and get it? I said, "The key is in the memorial, you want to see it, I'll let you get it, but it will take some time, can you wait?" Elder Wu said, "Well, let's wait!" "I hurried to get the key to the memorial. Elder Wu and Elder Zhu sat and chatted in the reception room next door to the former residence. I said, "Elder Wu, no one has ever seen these places, such as the bathroom and the kitchen." Elder Wu said: "I have to look at these corners and corners, and I have to look at every detail of life." It was already half past twelve, but they were still in high spirits and didn't care about the time. As I listened to the chat between the two of them, I wondered how he could be so interested in these horns that he waited hungry to see these dusty places.
Since the staff who kept the keys just went to dinner, they waited for a long time before the staff brought the keys. The two old men went to see Lu Xun's kitchen with great interest, saw an old-fashioned ophir brand gas stove, were very interested, and asked a lot of questions: What age is this? What manufacturers produce? Can it still be used? I told them that this was the standard at the time, and there was already pipeline gas in this area. But there is currently no ventilation, because it cannot be used as a cultural relic. Elder Wu looked left and right around the gas stove, while discussing, he felt that the structure inside was not damaged, and thought that it should still be usable. Then, contentedly, head out. At this time, Elder Wu suddenly said, "I remember that there was a plaster plaster mask of Lu Xun before, why didn't I see it?" I said, "Yes! Yes! "Where is that?" "It's on display in the Lu Xun Memorial Hall where we just went!" Wu Laolian claimed remorse. However, at this time, it was already nearly one o'clock in the afternoon, and Elder Wu still had to rush to other places, and it was too late to go to the memorial hall to see it, so they had to not even eat lunch, so they hurried to other places.
Looking at the figure of Elder Wu and others leaving, all I left was emotion: This is Mr. Wu Guanzhong's persistence! Now that I think about it, Mr. Wu Guanzhong has painted "Wild Grass", "Lu Xun's Poetic Intentions" and "Lu Xun's Hometown", and even painted Lu Xun's remains, but has not painted lu Xun and Shanghai subjects. That time I actually went to the memorial hall without looking, eagerly searching for Lu Xun's former residence in Shanghai, insisting on searching for every detail of the former residence, could it be that I planned to create Lu Xun's works on the theme of Shanghai? Although I did not see him create a work on this subject in the end, this does not mean that he does not have this intention, but perhaps it reflects a kind of persistence: he is still looking for reality, looking for inspiration, because "attachment should be a kind of reality"
Author: Wang Xirong
Editor: Fan Jing