当代人物画大家王子武
如果有人问我，在二十世纪中国美术领域，哪门艺术成就最为显著，我会毫不犹豫地回答：中国画人物画。理由是，它打破了我国数百年来人物画沉沦的状况，不仅恢复了魏晋、唐宋人物画写形传神的光辉传统，塑造了许多有血有肉、有时代气息的人物形象，而且在语言上有新的突破和拓展，予人以强烈的艺术感染和精神鼓舞，从而推动了社会的变革，成为中国现代文化生活中不可或缺的重要艺术形式。
绘画是一种视觉艺术，大众通过观看受到某种刺激，引起感情和心理的变化，转而对思想产生影响。画作中被观看的对象，必须要有某种形的展示，尤其是人物画，具体的形象不可或缺。早在南齐时期，谢赫便在他的著作《画品》中把“应物象形”和“气韵生动”作为“六法”的重要内容。从此，写形传神、形神兼备便成为中国历代绘画的品评标准。
绘画不以简单的写形为目的，而是要通过写形来传达神韵，表现内在精神。绘画中抽象的神或精神不可能独立存在，而是寄寓实在的形之中。就形与神两者之间的关系而言，中国画与西画有共同的追求，都讲究写形不忘传神。然而中国画对这一点更为关注、更加强调，这与在先秦诸子哲学影响下的古代美学观念有密切关系。中国文论中的意象说，突出“意”的作用。“意”，主要是指创作者对客观物象的认识、体会和感受，强调艺术家在把握对象过程中主观意念的作用，有相当的主观性。又由于中国画运用笔墨的勾、勒、点、擦、皴、染来写形写神，传达作者的感情和趣味，显然比起西画来，就更具主观意识，更具哲学意味，这也是中国画的魅力和独特的价值所在。
但是一切理论和主张都有某种规定性和制约性，中国画的意象说和写意理论如果忽视或忘记它存在的前提，即是在对客观物象深刻观察和研究基础上的追求，就容易走向反面，丢掉对物质形态、结构和内在意义的生动表现，或导致画面的概念化，或造成笔墨语言的符号化。晚清以来末流的文人画即落入了这样的陷阱而不能自拔。绘画的衰退，尤其是人物画的式微，当然难以避免。
现代中国画的人物画掘起于二十世纪初，其时中国社会正面临摆脱封建、殖民、贫穷和走向独立、民主、解放的大变革。社会大众需要艺术作为推动社会前进的助力，人们要求在艺术中看到有血有肉有思想的人物形象。受文人画漠视的写实方法，被画界先驱们重新认识其价值和意义，并受到大力提倡，有力地催化了人物画的复兴。西学东渐和西画写实方法的引进，虽然对传统文人画有所压制和产生了一些负面影响，但也刺激了中国画的革新步伐。摆在中国人物画家前面的任务是艰巨的，因为人物画的勃兴不是仅靠写实造型功力的提高便可以达到，只有使传统的笔墨语言和西画的素描造型融合于一体，形成具有中国传统文化内涵的绘画语言，方能产生有时代气息和民族风采的新体人物画。这绝非易事，需要几代人的不懈努力。令人感到自豪的是，二十世纪初以来的中国几代杰出画家，经过奋力拼搏，终于取得了可以被称之为伟大的成就，他们创造了光辉灿烂的中国画人物画画廊，毫无愧色地展现在当今世界艺坛，为中国艺术争得了荣誉。本文论述的王子武，是其中耀眼的一位。
王子武的作品大多为写生人物画。写生，在古典绘画理论中，往往被看成是为艺术家搜集素材的一种方法，是创作的准备阶段。但从十九世纪末开始，这种理论被颠覆，写生也被视为创作的一种形式，人们把这种形式称为“写生-创作”。因为画家面对客观物象的直接写生所必须具备的功力与修养，以及最后完成的画面，毫不逊色于任何一种其它形式的创作，甚至具有更直接更生动的艺术感染力。
王子武的写生人物画首先以富有感情而引人注目，画工人、农民或知识界人士，需要艺术家与描写对象真切的感情交流，除了他们相互之间的黙契和配合外，更重要的是画家对描写对象释放的理解、同情和赞赏，这种感情会在画家的动作中表现出来而形诸于画面。这就是王子武所说的：“要画好人物，首先对要表现的对象须有强烈的感情和表现的欲望，才会笔墨之间有情有意有内容。”这里说的内容，主要是指人物性格、精神气质和思想情绪。在与对象接触和作画过程中，王子武细心观察、体验对象的心理活动，并十分注意这些心理活动在人物外部表情和动作中的自然流露。这也是他写生中关键的一步，即所谓“立意”。由此出发，他集中刻画人物的面部，从被视为人物内心活动的窗户——眼，到眉、口、鼻、耳、发。他善于抓住人物这些部位的特征加以细心地描写，他重视刻画的具体准确，更注意表现的生动和概括，十分注意这些细节的相互呼应和形成的整体感。在把握对象特征时，他强调夸张有度，严格遵守和谐的原则。
笔墨语言的洗炼和丰富是王子武人物画另一鲜明特征。一幅人物画之所以能感动人，主要在于传神，人物形象的神韵，要依靠笔墨语言来传达，在某种意义上说，笔墨语言能左右一幅画的成败。王子武有很强的以线为主的造型功力，这不仅得益于他学习西画素描所获得的精湛技巧，更由于他对传统笔墨语言有深入的研究。他用有节奏有韵律的墨线勾勒，以强调形象的结构，用富有浓淡虚实微妙变化的墨色，赋予形象以动人的情趣。总之，王子武用沉稳、厚实、含蓄而富有变化的笔墨语言，塑造出一幅幅形神兼备、气韵生动和富有诗意美的人物形象，如《老农》《老陕》《民兵连长》《越南归侨》《东海渔民》《艺术家杨祥麟》《蒋兆和像》《凉山少妇》，等等。
除写生人物像外，王子武创作的古今人物画像如《李白与晁衡》《钟馗》《曹雪芹像》《鲁迅像》《张大千像》等，或用彩墨塑造，或用简笔勾勒，无不以形象刻画的深入和微妙的而令人赞叹。至于他的花鸟、山水画，遵循源于自然、高于自然的艺术法则，借物抒情，也有自己独立的面貌。
王子武是经过长期艰苦探索才取得如此卓越成就的，青年时期他考入西安美术学院，勤奋练习基本功，虔诚地向古代经典作品学习，并到北京等地拜访许多名师，聆听教诲。这时，他已清晰地认识到绘画手艺和艺术修养两者同等重要，他坚实的造型功力是经过长期磨练才获得的，在此基础上他努力提高全面文化涵养，追求作品的艺术格调和个性特色。一九七六他在一幅自画像上的题诗中说“画不出奇画到死，不负自身了自身。”所谓“奇画”即与别人不同面貌、具有深厚文化内涵和独特个性的画。要画出这样的画，除了他个人天赋和他出生、成长的有雄厚文化传统的西安地域这样得天独厚的条件外，还需要他勤勉、虚心和不畏艰辛的上下求索。他的笔墨语言来自于他对传统书法的长期钻研，他从碑石铭文和诸名家书法中吸吮养分，形成自成一格的书体，并以此锤炼和提高自己绘画作品的笔法墨法。在当代中国画坛，许多画家在把西画素描造型融入笔墨语言的探索中，都取得了可喜的成绩，而王子武在这方面成就突出，突出在由笔墨造成的形式语言的品质、格调和趣味，他的画能久久夺人视线和拨人心弦。就此一点，在中国现代美术史上也应该是可圈可点的。
王子武长期以来一心潜心求艺，淡泊名利，这也是他成为当代人物画大家的重要原因。在当今浮躁风气盛行的中国画坛，这尤其难能可贵，值得我们大家尊敬和向他学习!
丙申仲秋于中央美术学院
Wang Ziwu, Renowned Portrait Painter
By Shao Dazhen, The Central Academy of Fine Arts
If someone asks me what the most accomplished field in twentieth-century Chinese art is, I will answer without any hesitation: Chinese portrait painting. The reason is that new developments in this field ended the continuous decline of Chinese portrait painting over the past several hundred years. Moreover, these new developments not only restored the glorious tradition of vivid representation in portrait painting from the Wei, Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties by creating realistic portraits of contemporary subjects, but they also achieved new breakthroughs in artistic expression and offered powerful artistic appeal and spiritual inspiration. Consequently, these new developments in Chinese portrait painting have served as a catalyst for social transformation and become an indispensable art form in modern Chinese cultural life.
Painting is a visual art that stimulates the viewer’s senses, prompting emotional and psychological changes and consequently effecting their thinking as well. The subjects of paintings must be revealed in a certain form. This is especially true for portrait painting, where specific visual forms are indispensable. As early as the Southern Qi dynasty, Xie He regarded “physical correspondence” and “rhythmic vitality” as important parts of the “six principles” in his work On the Six Principles of Chinese Painting. Ever since then, the ability of an artist to capture both the physical resemblance and spiritual authenticity has remained the gold standard of Chinese painting.
The goal of painting is not to achieve mere physical resemblance, but spiritual vitality and inner depth through physical resemblance. As far as the relationship between form and essence is concerned, Chinese painting and Western painting share a common goal of capturing both physical resemblance and spiritual vitality. However, Chinese painting shows a stronger propensity to this common thread because of its close relationship to ancient Chinese aesthetics, which was influenced by the pre-Qin philosophers. The theories on imagery in Chinese literary discourse emphasize the underlying idea, which mainly refers to the artist’s understanding, experience, and reflection, but also includes the artist’s conceptualization of the objects and its subjective impact. Because Chinese painting employs the techniques of hooking, bracing, pointing, rubbing, chapping, and dyeing to achieve physical resemblance and spiritual vitality, the painter’s emotion and predilection, when compared to those of western painters, appear more subjective and philosophical. This is also the reason why Chinese painting possesses such unique appeal and value.
However, all theories and propositions have certain provisions and limitations. If theories of imagery and freehand brushwork in Chinese painting ignore or forget the existence of this premise, namely aspirations based on deep observations of and research on objective objects, then they are bound to move in opposite directions by abandoning the vivid representation of the state, structure, inherence, and significance of things or succumbing to visual stereotypes or codification of brushwork. The worse kind of paintings of the literati since the late Qing dynasty is just an example of such a hopeless quagmire. Therefore, the decline of Chinese painting, especially portrait painting, is inevitable.
Modern Chinese portrait painting has its origin in the beginning of the twentieth century when China was on the cusp of ridding itself of the feudalism, colonialism, and poverty while undergoing large scale transformations toward independence, democracy, and liberation. There was a need in society for art as a form of catalyst for social progress as people demanded artistic representations of realistic, convincing subjects with independent thoughts. The style of realistic representation, which was disregarded by the literati painters, was recognized again by the pioneers in portrait painting to have its value and significance. Consequently, its vigorous promotion led directly to the renaissance of Chinese portrait painting. The introduction of Western learning and the realistic approach of Western painting, despite its suppressive effect and other negative impact on the traditional painting of literati, did help accelerate the pace of reforms in Chinese painting. The task before the Chinese portrait painters was challenging because a resurgence of portrait painting cannot be achieved simply through advancements in realistic design and construction. Only by combining traditional Chinese brushstroke with Western sketch technique can we bring forth new artistic expressions with traditional Chinese cultural characteristics and innovative portrait paintings with the spirit of the times and ethnic features. This is not an easy task, which requires the continued effort of painters for generations. I am proud to say that since the beginning of the twentieth century, several generations of outstanding painters have made great accomplishments through hard work. In creating a splendid gallery of Chinese portrait paintings and presenting them without reservation to the world, they have earned accolades for Chinese art. The subject of this essay, Wang Ziwu, is just one of the shining representatives among these painters.
Most of Wang Ziwu’s portraits are made from life. In classic theories of art, sketch or life painting is often regarded as a method of source material collection, a preparatory step for painting. However, since the end of the nineteenth century when this theory was subverted, sketch or life painting has been accepted as a creative process known as “sketch-creative work” because the capabilities and training of the artists for sketching or life painting and the quality of their finished work compare favorably with any other forms of creative work. In some cases, these paintings exert even more direct and vivid artistic impact than other forms of paintings.
Wang Ziwu’s life portraits catch people’s attention first because of their rich emotion. When a painter works on a worker, a farmer, or an intellectual, there is a need for genuine exchange of emotions between the artist and the subject of the painting, not only because they need to work with each other with tacit understanding, but more importantly the artist also conveys understanding, empathy, and appreciation to the subject of the painting. These emotions are expressed through the artist’s movements and transferred to the painting itself. This is exactly what Wang meant when he said, “In order to make a superior portrait painting, one must have very strong empathies and desires to express those emotions for the painting subject. Only then can one feel the emotions and the desired input among the brushstrokes.” The so-called input here mainly refers to the personal character, spiritual outlook, thoughts and emotional state of the painting subject. In his interaction with the painting subject and in the process of the painting, Wang Ziwu observes carefully and tries to fathom the mental activities of the painting subject, which he does his best to capture through the natural revelations from the subject’s appearance and movements. This so-called “interior content” is a crucial step in his life paintings. Starting from this premise, he focuses on the face of the painting subject, from the eye, which is regarded as the window of inner thoughts, to the eyebrow, the mouth, the nose, the ears, and finally, the hair. Excellent at capturing the characteristics of these facial features in the meticulous portrayal, he emphasizes the concrete and accurate details, paying special attention to the creation of vivid expression and overall effect, as well as the coordination of the details into a coherent entity. In his effort to capture the special features of the painting subject, he emphasizes a degree of moderation and a strict adherence to the principle of harmony.
Another distinct characteristic of Wang Ziwu’s painting is the economy and the richness of his brushstrokes. The emotional power of a portrait painting is derived from its lifelikeness. Therefore, the ability to capture the painting subject’s inner thoughts, achieved mainly through the expressive powers of the brushstroke, is to some degree the decisive factor in determining the success or failure of a painting. Wang Ziwu has a very strong ability to create profiles using lines, which not only benefits from his excellent skills acquired from the Western sketch, but also his in-depth study of Chinese traditional brushwork technique. By using rhythmic and dynamic ink lines to emphasize the structure of the image and varying shades of ink to reflect the subtle changes, he is able to capture the painting subject’s emotional appeal. In summation, thanks to his calm, solid, reserved, and variable brushwork techniques, Wang Ziwu has created many vivacious, charming, and graceful portraits, such as Farmer, Man from Shaanxi, Militia Commander, An Overseas Chinese from Vietnam, Fisherman from the East Sea, Yang Xianglin, the Artist, Portrait of Jiang Zhaohe, Young Woman from the Liang Mountains, and others.
In addition to life portraits, Wang Ziwu has also created many portraits of historical figures from the past to the present, such as Li Bai and Chao Heng, Zhong Kui, Cao Xueqin, Lu Xun, and Zhang Daqian. Whether done in color and ink or in simple lines, these portraits are known for the vivid depiction and subtle representation of their subjects. As to his flower and bird paintings and landscapes, Wang Ziwu adopts an artistic principle of coming from nature yet transcending nature. By expressing his emotions through objects in nature, he has also developed his own characteristics in this area.
All of Wang Ziwu’s outstanding achievements are the results of long-term arduous work and exploration. When he was a young man, he was admitted to Xi’an Art Academy where he cultivated his basic skills and learned devoutly from ancient classic works. He also travelled to Beijing and other places to visit many famous masters and listen to their teachings. By then, he had clearly realized that painting skills and artistic training are equally important. After building up his solid skills at profiling through many years of hard work, Wang Ziwu worked diligently to improve his knowledge of literary and philosophical works across the board in an effort to fashion his own artistic style and personal characteristics. In 1976, in a poem inscribed on his self-portrait, he wrote, “I will work to death until I can create a unique style; I will sacrifice myself until I can realize my full potential.” Here, the so-called “unique style” refers to a style that is different from others, informed by profound cultural awareness, and is distinctly personal. His success in creating such a style is not only due to his talent and the uniquely blessed cultural traditions of Xi’an, but also his diligence, modesty, and persistent effort. His brushwork technique is a result of his long-term study of traditional calligraphy. He has studied stone tablet inscriptions and the works of various calligraphy masters to create a style of his own, a process that allowed him to practice and improve his brushwork technique in his paintings. Many contemporary Chinese painters have achieved gratifying results in brushwork exploration by borrowing from the techniques of Western sketch. In this regard, Wang Ziwu is especially successful in that, his paintings, due to the quality, style, and appeal of his brushwork, have an enduring power to capture both the eye and the heart of the viewers. Just for this aspect alone, his paintings deserve appropriate recognition in modern Chinese art history.
Wang Ziwu has been devoting his attention to art for a long time but has remained indifferent to fame and fortune. This is another important reason why he has become a master in contemporary portrait painting. Such an attitude is especially rare and precious among Chinese painters today who, by and large, are impetuous and unfocused. Therefore, he deserves to be emulated by us all.
Fall, 2016
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