Guangming Daily reporter Rong Chi
In 1979, the huge mural “Water Splashing Festival – Hymn of Life” was completed at Beijing Capital International Airport. It presents the grand occasion of the Water Splashing Festival of the Dai people in Yunnan with its concise character modeling and epic composition. Once the work came out, it aroused enthusiastic response from the society, and also made people remember the name of the creator – Yuan Yunsheng.
Yuan Yunsheng, born in Nantong, Jiangsu Province in 1937, is undoubtedly a dazzling star in the Chinese painting world in the 20th century. From a talented student to an internationally renowned artist, from living overseas to returning to China to devote himself to the study of traditional Chinese art, if we want to sort out his life’s creative process, the “mural dream” must be the main thread throughout.
Water Splashing Festival – Hymn of Life (Mural Draft·Detail) Yuan Yunsheng
This dream that has lasted for more than 60 years started at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1958, Yuan Yunsheng entered Dong Xiwen’s studio at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Under the influence of his mentor, he realized that traditional Chinese culture is an endless treasure, and murals, as a comprehensive art with rich expressive power, can generate huge energy and infinite possibilities in the process of connecting with traditional culture. Therefore, Yuan Yunsheng chose to complete his most important graduation creation in the form of a mural draft.
“My graduation project “Memory of Water Town” can be regarded as my first mural draft.” In the spring of 1962, Yuan Yunsheng came to Luzhi Town, Suzhou, where the beautiful water town scenery is full of the charm of ancient culture. He sat on the shore, sketched randomly on paper, recorded what he saw and felt, collected materials for creation, and accumulated inspiration. After the pen line draft was approved by the teacher, Yuan Yunsheng completed this mural draft using oil painting materials. In the picture, the slightly exaggerated character creation method and the seemingly loose perspective of the scene add vivid charm to the lively water town scene. In terms of color creation, the painter skillfully used the contrast and complementary relationship between red and green, and used different color saturations to widen the distance and distance of the scene, making the picture both clear-cut and harmonious. After the work was completed, Yuan Yunsheng wrote down his feelings in his notes: “What is the biggest inspiration for me in this creation? I think because I have worked tirelessly for more than two months to sketch from life, which enriched myself. This gave me the confidence to paint. I felt more comfortable without using models, and I even put sketching aside, but the result was closer to my feelings than sketching. Maybe this is the power of sincerity.”
Harvest Song (Oil Painting) Yuan Yunsheng
Facing opportunities and setbacks, Yuan Yunsheng has always sincerely pursued his artistic ideals. “When I received the commission to create a mural at the Capital Airport, the only theme that came to my mind was the ‘Water Splashing Festival’. Painting a mural on a huge wall that praises the spirit and sentiment of the Dai people is really like a dream to me. .” As Yuan Yunsheng’s first mural practice, “Water Splashing Festival – Hymn of Life” brought him not only honors, but also a deeper understanding and understanding of painting. In his view, lines are to images what rhythm is to dance and music. The shape of the characters should be decorative, exaggerated, and lyrical. The purpose of cutting out the complex and simplifying the real objects and retaining the basic characteristics is to fully reflect the artist’s personality in simplicity. “Simplification” is an important part of art moving toward abstraction. This concept also directly influenced Yuan Yunsheng’s subsequent creative path.
Looking at the murals created by Yuan Yunsheng from 1985 to the present, such as “Confucius’ Thoughts on the Qin”, “Kuafu Chasing the Sun”, “Gong Gong’s Fury Touches Buzhou Mountain, Nuwa Mends the Sky”, etc., as well as many oil paintings, ink paintings and mixed media works, it is not difficult to find , his art is always not limited to a certain form, and has a tenacious vitality of constant reshaping and continuous development. In his own words: “The synthesis of art will produce comprehensive art. Our artistic tentacles should extend to the past, the world, and the future.” Expressing the tension of life with lines and color blocks, he is still a painter The focus of creation. We can see Yuan Yunsheng’s unique use of lines and in-depth understanding of traditional Chinese art in works of different forms such as “Human Fable”, “Inner View” and “Eye”. As he wrote in his creative notes: “The abstraction of art is first of all the abstraction of lines. This is exactly the characteristic of Eastern art. In the real world, people can only feel the existence of lines, but cannot find their entities. , when it rises to the main means of artistic expression, a leap in artistic expression is inevitable.”
Memory of Water Town (Mural Draft) Yuan Yunsheng
Although he is more than seventy years old, Yuan Yunsheng’s creation has never been complacent or stagnant. The 3-meter-high and 18-meter-long mural “The Big Wave” was completed in 2011, making it the largest work he has ever created. The unrestrained and wanton lines in the painting show the rhythm of life in the interweaving of black and white ink, allowing us to see the artist’s artistic sublimation and open-minded state of mind after decades of pursuing his dream.
Recently, Yuan Yunsheng had his retrospective solo exhibition at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition was also titled “The Great Wave”. “In the big waves, you are neither happy nor afraid. You have to do everything you need to do, and there is no need to worry about it.” This is a vivid portrayal of Yuan Yunsheng’s life attitude. He is obsessed with art and explores the sea of art, from his youth to At this age, he has always adhered to his artistic ideals. Regardless of the ups and downs of fate, his original intention will never waver.
“Guangming Daily” (Page 09, September 24, 2023)
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责编：李伯玺 ]
