Appreciation method: how to evaluate, read and appreciate a calligraphy work in front of us is a problem that every beginner of calligraphy and even readers are confused and want to know. Wang Sengqian, a calligrapher in the Southern Dynasties, said in "Praise of Literary Style": "The wonderful way of a book is that the spirit comes first, followed by the form and quality, and only those who have both can be praised by the ancients". What he emphasized was to write the spirit in form, and to have both form and spirit. As a reader, I think that before reading a work, we should first make clear the aesthetic standards of calligraphy appreciation, which is the basis of correct calligraphy appreciation. Secondly, we should master the methods of calligraphy appreciation, which is the key to calligraphy appreciation. Appreciating calligraphy should be based on the styles of six different calligraphy styles, the rhythm and movement of running script, and the tranquility and elegance of regular script.
Calligraphy appreciation is consistent with other art appreciation and needs to follow the general laws of human cognitive activities. Because of the particularity of calligraphy art, calligraphy appreciation shows uniqueness in methods. Generally speaking, we can start from the following aspects.
1, from whole to part, and then from part to whole.
To appreciate calligraphy, we must first look at the overall situation and have a general impression of its expression and artistic style. Then pay attention to whether the pen, knot, composition, Mo Yun and other parts are lively and lively. After the partial appreciation, we should stand at a distance to observe the overall situation, correct the "overall impression" obtained from the first viewing, and grasp it from a rational height again. Pay attention to whether artistic expression and artistic style are coordinated, where the works are wonderful and where there are shortcomings, and fully appreciate them from both macro and micro perspectives.
2. Restore the static image to the process of motion and expand the association.
Calligraphy works are relatively static as the result of creation. When appreciating, we should follow the author's creative process, adopt the method of "moving the line of sight", imagine the rhythm and strength of the pen and the different changes of the author's feelings in the creative process according to the order of the works, and restore the static image to the process of movement. That is to imitate the author's creative process and correctly grasp the author's creative intention and emotional changes.
3. From the image of calligraphy to the specific image, expand the association and correctly understand the artistic conception of the work.
In the process of calligraphy appreciation, we should fully develop the association, compare the calligraphy image with similar things in real life, and make the calligraphy image concrete. Then, starting from the aesthetic characteristics of things similar to calligraphy images, we further associate the aesthetic value of the works, so as to understand the artistic conception of the works. Appreciating Yan Zhenqing's regular script, we can associate his calligraphy image with specific images such as "Jing Qing presses the sword, Fan Kuai holds the shield, King Kong dazzles, and Lux punches", from which we can draw the following conclusions: strong physique-masculine-full of heroic temperament-neat and inviolable characteristics, and Yan Zhenqing's regular script is linked with dignified and majestic artistic style.
4. Understand the creative background of the work and correctly grasp the emotional appeal of the work.
Any calligraphy work is the accumulation of a certain cultural history and the product of a specific historical and cultural background. Therefore, it is of great benefit to know the creative background (including the creative environment), the unique cultural atmosphere contained in the work, the author's personality cultivation, aesthetic taste, creative mood and creative purpose. In order to correctly understand the author's creative intention and correctly grasp the emotional appeal of the work. In the Qing Dynasty, Wang Shu wrote in the inscription and postscript of "Virtual Boat Tang Yan Zhenqing to Uncle Haozhou": "The manuscript dedicated to Ji Ming was torn to pieces, and his book was frustrated and out of control. This "Gao" is calm, easy to make a guest appearance, and there is no strange promotion like "offering sacrifices to nephews". The so-called music-related party laugh has been sighed. Things are different, so is calligraphy. It should be reasonable. " It can be seen that both the author's personality cultivation, creative mood and creative environment have a considerable impact on the mood of the work. In addition, calligraphy works are influenced by the book style and aesthetic fashion of a specific era, which makes calligraphy works reflect a diverse cultural atmosphere. This undoubtedly increases the difficulty of calligraphy appreciation, but also makes calligraphy appreciation interesting.
In short, there is no fixed pattern in the process of calligraphy appreciation due to the influence of personality psychology. The above is just one method of calligraphy appreciation, and several methods can be used alternately in the process of appreciation. In addition, in the process of appreciation, we must comprehensively use all kinds of calligraphy skills, techniques and calligraphy theory knowledge to maximize our aesthetic evaluation ability and try our best to appreciate the artistic conception of the works according to the author's creative intention. We should strive to appreciate and comment, evaluate and reward the work, and put it in a specific historical environment to make a correct appreciation and fair and objective evaluation of the work. Of course, after mastering the correct appreciation method, more appreciation is an important way to improve appreciation ability.