Hong Zhong. Com: Many people have seen Mr. Wang Fuzeng's paintings of northern water towns and said that they like them very much. They think they have three characteristics. First, the combination of dynamic and static is very good. Painting is the scenery of the water town. It looks quiet, but it is still and moving. As long as you pay a little attention, you can see the ship shaking, the willows swaying, the birds flying and the wind blowing. The whole picture has a feeling of flying and vitality. Second, the combination of beauty and strangeness. Generally speaking, the scenery in the painting is beautiful, but Wang Fuzeng's painting is more beautiful than the general beauty and wonderful. What is wonderful? You see, the distance of the countryside, the height of trees and the depth of colors are well matched, patchwork and appropriate, giving people a very smart feeling. What is the third characteristic? It is a combination of reality and emptiness. Reality is practical, practical and simple. After reading Wang Fuzeng's paintings, I feel like I am in a northern water town. But it also makes people feel an illusory spiritual realm: catkins, running water, mountain fog and farmhouse smoke, such as entering a fairyland. Wang Fuzeng's paintings pay attention to freehand brushwork, and the colors are clear in black and white, but the trees are a little green and look monotonous. But if you savor it carefully, the connotation is very rich and worth pondering. In a word, Mr. Wang Fuzeng's paintings not only have the charming artistic conception of the ingenious layout of mountains, fields and cows in Li Keran's freehand brushwork landscape, but also have the wonderful feeling of alternating yellow and virtual. Indeed, among China's landscape paintings, Mr. Wang Fuzeng's paintings of northern water towns are undoubtedly unique. Wang Fuzeng: I'm flattered. I haven't made a systematic summary of my paintings so far. You speak very well. It seems that your appreciation of Chinese painting is very tasteful, and I am a little unworthy. Hong Zhong. Com: How old were you when you began to learn to draw? Wang Fuzeng: I have never been to an art school, but I have had this hobby since I was a child. When I was about five or six years old, I began to paint, and I liked to paint all over the yard and house. My grandfather likes painting and calligraphy, and he mainly studied with him when he was a child. China Red Net: Have you analyzed it? Why do you like painting and calligraphy? Wang Fuzeng: It seems to be a kind of nature. In my opinion, calligraphy and painting, as an art, are interlinked. I also like novels, poems and other literature and art. When I was a child, I liked reading books, and I read more and more miscellaneous books. After I started to dabble in painting, I gradually realized that literature was very helpful to my painting. Hong Zhong. Com: You said that your painting was influenced by your family, so tell me about your family and painting experience. Wang Fuzeng: My great-grandfather taught books. We have never met, but when I was a child, there were many calligraphy and books left by my great-grandfather, and the handwriting was beautiful. Grandpa has a strange temper. Because of disagreement with my great-grandfather, he went to Kanto for many years when he was young, and didn't return to his hometown until his great-grandfather died. Grandpa is very accomplished in painting and calligraphy, and my study of painting is mainly inspired by him. My father is a veteran cadre who has been working in the public security front and later retired in the provincial public security department. He has a profound cultural background and good calligraphy, and his father has a great influence on me. My grandfather taught me painting, calligraphy and abacus when I was very young. This is my compulsory course every night. Then I went to school, and there were not enough books at home. As soon as I have time, I go to Xinhua Bookstore, a county town more than ten miles away, and buy a lot of picture books and picture books to copy every time. Through these albums, I got to know some famous painters indirectly, such as Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Pan Tianshou, Li Keran, Guan Shanyue, Fu Baoshi and Huangzhou. When I was a child, I dreamed of studying in the Academy of Fine Arts in the future. But when I was in middle school, I caught up with the Cultural Revolution, and the college entrance examination stopped. I went back to my hometown and worked as a Chinese teacher in a middle school for ten years, then transferred to the political and legal organs. It's a pity that I can't study in an art school, but it's not all bad. I can learn theoretical knowledge systematically in school, but I am also easily bound by the teacher's painting mode, so my painting is not bound by the teacher. When I was teaching, it was the Cultural Revolution, and socialist education was being carried out all over the country. The county organized a social education exhibition to draw some paintings, and I was transferred to the painting group. At that time, Zhang Jinzhong, an art cadre of the county cultural center, led us to draw, mainly people. I have learned a lot from Mr. Zhang in character modeling ability, lines and composition. This is also my stage from copying to creation. Later, when I transferred to Baoding, I was busier and had less time to paint. Sometimes I am invited to do some illustrations for the magazine Special Gardener. During this period, I studied Chinese language and literature in Hebei University for several years, and learned some books on art theory, which made some accumulation and foreshadowing for future painting and calligraphy creation. After working in the provincial capital, I gradually got to know some famous painters and painters, and had extensive contacts with the painting and calligraphy circles, which broadened my horizons. With the growth of age, my experience has been enriched, and painting has gradually become a feeling. Hong Zhong. Com: Judging from the articles and words you wrote, your literary skills are also very good. Wang Fuzeng: I'm flattered. At that time, I was teaching Chinese in middle school. I couldn't do it without learning! Besides, this is what I like! People are interested in what they like when they study. Later, they worked in the office for several years and barely had a foundation. But in front of you big reporters, it's like teaching fish to swim. Hong Zhong. Com: You are so attached to the water town in your hometown in the north that I will give you the name "Water Town Painter"! Wang Fuzeng: Good name! But I dare not pretend to be at home. Indeed, the profound local culture of North China has a great influence on me. A painter must first solve the subject matter of painting and calligraphy, whether painting landscapes or flowers and birds, there are too many things to express, but one's energy is limited after all, so one must choose the subject matter that suits one. I began to draw all kinds of paintings, and later I gradually felt that the local culture of the Central Plains in my hometown was my inexhaustible source of creation. My hometown is near Baiyangdian in the south, Daqing River in the east and Baigou, an important merchant town in North China, which is beautiful and rich. Born and raised in Sri Lanka. Every story in my hometown moved me, and the natural scenery in my hometown intoxicated me. You know, the natural scenery of Baiyangdian Lake is very beautiful. The wind and lotus of the West Lake and the willow on the east coast are beautiful. The rural scenery in my hometown is quiet and cordial. The frivolous mist and the afterglow of the sunset are fascinating and hard to accept. Whenever I think about this, endless homesickness will produce an impulse to create. I paint my hometown, not only because I am familiar with her, but also because I have put too much emotion into it. Perhaps it is a responsibility. I have also painted water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, but I like painting water towns in my hometown in the north best. Hong Zhong. Com: What do you think is the biggest difference between the northern water town and the southern water town? Wang Fuzeng: Although the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River and Baiyangdian in the north are both water towns, there are similarities, but they are also very different. Jiangnan water town is a poem by people with small bridges and flowing water. Baiyangdian water town is different. It is characterized by openness and broadness, which makes people feel heavy, vigorous and rough.
"The art of painting should have thoughts, and art without thoughts will not infect people."
Hong Zhong. Com: You just talked about the cultural differences between northern water towns and southern water towns. It seems that you attach great importance to the ideological and cultural connotation of painting. Wang Fuzeng: I always think that works of art must be thoughtful. Works of art without thoughts will never infect people. Just now I said that you have good taste in Chinese painting. The appreciation of works of art can be divided into several levels. The average person's appreciation is that the portrait is different, which is a minimum appreciation standard. In fact, when a painter paints to a certain extent, he is painting his own feelings. I write my heart by hand, and the things expressed in my works are not purely objective, but are integrated into the painter's personal feelings. A higher level of appreciation is to appreciate with your heart and understand the ideological and cultural connotation of the work with your heart. For example, the horse painted by Mr. Xu Beihong is not an ordinary animal for ploughing. Through the agility of horses, we see the wind of gentlemen and the soul of a nation. Of course, my paintings can't compare with such a master as Xu Beihong, but every work still pays attention to ideological connotation. For example, I draw a tree, which shows the scenery of spring on the surface, and reflects a vibrant rhythm of life through the picture, thus encouraging people to go up. Works of art must be thoughtful, and works without thoughts will not infect people. In addition, paintings should have high cultural taste. China Red Net: How to understand the cultural taste of painting? Wang Fuzeng: Poetry is based on artistic conception, and so is painting. Landscape painting should have artistic conception, flower-and-bird painting should be interesting, figure painting should be vivid, and only vivid can be touching. Take landscape painting as an example. Although the theme of landscape painting is very extensive, no matter what you draw, you must talk about an artistic conception. Through your pictures, a culture is reflected. I don't like works that take in everything in a glance. Painting should give viewers rich imagination and taste. Some painters pay more attention to pen and ink than artistic conception. Of course, artistic conception should also be expressed by pen and ink. Pen and ink can reach a certain level as long as the average person works hard for several years or even more than ten years, but I think this is only a technical thing. A really good painting should reflect its cultural connotation through its pictures. A work of art will not look good if it has no cultural connotation. Why do some works make people look at it for a day, and the more they look at it, the richer the content? It is precisely because of its profound cultural connotation that it can give people imagination and ideological enlightenment. On the contrary, some paintings look good at first glance, but when they look closely, they are nothing, unobstructed and tasteless. This kind of painting won't leave any impression on others. The cultural connotation of a work depends on the painter's comprehensive quality, which is the natural expression of the painter's character, personality, experience and knowledge. China Red Net: What artistic conception do you pursue in painting? Wang Fuzeng: I think painting should grasp the essence of what you express. As I said just now, there are essential differences between Jiangnan water town and our northern water town. We must grasp these essential differences and express them. Hong Zhong. Com: You just said that trees represent the vitality of spring. Does anything else make sense? Wang Fuzeng: Yes, for example, soil is thick and water is a gas field.
"Painting is the most artistic personality.
Hong Zhong. Com: What else do you value in painting?
Wang Fuzeng: Artistic individuality. Art is the most emphasis on individuality, especially painting. I think the formation of personal style is a mature Peugeot of a painter and calligrapher. For example, when we stand on the street, we can recognize a person at a glance from the crowd, because this person has obviously different personalities, characteristics and things from the public. If a work of art has no personality, it will not be remembered. Popular things and familiar works have no artistic value at all. When I was a child, I admired painters and painters because their works had distinct artistic personality. No matter where I am, as long as I see such a painting, I can know who painted it without looking at the signature of the work. Because these people have a great influence on you, you can remember their personality characteristics at a glance. Hong Zhong. Com: Where is your personality in painting art and painting expression? Wang Fuzeng: Artistic individuality is the embodiment of various painting elements. From the theme, lines and colors of painting, including composition and layout, all these can reflect your personality characteristics. The techniques of expression are also diverse. It is not a deliberate pursuit, but gradually formed in the artist's artistic career for many years, and it is a natural expression. This includes not only the author's thoughts and feelings, but also the author's knowledge and experience, which can be reflected in his works. Some painters often describe their works as imitators. Actually, I don't think this is a good thing. As a painter, being imitated on the one hand shows that someone worships you, but on the other hand, does it also show that your paintings are well imitated? If he can't copy your painting, he can't copy yours. Works with stronger artistic personality are often the most difficult to imitate. China Red Net: What do you think about painting? Wang Fuzeng: Actually, my painting is very casual, and there is no fixed pattern and painting method. For example, if you draw a tree, you may draw it from above or from below. It is possible to follow the painting, or it is possible to draw backwards, depending on the interest in painting. Painting is not only a plastic art, but also a visual art. No matter how you paint, no matter what kind of appreciator you are, and no matter how much you know about calligraphy and painting, one thing is consistent, that is, painting should pay attention to aesthetic feeling and give people beautiful enjoyment. Nowadays, calligraphy and painting are diversified, and one school paints everything ugly. People, houses, and houses are all strangely painted and ugly. Let's just say that the appearance is exaggerated, and it's not that kind, which makes people feel particularly uncomfortable. I don't like this kind of thing, and I can't appreciate it.
Hong Zhong. Com: You speak very well. Thank you for accepting our interview!