Sheikh, a theorist in Southern Qi Dynasty, first praised Lu Tanwei's paintings, saying that his paintings were "comprehensive and eloquent". Before and after pregnancy, ancient and modern independence, full of praise. But the price is extremely heavy, and there is no other news except the top grade, so it is the first. ""although there are six methods, it is rare to do it. Since ancient times and today, there have been good festivals ... Only Lu Tanwei and the Health Association have prepared it. " Obviously, in Sheikh's view, the ground painting has gone far beyond the perfection of the external form of the work and directly grasped the inner noumenon of art. The so-called "exhaustion, absolute words" is to exhaust the inner spiritual temperament of the object and achieve a superior ideal state, rather than being limited to the superficial description, so Sheikh put it on the top grade, and the first product is the first person. At the same time, in general, Sheikh thinks that the six methods of land painting are correct, that is, the picture receives the effect of "vivid charm" because of "fatigue"
This eulogy of Sheikh has a strong metaphysical color. Reading this passage can only make people roughly grasp the spiritual orientation and ideal state of Lu Tanwei's paintings. However, the perceptual image characteristics of his picture are still vague. Through the evaluation of Lu's paintings, people have a clearer outline of his painting style. "Shen spirit clever, with god, such as a sharp knife, sharp. Vivid display of bones and clear images make people feel surprised. Wonderful as it is, it's not in ink. A husband is like a man of character. Zhang is no less than Gu and Lu, and Zhang gets his flesh, Lu gets his bones and cares about his gods. "Subtle spirit and wonderful movements" is still a metaphysical compliment, while "writing like a cone knife" is a metaphysical description, which shows that Lu Gong's pen is as strong and powerful as a cone knife. The word "bone" is mentioned three times here, and the interpretation of this concept will help us understand Lu's painting style. For example, in the history of literature, "Jian 'an style" refers to the impassioned style embodied in the works of San Cao and Jian 'an Qizi.
In Shi Shuo Xin Yu, characters are often judged by words such as "strength of character", "strength of character" and "bonesetting". For example, Wang Youjun (Xizhi) said: "There are few ancestors, and the wind caused it. I am afraid I will never see this person again." He also quoted: "Di Chin Ji said that Xi's style is also distinctive." "Wang Youjun looks at Chen Xuanbo's base area" and "humanity is not as heroic as the right army". This word "bone" describes the beauty of a person's honest and powerful image. When the concept of "bone" is transferred to the art of painting, it is manifested in the aspect of bone method, that is, the lines are tight and powerful, giving people a sense of strength, and on this basis, the author's spirit is sublimated and the overall "qi" of the picture is formed. The word "show bones and clear images" has a progressive double-layer aesthetic connotation, which refers not only to the beauty of the external image of the characters, but also to the internal quality of the characters' clarity, rigor and wisdom detachment. We believe that Lu Tanwei's paintings have two main characteristics: first, the external image of the characters is delicate and exquisite, and the pursuit of pen is as strong as a knife; Second, it transcends the concern about the external form and reaches the spiritual level of the ideal personality ontology, so people will feel "stunned by nature" when facing the picture.
In order to create an ideal model, Lu Tanwei made a new exploration in painting skills. He introduced cursive script into the field of painting, and created an unprecedented "one stroke" method through his keen grasp and ingenious thinking of the characteristics of coherent strokes. Zhang Yanyuan's Notes on Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties, Volume II, On Zhang Wu's Writing with a Pen, records: "Zhang Zhi used to learn from Cui Yuan and Du Caoshu, so he changed it and became a cursive script today. A stroke of completion, the same strain, continuous staggered, but the prince respects its deep meaning, so the first word of the line often follows, which is called a book on earth. Later, Lu Tanwei also drew a stroke, which was continuous, so he knew that calligraphy and painting used the same method.
Lu Tanwei's essence is charming, novel and wonderful, and famous in the Song Dynasty. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was an important turning point in calligraphy, which completed the transformation from official script which focused on single line and the twists and turns of silkworm heads and geese tails to cursive script which focused on the coherent movement of lines, symbolizing the independent maturity and free development of calligraphy art self-discipline. Continuous and elastic lines not only opened up the multi-dimensional spatial structure of characters, but also showed the continuity of lines in time, and because of this freedom, flexibility and coherence, they showed the aesthetic tendency and spiritual pursuit of the writer. Therefore, Zhang Zhi's "a book" is not only morphological, but also shows the internal factors of personality perfection. Lu Tanwei also knows his intentions, and his "stroke" is similar to Zhang Zhi's "a book". Zhang Yanyuan also came to the conclusion that "the same method of painting and calligraphy is old knowledge".
On the subject of painting, Lu's paintings are mainly figure paintings. "Preface to Famous Paintings in Tang Dynasty" contains: "... Lu Tanwei's paintings are wonderful, but the scenery and vegetation are sparse. The pictures such as Shaw History, Mu Yan, Customs and Luoshen are still in the world, which can be seen. " At the same time, it can be seen from more than 70 paintings of Lu Tanwei recorded in famous paintings of past dynasties that most of these paintings are portraits of emperors, heroes and celebrities at that time, as well as ancient sages, historical figures, Buddhist images and birds.
On Lu Tanwei's Painting Style from Related Works
So far, there is no original work handed down in Lu Tanwei. However, because Lu's painting style was highly respected in the following decades (not only in the Southern Dynasties, but also directly affected various figure sculpture activities in the Northern Dynasties), we can also get a glimpse of his painting style from the existing related art works of that era.
Among the existing works, the most closely related to Lu Tanwei is probably the tomb mosaic "The Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest and the Period of Rong Qi" discovered in Nanjing and Danyang, Jiangsu. There are four paintings with similar styles, which were painted by the same mother. According to expert research, the owners of these tombs are all Nanqi people. The owner of Nanjing Xishanqiao Tomb is a powerful person in Nanqi. The owner of Hexian 'ao Mausoleum in Qiao Hu, Danyang is Emperor Xiao Daosheng of Qi Jing. The tomb owner of Wujiacun, Qiao Hu, Danyang may be Cheng Xiao of Qi Emperor Xuan Di or Xiao Daocheng of Qi Emperor Gao Di. The owner of Jinjiacun Mausoleum in Jianshan, Danyang may be Hunhou Xiao Baojuan in Qidong or Emperor Xiao Baorong in Qihe. All eight people in the painting are sitting posture, with different temperament and demeanor, but they all have the appearance characteristics of thin image, thin shoulders and thin waist, and wide belt without coat, and their writing style is smooth and dense, which is very similar to Lu's painting style.
According to Shi Nan's "Qi Benji Abolishing Emperor Dong Hunhou", there were "seven sages" murals in the court of Southern Qi Dynasty, and the "seven sages" murals in the mausoleum were only substitutes for the "seven sages" murals in the court, reflecting that the worship of metaphysics at that time was hard to find. Rong Qiqi was a man in the Spring and Autumn Period. His thoughts were similar to those of Ruan Ji, Dan Tao, Wang Rong, Xiang Embroidery, Liu Ling, Ruan Xian and other "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest" headed by Ji Kang, so he was praised together.
Although the mausoleum can be traced back to Nanqi, it was built in Xiao Daocheng only eight years after Lu Tanwei, a Song Dynasty man, served Liu Mi and Liu Mi, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. Lu Tanwei has a great influence in Nanqi, which can be known from the high evaluation of this land by Nanqi chiefs. Therefore, the pastel version of the brick carving "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest and Prosperity" is very likely to come from, at least with some characteristics of Lu painting style. At the same time, the bamboo slips of Xiao Wu's hero and the pictures of Rong Qi Kong Yan recorded in the Records of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties actually describe eight sons.
Observing the existing physical objects in the north of the same period, we can see from the styles of some characters that there is an obvious origin relationship with the styles of handsome characters popular in the Southern Dynasties. At that time, the north was ruled by ethnic minorities, and the northern regime confronted the southern regime across the river, but culturally it regarded the south as authentic. Especially, Tuoba GUI, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, implemented the policy of sinicization, and after moving the capital to Luoyang, the nobles of the Northern Dynasty completely accepted sinicization. The popular aesthetic fashion in the south naturally directly affects the large Buddhist statues and other statues in the north.
The statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty Grottoes in Longmen and Deng County in Henan Province are typical of this feature, and there have been remarkable works with the style of "showing bones and clearing images". Longmen Northern Wei Grottoes were built after the capital was moved to Luoyang, which is a continuation of Yungang Grottoes. It is a masterpiece of all artistic techniques after China. The overall sculpture style is completely different from the heroic, vigorous, simple and solemn spiritual temperament of the northern nationalities in the booming period embodied in Yungang Grottoes, but it is manifested as a romantic celebrity image with a wide belt and clear bones, as well as pure, exquisite and beautiful style characteristics in Take Off the Coat. Two representative works of Deng County, Henan Province, The Brick for Walking Map and The Brick for Warhorse Map are also examples of this style. The figures and horses are thin and free and easy, and the carved lines are vigorous and elegant, with both form and spirit.
Metaphysics Aesthetic Fashion and Lu Tanwei's Painting Style
During the Jin and Song Dynasties, metaphysics dominated by the theory of Laozi and Zhuangzi prevailed, and its ultimate goal was to pursue the ideal personality ontology and emphasize the eternal and absolute spirit beyond the world. The style of figure painting represented by Lu Tanwei has a tendency of thinness, which is directly related to the aesthetics influenced by metaphysics at that time. The artistic style of "showing bones and clearing images", which was mainly popular in the Jin and Song Dynasties, is closely related to this aesthetic fashion in terms of its external form and internal meaning. The "show bones and clear images" figures give people an unattainable aesthetic feeling, which seems to be far away from the level of secular life, making people cut off their desires and unable to produce sensual pleasure and superficial pleasure. Their bodies are beautiful and pure, and they are "beauties in seclusion" and "beauties in kings", which are quite like sages. Obviously, it just gives people a sense of beauty beyond the skeleton.
Sheikh's catalogue of ancient paintings says: Lu Tanwei's paintings are "all-encompassing, and everything is absolutely eloquent." Zhang Huaiguan said, "The spirit of Duke Lu is wonderful. He is with God." It is a metaphysical description of aesthetic experience. The description of this aesthetic experience is more widely reflected in the evaluation of fashion figures. There are articles about people and descriptions of algae everywhere in Shi Shuo Xin Yu. Let me give you a few examples:
"At that time, Xiahou was as bright as the sun and the moon, and decadent as Yushan."
"Ji Kang is six feet eight inches long and has a special charm. Anyone who sees him will sigh: Mix Su Su, bright and clear. Or: rustling is like a loose wind. Gao and Xu Yinshan said, "Uncle Ji is a night walker. If Yan Yan is lonely and independent, he will get drunk. If Russia is like Yushan Mountain, it will collapse. "
"Pei Gong Ling handsome, take off the crown, put on coarse clothes. At that time, people thought he was a jade man, but when they saw him, they said, "Uncle Ruan Pei walks like a jade mountain and shines brilliantly."
"Wang: David's posture is lofty, like Yao Shu, which is naturally a foreign object."
(All the above are quoted from Rong Zhi XIV)
This kind of description can really make people feel beautiful, but it can't make people have a realistic and perceptual image grasp of the characters. Beautiful words and vivid metaphors not only express the refined style, but also reflect the wonderful wisdom and character, reflecting the inherent and essential metaphysical aesthetic ideal pursued by people at that time.
But when this transcendental aesthetic ideal is put into practice and becomes an imitated fashion, it becomes superficial and only pursues thin, pale and shaky morbid beauty. Tang's Yunxian Miscellanies Volume 4 Volume 5: I am in poor health and can only eat one meal a day. In June, he must wear a cotton cap to keep the stove warm, or he will get sick. In the Book with Xu Mian, Shen Jun himself admitted: "From the outside, it looks like a complete person, but it works in one form and another, and it often needs to be held by himself to get angry. When you take off your clothes and lie down, the support is no longer important. ..... In one hundred days, leather belts often have to move holes, arm in arm, and the speed of Mi Yue is less than half a minute. However, everyone in the world thinks' Shen Yao'. " "There was a time when it was famous for its romantic style, but its muscles and waist were distinct, and its language was Shen Lang and thin." In addition, Jia Wei, a beautiful man with the reputation of "Jade Man", said in Rong Zhi: "Wei Yan has been known for a long time from Zhang Yu to Xiadu, and the audience has ears like a wall." The first step is to overcome the disease, the body is unbearable, so I got sick and died. At that time, people called it "watch and kill Wei Yan". "This is a tragedy caused by aesthetic fashion.
The murals of the Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest and the flourishing period mentioned above are undoubtedly typical works that embody this aesthetic fashion, with thin image, weak physique, wide belt without coat and dull posture.
In artistic expression, Lu's painting style is characterized by vigorous brushwork, emphasizing the beauty of fine print with backbone, which is also related to the aesthetic fashion at that time. The words "paying attention to spirit" and "paying attention to bones" mentioned above refer to the beauty of the strength of lines in Lu Tanwei's paintings and the beauty of the rigidity of inner life.