In late spring, at the invitation of Mr. Lao Pu and Mr. Xu Yong, Xin Mao went to Anliang Baolou for an artistic walk-the 14th China Ink and Wash Exhibition of Beichan Academy and the elegant collection of Chang 'an Guqin. Under the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Ci 'en Inn is unwilling to meet the old friend Sui. Both of them were overjoyed and couldn't help embracing each other for a long time.
Sui wore a navy plaid shirt, but casually wore a pair of khaki striped slacks and a pair of brown lace-up oxhide shoes, which looked much leaner than in the past. Gestures, or the same silence and a little meditation. When others are talking, he listens attentively and seldom interrupts. Only when his friend Qiu Ren makes a speech will he make a surprising speech? The attack caught Qiu Ren off guard. Qiu Ren, who is responsive, showed no weakness and retorted like a barrage. This kind of ridicule of the two often makes everyone laugh. Humor is also a kind of wisdom. Because of the humor of Sui and Qiu Ren, everyone feels that this elegant collection is warm, harmonious, relaxed and happy.
After the exhibition, I browsed around the exhibition hall. When I saw Sui's paintings, I was not surprised. Unexpectedly, Sui's painting style has changed a lot in recent years, changing the girl's posture of splashing ink in the past, simplifying the pen and ink to an irreversible level, getting rid of the gas of fireworks, leaving the impetuous hubbub and entering a quiet, light and extraordinary Zen realm.
I think Chinese painting first emphasizes pen and ink, which is the soul of Chinese painting. Talking about Chinese painting without pen and ink is to give up the basics and seek the end. Everyone is talking about how many people can really purify pen and ink, refine lines, approach the Tao with skills, and form their own characteristics. Even some ancient sages can only look at the ocean and sigh. Zheng Banqiao, a famous painter in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a couplet: "Simplify the Sanqiu tree by deleting the complexity and blossom unconventional February flowers". This couplet touches on several major issues in the creation of calligraphy and painting.
One is to simplify the complex, which is a process of purifying pen and ink. Mediocre people never tire of painting, just like a clumsy wife who mixes flour. When it is thick, add water, when it is thin, add flour, and finally become a pot of paste. The more you are a master, the more you cherish ink. For example, Zhu Da, a native of Badashan, looks like a few simple lines, but it is elegant and out of the dust, and unskilled people can do it. Mr Banqiao painted bamboo and bluegrass all his life. He never dreamed that he would cut down on pen and ink, but most of them were impenetrable, and there were few times when he could do it. His pen and ink lines are soft and lack of change. This is Mr. Zheng's regret. Sui's ability to deal with this problem is beyond the reach of ordinary people, which benefits from his years of calligraphy skills, as well as his proud reading and thinking, rigorous and implicit academic spirit. Go to see sui? Making Buddha statues, or Guanyin bodhisattva, or Buddhist gods, almost reached the extreme with pen and ink and lines. The ink is thick but not stagnant, light but not floating, alternating between reality and reality, and clear wet and dry, entering a superb realm. The lines are as thin as hairspring, but full of twists and turns, combining rigidity with softness and endless changes. He deserves to be a master of ink management, which is simple but not simple.
The second is to be unconventional. In fact, it is a unique way to form an artistic style different from others and become a pioneer. As everyone knows, this is the hardest thing to do. The achievement of a master artist is made up of many elements. In addition to the spirit of pen and ink, cultural character, rich knowledge and rich experience, it is also indispensable to have the right time and the right place. Mr Banqiao was unconventional all his life, combining official script with Weibei, trying to create a unique style of writing. However, apart from couplets, there are still quite a few points, but his six books have become very artificial. Sui is very clever at this point. Tradition is the foundation of all arts. Without tradition, there is no innovation. Sui Mou went deep into tradition and made great efforts in figure painting in Song and Yuan Dynasties, especially in calligraphy and painting of Chen Laolian and Ni in Ming Dynasty. What's more commendable is that a teacher in Sui studied from the ancients, not for them? Be good at getting rid of the false and keeping the true, go straight to the truth, and take God by appearances. When he studies tradition, he always asks some traditional questions that others don't pay attention to, and he can also talk with the ancients by analogy, thus producing some wonderful ideas of his own. In fact, this is true respect and loyalty to tradition. And those who usually shout tradition in their mouths, but confuse it with tradition in words, saying it is pseudo-tradition, will inevitably fall into a kind of falsehood and strangeness. In my opinion, one's greatest enemy is oneself, and the most difficult thing to overcome is oneself. At present, Guan Fu has been "crusted" at the age of ten in China painting circles. Why do some people write a word, draw a picture, and look at a picture for decades, which means that they have all seen it, and they can't get out of their own circles all their lives? There are three reasons. First, there is a congenital lack of learning style. If you draw to a certain extent, you can't go far without the support of learning. Second, he is an antique teacher who works repeatedly in machinery all day and can only be a painter; Third, trapped by fame and fortune, some talented painters made their debut and became famous earlier, which has already had a certain influence in society. They value fame and fortune too much to change the law for fear of affecting their own market. At this point, I really appreciate and admire Sui. His figure paintings are mostly in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and promiscuous for many years in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. What is commendable is that he is different from the ancient court painter, and has his own point, line and surface language, his own pen and ink composition, his own temperament and aesthetic height. He is a man with both theoretical courage and practical spirit, who dares to surpass the ancients and is good at surpassing himself.
In recent years, Sui has developed a strong interest in Buddhism and made in-depth research. From his paintings, I read a kind of Zen, which seems to be extremely savvy, knowledgeable and kind. Most of Sui's recent works are Buddhist Zen paintings, such as Guanyin, Pot-bellied Buddha, Eighteen Arhats, Wandering Monks, etc., which have different shapes and are lifelike. He painted Zen as a Zen mind and wrote Zen thoughts. The essence of Buddhism is pure heart and no desire, governing by inaction, learning from nature and learning from nature. He believes that artists should be quiet, compassionate, not tired of fame and fortune, not disturbed by the world, and should calm down to study and paint. Therefore, while intensively reading the painting theory of ancient books, he deeply studied Buddhist scriptures and realized the true meaning of artificial art from Buddhism, writing Zen with Zen mind and painting with pure heart.
Guan Fu's view of all Buddhists in Sui Mou's works is that most of them are kind-hearted and smiling. Coupled with the faint cries of old trees, the clouds flowing in the sky make people enter a kind of broad-minded, quiet and elegant Buddhist realm, and a dusty heart feels particularly clear, transparent, clear and clean, just like being washed by a clear spring in the mountains.
He set foot in Buddhism and learned guqin from Mr. Xu Gong Jing Yong. Guqin has a history of 1600 years. It is an ancient musical instrument in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Like painting, Sui Mou Xueqin is persistent. He has learned a Song of the Night for almost two years, but he still can't put it down. Others suggested that he learn other music. He said that all the musical instruments in the world are for others, and only the guqin is for yourself. Learning the piano is not to acquire a skill, but only to nourish the soul. I have met Qin, a husband of Sui Dynasty. Although I can't see the exquisite skills, I am also calm. It's like a noble scholar living alone in his study, with his eyes closed and his heart free from distractions. His hand swam on the seven strings, and the sound of the wind flowed from the piano, passed through the porch window and floated in the cool breeze and bright moon. It is so fresh and distant, and the mind and leisure of the pianist make people clearly feel the kind of literati in Yuan Dynasty.
Meditation, chanting, reading, writing, playing the piano and drawing are Sui's daily necessities. With the persistence, intelligence, mind and determination of Brother Mou, I believe he will definitely improve his art and achieve positive results!