In Lingnan area, almost no one who is engaged in the research or creation of calligraphy and painting does not know the compound name of Woods (especially in the calligraphy circle). This mostly depends on his reputation in calligraphy and seal cutting. Besides calligraphy seal cutting, Wu Zifu was also an early oil painter in China. He was greatly influenced by western fauvism, and later he was good at painting landscapes. Although his influence is far less than that of calligraphy and seal cutting, it reflects the various artistic talents of a traditional scholar who runs through China and the West-even though these explorations in painting have gradually been forgotten. Wu Zifu's artistic achievements in his life mainly lie in calligraphy and seal cutting. In calligraphy, the achievements of official script are the most outstanding. Wu Zifu's early calligraphy was influenced by He He and Guangdong calligrapher Lin Zhimian, but in general, Hanshu had the greatest influence. He advocated that the study of Han steles should be divided into levels, from shallow to deep, of which six are the most important. He arranged them as sacrificial tablets, Zhang Qianbei tablets, Xihuang tablets, Shimen tablets, Gaosong tablets and school officials tablets. He believes that these six forms of stippling on the Han tablet are the ancestors of all calligraphy stippling forms, and all calligraphy after Wei and Jin dynasties has branched from them. Therefore, he was deeply involved in adultery and gained enlightenment, and the ancient rhyme we saw in his official script was the crystallization of his victory over six monuments. For example, the official script four-character couplet written by 19 19 (Figure 1) has such a deep trace. This "trace" can represent the main characteristics of his early book style.
At the same time, Wu Zifu does not stick to one style, but is eclectic, widely adopts the ancient calligraphy of famous steles, and combines his will with ancient rhyme to form his own unique calligraphy style. Generally speaking, his calligraphy is characterized by peace and beauty, with the spirit of diluting the ancient style, calm and straightforward, which reflects his determination to write the word "WTO entry" with the pen of his origin, so he can't win in one stroke.
Most of the books handed down by Wu Zifu are official books. Except for the occasional collections in public libraries such as Guangdong Museum and Guangzhou Art Museum, most of his works are concentrated in his descendants and other private collections. Li Zhoushu (Figure 2), which he wrote for Li Maozhai in Guangdong Museum, is a typical embodiment of this style. This book is fluent in structure and accurate in brushwork, and has won the Chinese rhyme samadhi. This kind of works is common in Wu's handed down works, and others, such as Wu's calligraphy and painting appraiser Su (1924-200 1)' s Axis (Figure 3), also belong to this kind. Written in 1977, the pen is exquisite and smooth, representing the mature style in his later years. Wu Zifu's book style, which we know now, is also typical of this style. Recently, the author was invited by the Guangdong Provincial Archives Bureau (bureau) to identify some famous painters and calligraphers who recently entered Tibet. At that time, the Guangdong provincial government handed over countless masterpieces of calligraphy and painting hanging in various halls and halls for decoration. Among them, one poem was Wu Zifu's official script, and its style was similar to that given to Mr. Su by Wu Shu. Accordingly, it can be seen that Wu's painting style is famous all over the world.
However, there are many running scripts in Wu's calligraphy, such as the letter to the painter Hu Gentian (1892- 1985) in 1942 (Figure 4), which reflects his simple and elegant running script style. This kind of works reflects the other side of its book style because of its practicality, that is, frank, plain and sincere style. But as an independent but not practical calligraphy product, Wu Zifu's running script is still rare. So are other books.
Due to Wu Zifu's influence in Guangdong book circle, many plaques and inscriptions in early Guangzhou were written by Wu, which had a great influence for a while. Among them, zhenhai tower's masterpiece is the most praised. They are "zhenhai tower", "Guangzhou Museum" and zhenhai tower Changlian. "There are still thousands of dangerous buildings robbed. Who will fight?" Five hundred years later, Hou An was there, which made me lean on the fence to watch the sword and shed tears on the hero "(Figure 5). The three questions are all official scripts, the three characters of "zhenhai tower" are Fang Bi, the five characters of "Guangguan" are round pens, and the long couplets are square and round. Among the three problems, the long couplet is the most striking. This couplet was written by Peng Yulin, a famous Hunan native in the late Qing Dynasty (said to be his assistant Li Dihua). Zhenhai tower, a famous building in Lingnan, has been fully summarized in the couplet, and with the vigorous and colorful official script of Wu, it is particularly majestic. It can be said that famous buildings, famous societies and famous books complement each other, which is enough to be passed down through the ages. Other famous monuments include the will of the Prime Minister of Zhongshan Memorial Hall in Guangzhou. This tablet was written by Hu (1879- 1936), and it was later confirmed as Wu Zifu's book by his son Wu Jin. It can be seen that Wu's book has many similarities with Hu, another famous official calligrapher in Guangdong.
Wu Zifu's calligraphy style has a great influence in Guangdong, and there are many people at one time. Some people call it "Wu Style". His descendants are Zhang Benyun, Guan Xiaofeng, He Zuopeng, Li Wei, Li, Chen, Lin and Chen. It has formed a large group of contemporary Lingnan calligraphy circles and become an important force of Guangdong calligraphy. It can be said that Wu Zifu's influence in Guangdong has surpassed that of many calligraphers in the same period, and his disciples have also passed on his calligraphy skills for a long time. Therefore, the author in the monograph "Lingnan Calligraphy". It is well-deserved to set up a special section in middle school to affirm his calligraphy and its position in the history of Guangdong calligraphy. Although Wu Zifu's seal cutting is far less influential than calligraphy, it has formed its own style, which is remarkable in the modern printing industry. Ma Guoquan (193 1-2002) spoke highly of his management of printing in The Biography of Modern Indians, and thought that he "printed in his later years purely with his calligraphy, regardless of Anhui and Zhejiang, Qin and Han Dynasties, and printed for his own use." He started printing in middle age and made friends with the famous seal engraver Feng Kanghou (190 1 ~ 1983). He also wrote the article "Seal Cutting" and put forward his own unique view on seal cutting, saying that "the forms used in calligraphy and seal cutting are nothing more than lines. The lines must have a sense of quantity. " His so-called "sense of quantity" means "drawing a line on a plane, which makes people feel as if a branch extends into space. There were many denuded places in ancient times, so we must find the charm from the denuded places, and we don't have to imagine its complete form in those days. This is actually the beauty of deformity that is often said in aesthetics. Wu Zifu applied it to calligraphy and seal cutting, which shows that its innovation is different from ordinary people. He also stressed that seal cutting must be integrated into the author's thoughts, feelings, personality and even personality, otherwise it can only be a technology rather than an art. This theory is undoubtedly a good medicine for those who only pursue one skill and formal beauty in seal cutting (or other artistic creation). Wu Zifu said this, and we can see in his works that he did the same. We can clearly see his style in his seal cutting album Appreciation of Italian Wild Architecture.
Compared with calligraphy, Wu Zifu's seal theory has a slightly weaker influence, and his successors are far less than calligraphy. The main heirs are Hong Kong painter Qu Dawei and his son Wu Jin. The world knows more about his calligraphy and seal cutting, but little about his paintings. He was good at oil painting in his early years, but few people knew that he was good at Chinese painting. With regard to Chinese painting, in the 1920s, in his Opinions on Chinese Painting, he thought that there were two trends of thought in the field of Chinese painting at that time, one was "that our inherent Chinese painting must be improved by a western method" and the other was "that Chinese painting has its own ancient Chinese painting method". When the ancient law is lost, Chinese painting will also perish, and Chinese painting must abide by the ancient law. " In Wu Zifu's view, these two prejudices are equally superficial, and they both don't understand the fundamental meaning of art. He believes that Chinese painting has not been improved, mainly because of the lack of specific artistic theory, adherence to the ancient law and lack of concept of the world. He pays special attention to the concept of the world. He said: "When our painters in China can push away the established ideas and engage in free creation, I hope they will not forget that this is the end of the world, pay attention to the cultural process of the world and catch up with it together. This is the true nature of an artist. Otherwise, you are still lying in a deserted and dead garden, grasping the remains of ancient art and dreaming about five or six hundred years ago. You are just a group of laggards abandoned by the times. " His argument is obviously not the same as that of the "eclectic school" at that time, and it is also different from the completely westernized thought. Unfortunately, during this time, we can hardly see his traditional Chinese paintings. What we can see now are mostly works from the sixties and seventies, and the themes are mostly landscapes. On the whole, Wu Zifu's landscape still belongs to the traditional way of writing and feeling. His conception, artistic conception and brushwork are full of the interest of literati painting, which combines the thoughts of a poet and a scholar. Whether it is painting mountains, forests or huts, it is full of relaxed interest and literati feelings. There is neither the stereotype that is common in Chinese painting nor the publicity that is completely integrated with western painting style as seen in Chinese painting. His paintings can be said to be a combination of ancient and western methods in color and technique. Some critics say that his paintings are "full of ancient meanings, informal and harmonious colors", which should be said to be a more pertinent comment. His paintings are often decorated with small poems, which makes people deeply understand their connotation outside the picture. For example, in "Landscape Map" written by 1972, the poem says: "All the way to the cliff, stepping on the pale wall, half-dock Leng Yun embraces the spring stone. Shan Weng's wine is too ripe to go out and there are no traces of flowers everywhere. " (Poems by Song, Guo and Guo) shows a world far away from the hubbub. His mountains and rivers are rare in the world, and they are not his specialty. Only in this way, people who win them are often precious. Wu Zifu's traditional Chinese painting is not a professional painting, so its position in the history of modern Lingnan painting is far less than that of calligraphy and seal cutting. However, his paintings enriched the composition of modern Guangdong fine arts and became an important part of Guangdong's "diversified painter group". Therefore, paying attention to his traditional Chinese paintings is of great supporting significance for understanding the state of modern Guangdong fine arts.
Precautions:
1 Wujin "Guangzhou Zhongshan Memorial Hall" Who wrote it? Lingnan Literature and History, No.3, 2005.
2 Zhu Lingnan Calligraphy, published by Guangdong People's Publishing House in February 2004.
3 Ma Guoquan's Biography of Modern Indians, published by Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House in August 1998.
4 Wu Zifu's seal cutting is published in Guangzhou Nanfang Daily 1962 June 10.
Appreciation of Wild Houses, published by Lingnan Fine Arts Publishing House in June 1984+00.
6 Wu Wan's "Some Views on Chinese Painting" was published in Guangzhou Republic Daily 1929, September18,25.
The Art of Painting and Calligraphy by Wu Zifu by Gan Yousui was cut from Hong Kong.
In February 2006, Guangdong People's Publishing House published Zhu Painting Guangdong.
Wu Zifu's oil painting art has the interest of western painting concepts and oriental art, with bright colors and simple shapes, forming a naive and simple style. Wu Zifu likes calligraphy and painting. After teaching in Guangzhou Fine Arts School, he was inspired by Lin Zhimian, a famous official calligrapher, and devoted himself to calligraphy research. In his later years, he also wrote ink and wash landscape paintings in seal cutting. Wu Zifu devoted his whole life to Han monuments, especially the monument to the good king, the monument to the ritual vessels and the monument to the worship of the three public mountains. Writing official script on weekdays, not sticking to one pattern, casting all the inscriptions, the book style is quaint and naive, and it is known as "Wu Li". In recent decades, it has had a far-reaching influence in Guangdong book circles, and its disciples include Zhang Benyun, Guan Xiaofeng, He Zuopeng, Li Wei, Li, Lin, Chen and Chen, forming a huge school. 1 Wujin "Guangzhou Zhongshan Memorial Hall" Who wrote it? Lingnan Literature and History, No.3, 2005.
2 Zhu Lingnan Calligraphy, published by Guangdong People's Publishing House in February 2004.
3 Ma Guoquan's Biography of Modern Indians, published by Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House in August 1998.
4 Wu Zifu's Seal Cutting, published in Guangzhou Nanfang Daily1June 962 10.
Appreciation of Wild Houses, published by Lingnan Fine Arts Publishing House in June 1984+00.
6 Wu Wan's "Some Views on Chinese Painting" was published in Guangzhou Republic Daily 1929, September18,25.
7 Gan Yousui's "Wu Zifu's Painting and Calligraphy Art" was clippings from Hong Kong.
In February 2006, Guangdong People's Publishing House published Zhu Painting Guangdong.