The main trend of Chinese painting in the second half of the 20th century was innovation, and this main trend took new figure painting as the "locomotive". What drives this "locomotive" is an outstanding figure in the industry - such as Yang Zhiguang, the protagonist of this album. To understand 20th century painting, one must study these outstanding figures, and studying them must also be connected with 20th century painting as a whole.
This article attempts to examine Yang Zhiguang’s new figure paintings from two aspects: artistic process and artistic exploration, and attempts to talk about the historical experience related to new figure paintings.
Art History and Periods
So far, Yang Zhiguang’s artistic activities can be summarized into three major periods, namely the foundation period, the entrepreneurial period and the expansion period.
1. The founding period (1943-1953)
Yang Zhiguang had a wide range of interests when he was a child. He liked poetry, music, performance, calligraphy and painting, and seal cutting. The most obsessed with it was calligraphy and seal cutting. painting. His first teacher, Cao Ming, once guided him to copy the works of Shi Tao, Bada, Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi. Later, after being introduced by Cao Ming, he officially became Li Jian's calligraphy teacher. Li Jian (1881-1956), also known as Shenqian, also known as Heran Jushi, was born in Linchuan, Jiangxi Province. He was the nephew of Li Ruiqing, a Taoist of the Qing Dynasty, and a famous calligrapher. He graduated from the Painting and Handicraft Department of Nanjing Liangjiang Normal School in his early years. He was a classmate of Jiang Danshu, Lu Fengzi, and Ling Zhizhi, and he became a secretary to the cabinet. After the Republic of China, he engaged in education, traveled to South Asia, and served as the principal of Penang Normal University. Art historian Yu Jianhua said of him: "He studied everything, and was good at calligraphy, cursive, seal script, and seal script. He occasionally painted with calligraphy, and the flowers and figures were very interesting... He also worked on seals, and he was modest and pure, and he was kind to an elder." (1) Yang Zhiguang went to his home after school to polish ink, paper, and study brushwork, which lasted six years. He later recalled that Teacher Li was very strict and made me develop a habit. When I came home from school, the first thing I did was to lock the door and practice the calligraphy homework assigned by Teacher Li. I have read "Sanshi Pan", "Maogong Tripod", "Shimen Inscription", "Shimen Ode", "Zhang Qian Stele", "Seventeen Posts", "Holy Teaching Preface" and so on many times (2). In Shanghai in the 1940s, it was not uncommon for a young man to undergo such calligraphy training, but it was extremely important for Yang Zhiguang, who later integrated Chinese and Western arts.
In the winter of 1948, when he was about to graduate from high school, Yang Zhiguang returned to his native Guangdong alone. Li Jian introduced him to study Chinese painting with Gao Jianfu, and followed Gao's orders to study sketching and watercolor at the Guangzhou Fine Arts School. Gao Jianfu returned to tradition in his later years and called himself "New Literati Painting". In the attic of the Nanzhong Academy of Fine Arts, Gao taught this young disciple with the concept of "compromising Chinese and Western painting and reforming Chinese painting" and asked him to copy the entire "Jingnian Flower and Bird Painting Book" and "Meiling Painting Book" (3). Half a year later, due to the turmoil in the current situation, Yang Zhiguang and several classmates abandoned school to make a living on their own. They initially wanted to become wandering painters and headed for Dunhuang. But the war blocked the traffic going north, so they took the fifth-class ferry to Taiwan. At that time, the Taiwan permit was in chaos. He stayed in a garage and worked part-time jobs for five months. He painted some paintings. Finally, he returned to Guangzhou because his future was uncertain. The biggest gain from my trip to Taiwan is that I got a chance to practice independent living.