In the hot summer, fans are not only articles for people to cool off, but also become a unique work of art in the long historical evolution and development process. Holding a calligraphy and painting folding fan, opening and closing for fun, has its own elegance. The fan is small and exquisite, and the folding fan can be folded into an "artifact in the sleeve", which is easy to carry and save, and has been warmly sought after by enthusiasts and collectors.
Whether it is a round fan or a folding fan, there is a fan surface. The art of fan-shaped calligraphy and painting has always been called "a must". Mr. Feng Zikai wrote in "The Art of Fans": "Fans are a particularly developed form of calligraphy and painting in China."
Fan-painted poems began in the Three Kingdoms period and gradually flourished in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. "Famous Historical Paintings" contains: The Southern Dynasty painter said, "You can draw one at the same time, and the number of people is not lost. It is wonderful and fascinating." Most of the calligraphy and painting works handed down from Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty are fan paintings, including landscapes, flowers and birds, pavilions and figures. Many literati splashed ink on fans, and even the emperor painted on them. For example, the poem "Yan Yu is cold and whirling, and the mud falls and the flowers are wet" written on the Song Huizong Zhao Ji Grass Fan is smooth and delicate.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, folding fan calligraphy and painting became more prosperous. Wen Zhiming was a famous painter and calligrapher in the middle of Ming Dynasty. He was engaged in painting and calligraphy for more than 30 years and was once famous. He was one of the four famous painters in Ming Dynasty and had a great influence. "Wumen Sect" is the most influential painting school in the middle of Ming Dynasty, with Shen Zhou and Wen Zhiming as its representatives. Among his numerous calligraphy and painting works handed down from generation to generation, fan-shaped calligraphy and painting occupy a considerable part, some of which are high-value fine works. 1973 In March, Nanjing Museum found a calligraphy and painting folding fan in the archaeological excavation of the Ming Dynasty official tomb in Dongting Mountain, Wuxian County, which was a fine work left by Wen Zhiming. This fan bone is made of ebony and clay gold. Draw mountains and rivers in the rain on a clay fan. Close-up shows smoke trees on the hillside and three or two cabins in the forest, marked with light ink. In the misty rain, there are several peaks in the distant mountain. On the other side of the fan, a poem "Summer Sleep" is written. Wen Zhiming's calligraphy attainments are profound, and all his calligraphy styles are exquisite, especially in his later years. This poem uses cursive calligraphy, vigorous and smooth, and its style is light and beautiful. Therefore, this unearthed cultural relic fan is a masterpiece of fan art in terms of painting, poetry and calligraphy.
Wu Pai Tang Bohu, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhiming and Chou Ying in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Banqiao and Ren Bonian in the Qing Dynasty and other painters' fan paintings and poems are all treasures. The "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" in Qing Dynasty also left precious fan-shaped calligraphy and painting ink.
Perhaps Ren Bonian is the painter who painted the most sectors. Before he became powerful, he was famous in Jiangnan. This painting school, which calls itself "Yinshan Renyi", not only combines the tradition of folk art and literati painting, but also properly uses western painting methods. By the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, he had formed a distinctive style of elegance, popularity, freshness and liveliness, which was deeply loved by people. His figures, landscapes, flowers and birds have all reached the state of perfection.
The folding fan is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and the paper is uneven. It is not easy to express the art of calligraphy and painting on the fan. Once the painter and calligrapher master its characteristics, coupled with clever layout, it can also produce another kind of interest that other forms can't express. Therefore, the works of the same author, the same theme and the same scale are particularly expensive to draw on fans. First, it is determined by the difficulty of painting on the fan; Second, folding fans prevailed in Ming and Qing Dynasties. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, folding fans were very popular with the public. Some people used folding fans to show their identity and status, so that painters and painters were particularly careful and particular when creating folding fans. This is why fans and finished fans are welcomed by collectors and are willing to bid for treasures.
There are very few fans in the past dynasties, and few celebrity fans are circulated in the form of fans. There are even fewer collectors who collect fans, so fans are generally collected for folding fans. The good fan bones in the folding fan collection have high collection value, especially those with excellent materials, good color and texture and superb carving technology, which are often treasured by collectors. The fan bone and the fan surface are integrated and complement each other, so the collection value of this fan is naturally higher.
In ancient times, there were many books instead of paintings, because literati could write calligraphy, and loving calligraphy did not necessarily mean painting. Earlier folding fans were written on the front and painted on the back. Later, they were painted on the front and engraved on the back, gradually becoming "poems, books, paintings and seals". However, there are also fans assembled with various fonts, such as Wu Hufan's Seventy-two Champion Fan in Qing Dynasty, all of which are calligraphy fans.
Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi, famous painters and painters in modern times, all expressed their artistic styles on the fan, leaving immortal artistic treasures. Qi Baishi's fan paintings are mostly freehand brushwork, but the fish, insects, flowers, birds, fruits and vegetables on the fan paintings are very fine and lifelike. The colorful folding fan of "Mushroom and Winter Bamboo Shoots" is only made of mushroom and winter bamboo shoots, but it is bold and colorful. It can be said that it is really fun, and the fresh vegetables contain rhyme.