When it comes to the collection and appreciation of Qi Baishi's works and modern Chinese painting, if you were asked to name just one person as a representative, I think people would all think of one person invariably, and that is - Qi Baishi. Once upon a time, the occurrence and development of the Chinese art market in the past ten years were almost guided by the works of Qi Baishi. From the Waterloo auction of Qi Baishi's works collected by Yang Yongde of Guardian to the sky-high price of 16.5 million yuan for Baishi's landscape album from China Trade Shengjia in 2003, Qi Baishi's works are like a scale, measuring and guiding the market trend of modern Chinese paintings, and also flaunting collectors. The interest and orientation of investors have never left this generalist and talented man who combines calligraphy, seal cutting, painting, and poetry. Because he is Qi Baishi, and only Qi Baishi can have such great charisma, and this great charisma is based on the greatness of Baishi's artistic creation. This kind of greatness is from the most "simple" to the "simple", to the "clumsy" to the "thick", especially his landscape paintings. The compositions are surprisingly innovative, irregular yet legal, the seemingly plain brushwork is majestic and pure. Bright. Between similarity and dissimilarity, the essence of landscape spirituality is expressed lightly or heavily, openly or covertly, and the delicate, simple kindness and optimistic strength can be seen in the wide opening and closing. In Baishi's landscape paintings, every stroke seems to contain the earthy atmosphere of his hometown, and every line seems to condense the dew of nature, which is fresh and gorgeous, profound and popular. The calligraphy of Mr. Baishi is rare among modern Chinese painters. It is so good that when I look at the calligraphy of other "painters" after Baishi, I cannot praise him enough. The old man Baishi specialized in the "Cuan Long Yan Stele" and later studied the "Zheng Wen Stone Stele". After the Five Out and Five Returns, he also studied the "Tianfa Shen Prophecy Stele" by Li Beihai, He Shaoji, Jin Nong and others. His high level of painting achievement is inseparable from his high level of calligraphy. Throughout the ages, all great painters have been great calligraphers, including Dong Qichang, Bada Shanren, and Qi Baishi. His calligraphy is powerful, solemn, and graceful, but it does not lose its clumsy meaning. He is good at using the long edge of the pen, so he can make full use of the characteristic of the pen edge to absorb more ink, and he can complete the work in one go. Because of his good calligraphy foundation, there are almost no lines in Shiraishi's works that cannot withstand scrutiny. The quality of his lines is reflected in: continuous and straight. "Needles wrapped in cotton", softness in fineness, hardness in softness. Moisturizing and full. It is not sluggish or slippery, but it has strong bone strength but hides its domineering spirit in the ink without leaving any trace. Male and strong. His calligraphy is able to retain pen and ink at all turning points, especially the transition of his calligraphy lines. The brush strokes like a cone of sand seem to be able to cut through the paper. His Fei Bai also has a very personal temperament, especially his "picking up the pen", although it is a little habitual in its simplicity. When it comes to Qi Baishi's contribution to modern Chinese painting, for half a century, Qi Baishi's artistic achievements have been recognized by experts in art history, painters, collectors, and even ordinary people. Qi Baishi is like a peak, like a ruler. His paintings are the absolute embodiment of the taste of Chinese brush and ink, and they are the peak of modern Chinese literati painting. After his paintings entered the market, they became the barometer and weathervane of today's Chinese art market.
——Vincent William Van Gogh
I can never forget the time when I first came into contact with painting in junior high school. I heard the teacher talk about Van Gogh and saw his sunflowers in an art book. I can't say how good his paintings are, but his paintings fascinate me and make me fascinated. I read it over and over again, maybe his enthusiasm infected me. I hope I am that sunflower, always facing the sun.
Later, I gradually got to know Van Gogh deeply. He was kind-hearted and loved life, but he suffered many setbacks and hardships in life. He devoted himself to art and boldly innovated. On the basis of extensive study of predecessors such as Rembrandt, he absorbed the experience of Impressionist painters in color, and was influenced by Eastern art, especially Japanese prints, to form his own unique artistic style. He has created many works that are full of passion for life and full of humanitarian spirit. "Sunflowers", "Starry Night", "Wheatfield with Crows" and other representative works were mostly completed in the last six years of his life, expressing the depression, sadness, sympathy and hope in his heart. Through these works, I can see Come to a more realistic Van Gogh and better understand the painter's spirit and thoughts.
Vincent William Van Gogh was born into a family of a Protestant pastor in the town of Zandert, Netherlands.
Before the age of 24, he worked as a clerk in Goupil's painting shops in The Hague, London, Paris and other places. Later he became a missionary and preached in the Borinage mining area in southwestern Belgium. He was dismissed because of his sympathy and support for the poor miners. After living a life of extreme disappointment and poverty, he decided to achieve his own liberation through the exploration of art. After 1880, he studied everywhere, seeking advice from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Belgium, and learning painting from the Dutch landscape painter Anton Mauve, but in the end he decided to teach himself. Before 1886, his works were still in a period of exploration. His representative works include "The Potato Eaters" and "The Weavers". In 1886, Van Gogh came to Paris with his younger brother, who was a senior employee of Goupil's painting shop, and met Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat and Cézanne, and joined the Impressionist painters gatherings to be inspired and influenced by color. In February 1888, he and Gauguin went to Arles in southern France to sketch and paint for a year. This was the most important period for the formation of his artistic style. The strong sunshine of the South and the towns, fields, flowers, rivers, farmhouses and churches illuminated by the sun made him unable to help but shout over and over again: "Brighter, brighter." Some!" However, due to disagreements between the two, Gauguin left, and Van Gogh's spirit began to gradually split. After Van Gogh fell ill on December 23, 1888, his condition waxed and waned, became severe and mild, and he was admitted to the hospital again and again. In May 1889, he was sent to the Saint-Remy Mental Hospital, one kilometer away from Arles, and became a complete mental patient. But at this moment, a miracle happened. Van Gogh's painting improved by leaps and bounds, and his style quickly formed. However, the price of this miracle was the self-immolation of a soul. In 1890, after a long-term hospitalization in the Demosol Mental Hospital in Saint-Rémy, and after his condition improved slightly, Van Gogh returned to Paris and lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, receiving specialized treatment from Dr. Gasset. He painted diligently, including "Portrait of Dr. Gasset", "The Church of Orwell", etc. However, on October 27, 1890, after a quarrel with Dr. Gasset, Van Gogh shot himself in a wheat field and ended his life.
Van Gogh left a wealth of works throughout his life, which were only gradually recognized after his death. In these works, the author prominently pursues the expression of his own spirit, and all forms jump and twist under the intense spiritual control. This kind of art had a profound influence on expressionism in the 20th century. In particular, Soutine and the German Expressionist painters absorbed many important principles from the works of Van Gogh. He is the greatest Dutch painter with worldwide influence after Rembrandt. However, while he was still alive, he only sold one painting a year.
When people think of Van Gogh's classic works, the first thing that often comes to mind is "Sunflowers". It was painted by Van Gogh in the sunny south of France and is now in the National Gallery in London. The golden color on the picture seems to flow from the author's heart, and the simple clay pots and vases, the rough tablecloth, and the layers of sunlight interweave into the background, and the tablecloth is filled with halo; full of vitality Nine sunflowers are in full bloom, and the flower disks are not fully exposed, even with a delicate green color, while several other sunflowers are old, mature or even on the verge of decay, with incomplete petals and stiff and twisted branches. This seems to imply some kind of fate. Although bathed in the strong sunlight, the sunflower still cannot escape the ending of old age and decadence. It seems that everything is so short-lived and brilliant. Nothing in the world can shine forever like the sun. Transience seems to be everything. fate. However, Van Gogh imposed the golden color of sunlight on all background objects, such as the air, vases, tablecloths, etc. When he carefully completed the transfer of paint from the palette to the canvas stroke by stroke, he should have seen that the entire studio had been illuminated by that dazzling golden color, including his face and his serious expression. , his spiritual world. In Van Gogh's paintings, the flaming sunflowers are not just plants, but living beings with primitive impulses and passions. They more wildly express the painter's passionate desire and tenacious pursuit of life, venting their passion for life. The painter's full experience and eternal excitement of life.
Another representative work by Van Gogh, "Starry Night", was painted in June 1890 and is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Starry Night" presents two line styles, one is a curved long line, and the other is a broken short line. The interactive use of the two makes the picture present a dazzling fantasy scene. This is obviously divorced from reality and is purely Van Gogh's own imagination. Compositionally, the turbulent sky contrasts with the peaceful village.
The cypress trees achieve a visual balance with the horizontal mountains and sky. The dark cypress trees are dancing like witches, and the swirling nebulae, rotating stars, and even the crescent moon are rotating rapidly. The ferocious flow patterns seemed to be the direction of fate, and everything was turbulent and shaky. The church's spire looked so helpless, its spire almost submerged by the whirlpool of the night sky. Van Gogh's world is actually so fragile and helpless, and he is trapped in a vortex that he cannot escape from. The color tone of the whole painting is blue-green, and the artist uses dynamic, continuous, and rapidly flowing brushstrokes like waves to express nebulae and trees; under his brushwork, the nebulae and trees are like a burning fireball that is striving upward. , has strong expressive power and leaves a deep impression on people.
Van Gogh once wrote in a letter to his brother Dior, "Looking at the bright starry sky, I can't help but wonder... I can't help but ask myself why the bright spots in the night sky can't be like those on the map of France. As easy as the Black Mark? We can just take a train to Trusquen or Rouen, but to reach the stars it is a journey of death." The stirring whirlpool-like stars painted by Van Gogh may seem to us to be just novel and creative scenery, but in fact they are the undercurrents in the author's heart and his interpretation of death. Perhaps for Van Gogh, death is not a disaster, but a tunnel leading to heaven, a kind of spiritual relief.
Van Gogh's last oil painting was "Wheatfield with Crows", which was the last realistic and terrifying portrait in his life, and it was also a suicide note that he left to the world a dazzling image. It was a disturbing picture: a wheat field cut into two equal parts by three forked roads. The leftmost road almost presented a border state, and the middle road extended into the distance in an endlessly imaginative S-shape. The end of the road is full of confusion and gloom. Beside the road is green grass full of respect, and another road suddenly deviates to the right and disappears. It looks like a person with arms raised, lying flat on his back, holding a harvest of wheat fields on his shoulders. That exciting and comforting golden color, like a sanctuary illuminated by the sun, ignites a person's inner joy. But at this time, the sky was disturbingly covered by dark clouds. To be precise, it was a group of flying shadows. It was a group of crows. The pure black crows and the haze that appeared in the distant sky seemed like witches. The black cloak covered the less and less sunlight and the light of the wheat fields. It is a conflicting mood, a vague fear deep inside. This was the world of Van Gogh before he was about to die. The world in his eyes was divided into two colors, one was the exciting golden yellow, which was the sunshine color that belonged to his persistent spirit, and the other was the color that made him Under the shadow of fear and disappointment, he lost his last confidence in that world. His mood was cut and disintegrated, a wheat field collapsed, and a piece of sunshine was fragmented.
Van Gogh used his own life as a bet to paint, writing the final chapter of his life with his soul and blood like a thorn bird. This last painting expresses Van Gogh's "sadness and extreme loneliness", and his end seems to have been doomed long ago. So in Auvers, in the glorious summer of July, he pulled the trigger on his chest. The moment he fell, his soul returned to the eternal golden earth. This crazy genius painter finally found relief.
I want to pay tribute to the artist I love most in my soul. Van Gogh had a rough life, especially in the last few years of his life, when his spiritual world was completely broken. Just like the sea, storms arise from time to time, and the land is bumpy and overturned. There is not much stable land left. However, in contrast, it is his love for art. Facing the anxiety of the unstoppable disease, he said: "It is really doubtful whether there is beauty in painting and whether it is useful. But what should we do? Some people still love nature and life even if they are insane. , because he is a painter!" "Faced with a disease that destroyed me and scared me, my faith will not waver!" However, it is such a "lunatic" with a paranoid belief in painting that uses his short time to do so. His life depicts to us his love and pursuit of life, tells us his passion and ideals, and adds eternal color to our lives.