"I get more nutrition from poetry than painting theory books.
Painting is natural, but the time for real thinking comes from extensive reading.
Writing is very important, whether it is written by China people or translated, I will only read it if it is well written.
I don't even want to associate with people who can't get pleasure from these books. "
-He Duoling talk about reading.
Reading and entertainment
"Xu Xiaohu's seven-year' forced questioning' summed up China's literati painting, and Wang's ink painting of China's Book is the subject I want to study."
Reading and influence
"Wang Xiaobo's novels have no direct influence on my painting, but they have a subtle influence on my understanding of art."
reading habit
"My reading contains many contemporary poems, and the science reading Tianya is also my bedside book. I don't like reading classic professional works very much. "
He Duoling is a representative painter of contemporary lyric realism oil painting in China and a representative figure of "scar art". What book is this Chengdu painter reading now? What kind of reading materials have the deepest influence on him? What is his preference for reading? With a lot of curiosity and questions, the reporter of Chengdu Evening News walked into He Duoling's studio and listened to the story told by the master.
It's "Listening to Wang Talk about Chinese Painting Pen and Ink"
He Duoling's studio is located in the Blue Top Art Zone of Lotus Pond in Sansheng Township. A two-story building surrounded by green trees. Through the path at the entrance, you can see his studio, a simple and bright concrete room. His easel is in front and in the middle, and his works are being created here. Through the studio is the study room. Giant bookshelves occupy the front wall and display various picture books. Tall He Duoling likes sports, and jerseys and socks are scattered at the feet of the bookshelf. ...
After making a cup of coffee in a hurry, He Duoling called the reporter to sit down. Throughout the afternoon, the topic revolved around his reading interest. He said that reading is a great pleasure after work, and he laughed that reading is a bit pragmatic. "As far as professional books are concerned, I will definitely read them." He Duoling, who is good at oil painting, chatted with the reporter about a book on Chinese painting-"Painting Quotations: Listening to Wang Talk about China's Painting and Calligraphy" by Xu Xiaohu, an art historian. This is a new book that He Duoling has been reading recently.
Who is Wang? The most famous collector and connoisseur in contemporary America. The author is Xu Xiaohu, a famous art historian with a mixed background of China and Germany. From 197 1 to 1978, Xu Xiaohu and Mr. Wang had a marathon interview on China's painting and calligraphy. Under the clever questioning of Xu Xiaohu, Wang tried his best to explain the big problem of "only meaning without words" in China's traditional paintings and calligraphy. With sharp and witty questions and answers, the two men put forward various incisive opinions on the times style, pen and ink characteristics, brushwork techniques and composition layout of ancient China paintings and calligraphy, and then compiled "Painting Quotations: Listening to Wang Talk about China's Painting and Calligraphy", which was praised by the industry as "a great summary of China literati's painting and calligraphy".
Speaking of Wang, He Duoling spoke highly of him. "First of all, he has high attainments in Chinese painting. Moreover, he has a deep research on Chinese painting, even on every stroke. So he is the authority of Chinese painting appreciation and the authority of Chinese painting techniques. " Pen and ink reflect an artist's personality and identifiability. What makes Wang extraordinary is that he can identify artists' works only by pen and ink. "He is very familiar with everyone's pen and ink since the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. In this book, he elaborated on their composition and expression techniques. Recently, I also watched Tang Yin's solo exhibition in Taiwan Province Province, and felt that Mr. Wang's analysis in the book was very accurate. " The book is developed in the form of dialogue, which is a western research method. The questioner Xu Xiaohu spent seven years "pressing" Wang. "The question is straightforward, and Wang's answer is straightforward. This is my favorite way."
This book also has a lot of inspiration for He Duoling's creation. "In recent years, I have been studying the combination of China's traditional pen and ink and oil painting, and I need to apply China's traditional pen and ink method to oil painting creation." He Duoling said that China's ink painting reached a spiritual height in the late Qing Dynasty. "This is the most important part of China's literati painting, and all its pen and ink are integrated with the spirit. Wang also talked about this in his book. His heart and hands are the same. This is the topic I want to study. "
Still insist on reading before going to bed every day.
Reading is a great hobby that He Duoling cultivated when he was an educated youth in the countryside. In 1960s and 1970s, when he jumped the queue in Daliangshan, he read Tolstoy, Hugo, Chekhov and other classical realism classics, and the door of literature was opened to him at that time. "Today, decades later, the greatest pleasure of shopping is still going to the bookstore." He likes the touch of paper books and still insists on reading them before going to bed every day.
He Duoling summed up his reading characteristics with "miscellaneous tastes and eccentric interests". "When I get a book, I will read it quickly for the first time. If I find it interesting, I will definitely reread it. Even an old book will be reread as a new book. " In He Duoling's mind, a good book needs to be read repeatedly. "Every time you read it, the harvest is different." When it comes to reading preference, He Duoling said that besides economic books, there will be other categories, such as novels, historical works, architectural history, music history, etc ... He also gave an example to reporters, "The ends of the earth are also my pillow books". In the reporter's dumbfounded eyes, he smiled and said: "The focus of my study is not painting, but actually reading classic professional works.
Reading has countless influences on He Duoling's painting creation, some of which are subtle, while others directly transform words into pictures. "I don't have to concentrate too much when painting. For example, when we talk like this, I can even draw pictures. Painting is a matter of course, and the time for real thinking comes from extensive reading. Sometimes reading a book will remind me how my painting should proceed. "
"However, it is not easy to translate the language directly into pictures. It was only in the 1980s that He Duoling was fascinated by Ye Zhi's poems for a while, so he turned several of his poems into oil paintings, such as He Duoling's early work The Stolen Child. This work poeticizes poetry, similar to ancient poetry and painting. "At that time, my reading contained a large number of contemporary poems. Poetry and my painting are very close, and they are both unspeakable things. It's amazing. For a long poem, what you need to understand is what is behind it. You can think freely, which is very similar to poetry and painting. I get more nutrition from poetry than from painting theory books. "
Wang Xiaobo's "Golden Age" is read the most.
He Duoling, who loves books, is also very picky about books. What is his definition of a good book? "First of all, the subject matter is of interest to me. Secondly, writing is very important. Whether it is written by China people or translated, I will read it as long as the writing is good. "
When it comes to writing, he likes directness and black humor, and Wang Xiaobo's novels are the most admired. "Wang Xiaobo's novel is probably the book I read the most repeatedly."
Twenty years ago, He Duoling first read Wang Xiaobo's novel The Golden Age. Today, this novel is still the best novel in the minds of many literate people. When reading Wang Xiaobo for the first time, He Duoling was shocked by Wang Yang's arbitrariness and unconstrained style in the book. At first, he laughed happily for his humor. Later, he was fascinated by his irony and criticism hidden under the absurdity. So after reading all his novels and essays, "now I will grab a book from time to time." You can read even if you open a page at will. "
He Duoling said that good books are for repeated reading. "I am not pursuing his plot, but his details." In He Duoling's view, "Wang Xiaobo is by far the most talented contemporary writer in China. Unfortunately, he died young. If he continues to write, his works will be better. " He Duoling said that he prefers Wang Xiaobo's novellas, but his novels are somewhat loose in structure.
In addition, the novelist Calvino admired by Wang Xiaobo is also He Duoling's favorite, such as A Traveler on a Winter Night, Paroma, Our Ancestors and so on. Black humor is He Duoling's favorite fictional works, including Chekhov's novels read by He Duoling in his early days. "Humor is advanced and profound wisdom, which contains many vicissitudes and sorrows. When the writer tells absurd stories in a comic spirit and humorous tone, it contains greater sadness. " He Duoling said that he understood this and he could get pleasure from reading. He even bluntly said, "I don't even want to associate with people who can't get pleasure from these books."
Some people say that the keynote of He Duoling's oil paintings is sadness, but he enjoys reading humorous works in his life. He explained, "Maybe overall, we are pessimistic about life, but we don't frown every day, but we can find a lot of fun in life. These pleasures may come from absurdity, or they may be absurdity itself. The absurdity of Rainbow wavelet is very interesting. This absurdity is real, more real than any serious truth. "
He Duoling said, "If a writer and I are the same kind of people, his books will have a kind of intimacy, such as Wang Xiaobo. Although I have never known Wang Xiaobo, through his works, I feel that I am very close to some experiences in his life. " He Duoling admits that although Wang Xiaobo's novels have no direct influence on his paintings, they have subtly influenced his understanding of art..