Hui Zeng

Dean of China Central Opera House

 

Expressing Emotions Through The Landscape Painting

 

I used to visit Qingming Bridge in Wuxi, and underneath it lies a section of the eternal canal.  Water slowly flows like the solidified history with it shining leisurely.  Red walls and green tiles on two banks are disorderly, and are reflected on the listless surface of the water, just like the graduation of time. These situations remind me of Mr. Zhang Dichen’s series of ink landscapes named “Sentiment to Watery Regions”.  These nostalgic feelings, which are lingering and hard to speak out have been painted by Mr. Zhang on the paper. He uses Chinese ink and bush.  Mr. Zhang sketched his sentiments of a watery region in the South of the River, with gentle and leisure beauty rippling in the slightly desolate scene.

Wash painting is the most suitable visual language to reflect the Chinese human scene and landscape.  This ink and brush language justly originates from the emotional demand of the Chinese.  Mr. Zhang, the famous painter who has resided aboard for many years, still sticks to this cultural manner of the Chinese painters. He seeks the natural beauty amongst the mountains and rivers.  He expresses his emotions through mountains and rivers, and paints out the poetry in his heart.  It seems that only by this way he can balance his mood and relieve his loneliness.  In his ink paintings, we can always see the composition of a lonely boat Athwart the Ferry Floats at Ease, which five colors of ink are used to heighten the boundless space.  It makes readers understand the mood of quietness and desertedness, which is closely connected to the sentiments of the Chinese with regards to mountains and rivers for thousand of years.

It seems like abandoning oneself to nature is like escaping from reality.  When reality cannot fulfill one’s wishes, landscape paintings are easier to show the imagery of “the Land of Peach Blossoms, the southern hills in the light of Eternity”, or a fictitious land of peace.  Painters always try to show the beautiful scene that people look forward to in an effort to distance themselves from reality.

Although landscape painting sometimes is used to show the scene of peace and prosperity, most of the time it is entrusted to the function of presenting a false picture of peace and prosperity, having many “a false display of affection“.

However, in general, landscape paintings are mostly sincere and do not try to please the public.  Only in this way can it show the artists’ mood.  Landscape paintings are not just created for mountains and rivers but for the heart as well.

Since landscape painting cuts itself from vulgar tastes, and mountains and rivers have become the major carrier and prop for Chinese artists and painters to express their feelings.  This is because some landscape paintings are too stylized.  They are not so lively and interesting, while other landscape paintings are a portrayal true to life and the human symbol of painters.

Someone said it is easy to paint mountains and rivers, but it is difficult to paint figures.  In fact, there are no differences in skill and technique between painting mountains and rivers or figures.  In the Chinese painting history, landscape painting used to be the background of figure paintings and gradually has a style of its own.  Whether they are coloured mountains and rivers, or inked mountains and rivers, it makes no differences in expressing the feeling of the kindheartedness, the wise and hermit. Sometimes they are magnificent and indignant, fully showing a land of splendors.  Sometimes they are mild and indifferent to fame or gain, showing the mood of keeping aloof from worldly affairs.

Mr. A Lao comments on Mr. Zhang Dichen’s paintings, saying that he takes the great nature as his teacher and admires the beauty of nature.  He loves nature so deeply that it seems he has combined nature with his life, which means the integration of mountains and rivers with the painter itself, and “writing landscape” is the same with “writing the painter”.

Mr. Zhang Dichen has spent nine years in the watery regions in the South  River, Huangshan Mountains, Taishan Mountains, the Three Gorges, and Lijiang River, experiencing the mood and beauty of the Chinese culture.  His paintings have embodied his understanding and mood.

When I appreciate his painting “This river runs beyond heaven and earth, Where the color of mountains both is and is not”, I feel free, natural, and spring in the air.  I also feel plenty of vigor, which is quite different from abandoning oneself to nature.  Mr. Zhang always uses his lyrics and visual language to paint nature that is in his heart.  He does not use ink sparingly in order to beautify the nature, romanticize it, and make it a hero, which has been quite common among the ancient poets.  Many paintings of Zhang Dichen use mountains and rivers to depict the colourful nature, make the scene idealized, and enjoy the cheerful mind.  

The relationship between eastern ink and wash, and western watercolor painting is harmony.  It is different and Mr. Zhang tries a lot to combine the two, using wet painting skill of watercolor to show special texture effects of ink and wash.  In the painting “Shadow”, he aptly dyed the shadow of trees on banks in the water.  In his work of “After Rain”, he fully shows the effects of spring after it rains.  This method is quite unique in Chinese ink and wash, combining the dying effect of splash-ink, which is a technique of Chinese ink-painting, with wet-painting effects of watercolor, and showing the nature of ink-painting.

Mr. Zhang Dichen taught many years at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (now Painting University of Qinghua).  He pays great attention to the art experiment, except for mixing watercolor skills with Chinese ink and wash.  He also puts decoration flavour into Chinese ink and wash.  In his series of paintings of Suzhou Gardens, he uses sketch skill to decorate the flavour of Suzhou Garden.  This is different than the traditional boundary painting and is a new experiment in innovation.  Of course, no innovation can be more mature, but any attempt to be diverse can make art worthy of respect.

It is because of so many diversity attempts, Zhang Dichen’s style and method are not fixed.  His methods are through watercolors and various methods such as decorations for the Chinese painting.  No mater what, he never gives up to seek emotion-expressing of the Chinese paintings and through mountains and rivers.  It has become his art portrayal, such as the works “Feelings of Mountains”, making mountains and rivers or landscapes the carrier to show human feelings and life.  This is also the indispensable culture prop in his art career.  Abandoning himself to nature is the major way to be an accomplished artist and Zhang Dichen has proven this by his paintings in past years.