ChinaDaily[980115-8]

[Chinese News]

China Daily

98 / 01 / 15 /

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1. Song advances Chinese art
2. Culture Notes (Page 9, Date: 01/15/98)
3. Art teacher inspires students
4. What's on (Page 10, Date: 01/15/98)
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Song advances Chinese art
IN painting, artist Song Wenzhi gives in to his impulses, allows a
free rein to his feelings and follows his inclinations, oblivious
of any painting and compositional rules and regulations. Yet he is
not turning out graffiti but nice works of art coveted by art
collectors.
It takes at least six decades of learning, copying, practising,
pondering, absorbing inspiration from real landscapes and blazing
new trails to reach such a state of doing whatever one pleases and
yet not overstepping the limits of good sense.
Song, now a venerable painter in the Jiangsu Provincial Painting
Institute, was born in 1919 in Taicang County, Jiangsu Province.
As one of the most economically and culturally developed provinces
in the country, Jiangsu claims to have produced the majority of
the masters of scholarly painting (literati painting) since the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Anointed by the favourable cultural atmosphere, or thanks to his
innate aptitude for art, Song started learning painting early.
In the beginning, he copied works by the ancient painters and
studied their techniques. Then he practised painting on his own.
His outlook broadened when he went to Shanghai in the late 1930s
and got in touch with famous painters, including Wu Hufan, Zhu
Qishan and Lu Nianshao.
By now, he has had extensive exposure to the painting styles of
the Song (960-1209), Yuan (1209-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(1644-1911) dynasties.
Also, he studied Japanese painting, English water colours and
impressionist works at the time. "The colouring, composition and
perspective of Western art helped widen my scope and were
incorporated into my future art and make up for the weaknesses of
Chinese painting," Song said. "Traditional Chinese painting,
though graceful and exquisitely beautiful, does not emphasize bold
colours, which makes it rather weak visually," he explained.
But what really unleashed his originality was the 10,000-kilometre
trip around the country in the early 1960s.
Then, the Jiangsu Provincial Artists Association and the Jiangsu
Chinese Painting Institute organized a number of painters on a
sketching trip that took them to Mount Huashan, the country's
ancient capital Xi'an, the Three Gorges, Shaoshan -- the late
Chairman Mao's hometown, and the Pearl River in South China.
"The trip was really an eye-opener and was a kind of artistic
enlightenment for me," Song said. "I thought I had learned enough
from nature, making excursions to the suburbs of Shanghai or other
towns in Jiangsu Province, observing and making sketches. This
paled beside the majestic landscapes I saw on our 'long march',"
he continued.
Something big was brewing in his mind and his aspirations were
raised to a higher plane. Moreover, he began to understand that
the techniques of rubbing the brush against the paper, the
layering of colours and ink to achieve a sense of texture, dotting
and outlining, which were applied by ancient masters, were
vehicles invented by them to express their understanding of
nature.
"I had so far only learned these techniques and had used them in
my painting without knowing their true meaning. It was like
scratching an itch from outside of one's boot," Song said.
He was therefore determined to find out his own way to express his
own feel of landscape. And then landscape painting of his own
style began to take shape.
His "Southern Country in Spring Drizzle" is typical of his art.
The mist over the expansive Taihu Lake, which is studded with
small fishing boats, renders the mountains in the background
barely visible. The hills and mountains in the foreground are
decorated with white plum flowers in full blossom. On the lake
shores are houses with white-washed walls and black tiles. All
these combine to give off a refreshing and peaceful atmosphere and
bring about a feeling of misty beauty.
Lately, Song has developed an ink-and colour-splashing technique
of his own in his never-ending search for new ways of expression.
Often, predominantly large areas in a painting are splashed with a
mix of ink and colours to convey a sense of mistiness, or give the
impression of the overwhelming presence of the mountains, or
create a certain mood.
The technique of ink splashing is not unique to Song. But he has
improved on it.
His predecessors stopped at the casual and spontaneous effects of
ink and colour splashed on rice paper. The late master painter
Zhang Daqian developed the ink-and-colour splash technique by
adding a sense of movement, and polishing the excessively casual
effects of splashed ink and colours.
"My analysis of Zhang's ink- and-colour-splash works tells me that
he moved, pulled and swayed the paper to achieve the desired
effects after the ink and colour were splashed on the paper," Song
said. "It was a step beyond his predecessors."
Song in his turn further developed ink splashing by rubbing the
brush against the ink- and colour-splash areas to bring out
textures of the mountains or add images to the inked background.
"It is a kind of integration of ink splashing and brush
application," he said.
Chinese painting emphasizes "blossoming casually along the flow of
the painter's spontaneity."
"In other words," Song said, "it is a casual outburst of the
painter's inspirations which are based on years of accumulation of
artistic achievement and the honing of skills."
One must paint 10,000 pine trees before he can paint the pine tree
well, according to Song. After that, images of pine trees in
various postures and shapes keep flowing out from under the
painter's brush and a new artistic height is reached, he believes.
In painting one picture nowadays, Song simply brandishes his brush
boldly on a dozen or so pieces of rice paper to form the skeleton
of the work. Then he selects one he is most satisfied with and
fleshes it out with details. "The piece seems to come easily. But
it is based on hard-won artistic achievement," he said.
Song borrows the old Chinese saying of moving mountains and
draining seas. Originally this means transforming nature, to
emphasize the painter's effort to create fictitious images or
juggle together real ones in his landscape painting and come up
with the kind of beauty that is nowhere to be found in real
nature.
"Only in this way, can you relish the sweetness of creativity. Or
you would feel your hands bound by real things, which is nothing
but a state of artistic slavery," he said.
The monk artist Shi Tao of the early Qing Dynasty maintained that
one's art should keep up with the times. Now that Song is in his
late 70s and Chinese society is going ahead full steam, what is
his artistic attitude today?
"Review the tradition, get in close contact with life today, come
up with something new despite my advanced age," he answered.
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_Date: 01/15/98_
_Author: Hua Jia_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Culture Notes (Page 9, Date: 01/15/98)
Photo exhibition
AN exhibition of French photographer Georges Azenstarck's pictures
will open on January 17 in the Beijing Visual Arts Centre near the
Asian Games Village.
The show, with the theme "People of Beijing, People of Paris,"
displays Azenstarck's pictures telling tales of people's lives in
the two cities.
Georges Azenstarck is one of the 2,000 greatest photographers,
selected by the World Photographers Association out of all the
people in this field since 1838.
Since the 1970s, Azenstarck has staged many exhibitions, with such
themes as "Children of the World" and "World Women," in France,
Germany and other countries. Between 1994 and 1996, he paid four
visits to China.
Show of art works
PAINTER Yang Xiaobing's works will be displayed between January 18
and 26 at the Gulao Gallery on Ritan Dongjie in Beijing.
Using traditional Chinese painting mediums, Yang expresses his
unique feelings towards life through abstract images. Striking
contrasts between black and white constitute the basic language of
his works.
Relics unearthed
A NUMBER of stone implements and pottery pieces dating back nearly
5,000 years have recently been unearthed at a construction site at
Beijing University.
According to a university source, the findings include more than
100 pieces of pottery, a stone club, a grinding stone, a knife,
animal fossils, deer antlers, tortoise shells, eggshells, and
sharpened pieces of wood.
A large number of ancient items have already been found on the
campus of the university in the past like 2,200-year-old pottery
pieces, a 1,600-year-old ash pit and 1,200-year-old bricks, as
well as several tombs from different ages, the source said.
(CD -- Xinhua)
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_Date: 01/15/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Art teacher inspires students
MUCH too young to be an accomplished teacher -- such is the usual
assessment of Meng Xiaoran among those who do not know her well.
But her colleagues and students in the No 2 Middle School of
Cangzhou in Hebei Province, see her differently.
The 23-year-old teacher, the youngest faculty member, has been
praised and rewarded by the government for her remarkable
achievements in teaching fine arts over the last six and more
years.
In late 1997, Meng was selected as one of the 500 recipients of
the first National Awards for Outstanding Art Teachers in Middle
Schools, issued by the Art Education Committee under the State
Education Commission. She was the youngest teacher to be so
honoured.
Since 1994, many art teachers from across the province have come
to hear her demonstration lectures in the school, the first model
school of art education in Hebei Province since 1994.
But Meng remembers clearly that when she entered the classroom to
give her first lecture on a summer day in 1991, none of the
students thought she was the teacher
They all welcomed her as a new member of the class.
At that time, Meng had just graduated from the Cangzhou Teachers'
Training School.
Usually, graduates of teachers' training schools are expected to
teach in primary schools while graduates from normal universities
go to teach in middle schools.
Because Meng was a top student, graduating with distinction, she
won the rare chance to teach in a middle school.
Even so, she was not confident about herself at that time. "I
didn't know how I could be a good teacher with a group of boys and
girls who were almost the same age as I was," she recalls.
She vowed to be strict with her work so as to become a qualified,
responsible teacher as soon as possible.
She taught the "art appreciation training class" for all the
students of the school until 1996 when she began teaching the art
appreciation course to senior students only and an additional
class for students with special skills in arts.
As time passed, Meng became more and more dissatisfied with her
level of knowledge, as she was not happy with what she was able to
give her students in the classroom.
She decided to seek further study.
Upon completion of a three-year training programme, she acquired a
diploma from the Department of Fine Arts of the Cangzhou Teachers'
College in 1995.
She also took correspondence courses with the Hebei Provincial
Teachers' Training College between 1993 and 1996, eventually
getting her bachelor's degree.
To pursue her studies, Meng sacrificed all her entertainment time,
since the classes were in the evenings and on weekends.
In winter, when many students frequently missed classes, Meng was
always there.
In the Spring of 1997, she began to learn English. "I want to
follow the latest development in contemporary arts with my own
eyes," she explained.
Through her studies, Meng acquired a solid and systematic grasp of
art history and theory, particularly in the field of traditional
Chinese painting.
The broadened scope and depth of her knowledge of art has enabled
her to improve her teaching greatly, Meng said.
"The more I learn, the more confident I feel in the classroom."
Now she believes that teaching is an art, not a kind of skill.
"A good teacher can get the very best out of an ordinary student,
while a bad teacher may stifle an exceptional student's
brilliance," she said. "You must teach with your heart."
She is still very appreciative of Zhang Renjie, one of her
teachers when she was in a primary school.
"Zhang not only taught the students the basics of drawing and
painting but also unveiled the fascinating world of the arts to
the students," said Meng, who won a provincial prize in a drawing
contest under the guidance of Zhang.
The teacher's attentive care helped strengthen her interest in the
arts, Meng said.
She is now trying to be as good a teacher to her own students as
Zhang was to her.
Art education is an essential part of elementary education, not an
insignificant extra in the curriculum, according to Meng. She said
it is of great help to mould the students' personalities, uplift
their aesthetic judgment, and to enhance their overall moral
quality.
That is to say, she takes her work seriously.
Li Wenfang, vice-principal of Meng's school, said: "Young as she
is, Meng is well-known among Cangzhou's teachers for her
earnestness, diligence and her creative approach to teaching."
Every time Li makes spot-checks, he finds that Meng's lesson plans
are the most carefully prepared and neatly written.
"They are not just copies out of teacher's guidebooks. The
meticulous plans display her deep understanding of the texts," Li
said.
When preparing new lessons, Meng tries to view the material from
the students' point of view, to find out what they really want to
know and how they can learn it efficiently.
When she teaches the appreciation of Western sculpture, she tries
to use a heuristic approach.
Meng said that most of today's students have some background
knowledge in Western history, and know a bit about Western artists
and theories of art and literature.
So what the art teacher should do is to show them how to use and
expand the knowledge they have.
"The ultimate goal of art education is not to instill knowledge
about art into the students but to teach them how to sense, to
observe the beauty in real life and to create beauty," Meng
stressed.
When teaching the appreciation of landscape painting, she first
asks the students to describe the beautiful scenery they have seen
along the ancient Grand Canal, which runs through Cangzhou.
The students are delighted to discover the many beautiful things
in their lives that they have neglected or taken for granted.
When she teaches decorative art, she asks her students to describe
the things about their own homes that they especially like.
Meng has won acclaim from her colleagues, yet she never gives up
the opportunity to learn from others.
Since 1991, she has audited more than 100 senior teachers'
lectures in Cangzhou and neighbouring cities and also attended a
lot of academic seminars on middle school teaching held in Hebei.
In addition to attending lectures on fine arts, she attends the
lessons given by her school's music teachers.
"Music and fine arts are both a part of art education," she said.
"They are similar to each other in terms of teaching methods."
She teaches students according to their individual aptitudes.
For instance, when Meng noticed that Wang Tong, a girl, liked
fashion design, she gave her extra guidance and loaned her books
and magazines on fashion.
In 1995, the girl became a student at the Beijing Garment and
Fashion-design College.
Wang Peiyi, a boy, showed an interest in interior design, so Meng
advised him to develop in that direction.
Later, Wang entered the China Central Academy of Arts and Crafts
and now works in a construction company in Beijing.
Every year, she organizes one or two painting shows in the school
for her students.
Apart from teaching the students, Meng continues to paint.
She studies under Zhao Fengqian, a prominent traditional Chinese
landscape painter.
Some of Meng's works have earned her prizes in provincial
exhibitions, and some have been published in provincial
newspapers.
Occasionally, she makes the long trip to Beijing to visit the
China National Art Museum.
She does not travel much though she has long craved to see Yunnan
Province, which abounds in breathtaking scenery, rich ethnic
cultures and an exciting spectrum of wildlife resources.
However, "If you ask me, the place I want to go to the most, it is
the China Central Academy of Fine Arts-- not just to pay a visit,
but to further my studies," said Meng "It is my dream to become
both an outstanding art teacher and a successful woman artist.
Perhaps I shall. I shall just have to work, wait and see."
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_Date: 01/15/98_
_Author: Zhu Linyong_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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What's on (Page 10, Date: 01/15/98)
EXHIBITIONS
Crosses show -- Artist Ding Yi's art exhibition "Ding Yi: Crosses
'89-'98," is being held from January 10 to 18 at the art gallery
of the Beijing International Art Palace .
The show features several dozen of Ding's mixed media Cross
series.
On corrugated paper or tartan fabrics, Ding, with charcoal, chalk
and acrylic, brings out elaborate patterns made up of crosses in a
variety of colours.
Ding started painting the Cross series in 1988, prompted by his
knowledge of printing techniques.
The crosses mark and divide the surface of the sheets.
He challenged himself to transform its simplicity and
functionality into a pictorially rich and variegated subject.
Time: 9 am-6 pm, through January 18
Place: Beijing International Art Palace, 48 Wangfujing Street,
Dongcheng District.
Tel: 6512-5063
Collection show -- The Beijing International Art Palace is holding
a 40-day oil painting exhibition until February.
The oil paintings on display come from the collection of the Art
Palace and most have been displayed in the gallery of the Art
Palace.
Set up in 1991, the Beijing International Art Palace has held more
than 200 shows, including Chinese painting, oil painting, folk art
and imitations of European classical oil paintings.
Time: 9 am-6 pm, until February 6
Place: Beijing International Art Palace, 48 Wangfujing Street,
Dongcheng District.
Tel: 6512-5063
Precious stones -- The China Lapidary and Gem Association is
presenting its first-ever New Year's precious stones and gems
exhibition at Longfu Market until January 16.
Jewellery, precious stones and other antique stones will be on
show.
Place: Longfu Market, 1 Longfusi Qianjie, Dongcheng District.
Tel: 6406-9879
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_Date: 01/15/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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