Professor YAN MING' painting style of his own was established after a long process of personal practice on the base tradition while the looks of the painting of his own was gradually shaped and finally formed. Pro YAN' traditional style had been improved along the route set up by SHI TAO, BADA, WU CHANGSHUO, PAN TIANSHOU, laying great stress on the running of brush and the application of ink. The brushwork applied looks free and easy, which seems to be simple but full of meaning. In the paintings not only the likenss of the shapes of the objects are seen but the rich implication is felt. His works are reasonable both physically and emotionally, suggesting fully the essence of traditional Chinese painting.
The most valuable factor of a painting is to keep the normal rules but renovate to obtain a new look. Implied in the new features there is traditional spirit. Pro YAN's paintings are of this sort. What is the difference of his from others' is that he makes the new spirit become tradition and set up a new feature on the base of tradition. It is known to us all that it is QI BAISHI who first created the painting style of “Red flowers with leaves in black ink ”, a painting style with contemporary spirit integrated with tradition. Along with the passing of time, the new painting style became another kind of tradition. It is on the base of QI BAISHI's tradition of “Red flowers with leaves in black ink”that YAN MING boldly created the new way of applying colours and brush strokes.
When an artist is attracted by something new, he may express his feelings improvisational or beginning from his inner feelings and after a process of painstaking contemplation the visual objects concrete into a new looks entirely different from the visual reality and thus an art work is created. There are other artists who get into common events of daily life and exprience their inner implication so as to exploit the spirit, which is then reproduced in their paintings. Take a glance at such paintings, they seem to be plain with nothing attractive but after a further observation the essence appears. Profound meaning is implied. Pro. YAN's painting are created in the both ways mentioned above. Take his paintings about LUSHAN mountains for examples. As for him the LUSHAN mountains are what can be seen around him in daily life. He is so familiar with them that it is quite natural that they are so often reproduced in his paintings, but he experiences the inner spirit of the nature, paints them as if he were painting directly from life. As a result, his paintings are done as if they were done improvisatorially. His paintings about LUSHAN have become a series of his own.
Pro. YAN has never ceased creating. From his works variety of techniques are applied. There is the way of “MOGUFA”, finished and fresh, sueh as “The Three Fresh Mountains” and the way of “POMOFA”, full of nimbus's, such as “Sunrise at HANPO”. Besides, there are different ways of using the brush and ink, dyeing instead of rubbing or both dyeing and rubbing integrated. As for the former, the painting looks vigorous and rich in atmosphere, such as “Misty Rain on LIRiver” and as for the latter, the painting looks vivid and filled with melody, such as “ YANGSHUO”.Some paintings are dyed in seound strokes to suggest a feeling of moving effect, such as “After the Rain at KUANG Mountians”.Besides, he has made use of the way of drawing lines created by PAN TIANSHUO to draw the profile and the edge of the objects and improved the way into a new one of his own in his works and at the same time he took on the way of “Red flowers with leaves in black ink” created by QI BAISHI and applied it to his paintings of mountains and waters.
Pro. YAN's water-ink painting is unique for he put emphasis not only on the application of ink but also on that of colour. As a result his paintings are colourful and full of the feelings of our modern age, which embodies his talent, emotion, courage and cultivation, on the base of tradition pursuing the new and change, which enables his art works to be magnific with verve atmospherically and the artistic conception to be meaningful and profound. Take the following works for examples.
First:“Still life”(68x68cm)consists of pears, grapes, a wine bottle and a glass with wine in it. They are gathered naturally. The profiles of the pears are drawn with ink and dyed with mineral yellow. Both the ink and colour are applied freely and rakishly. The grapes are painted in “MOGUFA”, directly dyed with colour to shape the objects without drawing their outlines with ink but they are shaped so easily and lightly. The wine bottle is painted in only one stroke of thick ink, suggesting the artist's talent of using brushwork.
Second:“The Pavilion on HUANGSHAN Mountain”(68x36cm),“Chain of mountains in the clouds and the ocean of pine trees in spring ” is inscribed on the painting by the painter himself. In the front-ground the prosperous pine trees are painted in thick ink suggesting the vitality of the nature. On the left of the middle-ground there is the mountain and on the right of it is the cloud ocean, a contrast of solidity with space. In the contrast of solidity with space. In the background there are forest of tall peaks in various gestures. Travellers three or five in groups on the balcony are enjoying themselves in the attractive and charming scenery. The painter's own inscription on the painting has perfectly generalised the features of the painting.
Third:“Ten miles Gallery”(68x68cm)is a painting to which thick colour and ink are applied alternately. The objects having been painted, thick ink lines are used to draw outlines of them and before their getting dry enough powder is sprayed on them to create the effect of the feeling of space. (This technique is named “Flying White”).It can be seen the artist was in pursuit of expressing his inner feelings accurately not thinking so much of the likeness of the objects. The contrast of colours is so strong that the painting is attractive straightforward and lyric.
Fourth: “Steps above the Clouds”,(68x136cm) is a scene in HUANGSHAN Mountains. The scene has been so “sharpened” in the painting that the painter succeeds in bringing the viewers the feelings as if they are on the real spot experiencing together with the painter. It is more imagistic than realistic, possessing a poetic effect. The steps is well emphasised in the composition, suggesting the feelings of mystery and danger. The scalers on the steps have to hold the chain fast as they scaling and watching. It is really hard but enjoyable for them to do so.
It can be summarized that Pro. YAN's works are characterised by the following features: The first is integrating colouring of western style with the traditional way of application of water and ink instead of using only blue and green to convey the splendidness of the mountains and waters. The second is melting colours into the ink, inaugurating a new technique and a new process of painting in traditional Chinese painting. The third is that his brushwork is indulging, in pursuit of detail in the roughness, calmness felt in the magnificence and agedness emerging from the vitality.
LIU KUNFU
(appeared in the 57th issue of “In formation” Of the Provincial Gallery, TAIWAN.)