A Valuable Exploration and Passion
I am glad to read Pang Jiun’s new book On the Innovation of the Skills of Oil Painting. To
bring the Chinese concept of Xieyi (Chinese expressionism) into the horizon of oil paintings
is an important and interesting issue, one that has attracted a great deal of attention from the
Chinese artists. For the recent decades, especially in the recent years, artists committed to
oil painting have been thrilled and agonized by it, and had successes and failures as they put
it into practice; artists venturing on Chinese painting was or is seized by the concern at
different stages of their career. For sure, artists and critics of China, Taiwan, and abroad
have touched and articulated insights on the issue in their discourses. However, to explore it
thoroughly and systematically, as an academic topic and at the length of a book such as this,
in light of the development of Chinese oil painting and Chinese painting theories, is hitherto
unheard-of. In this sense, this book by Pang Jiun is valuable.
Of course, the value of an analytic work depends on not only the importance of the subject,
but also, and more importantly, its argument, and its basis and approach. Drawing on the
concepts of “intention” and “aura” of the Chinese painting theory and praxis, Pang’s book,
through an analysis of the development of modern Western oil painting and its affinity with
the aesthetics of traditional Chinese literati painting, admonishes the Chinese artists, in
particular those who work on oil paintings, time and again that art creation cannot and should
not detach itself from the classical tradition and cultural roots, and furthermore, that a
humbled subjugation to the techniques of the Western paintings, an obedient imitation of
what has been achieved, is to be prevented.
The aesthetic wealth of Chinese painting, as suggested by the concepts of “intention” and
“aura,” encapsulates the depth of Chinese art theories, the aesthetic height and cultivation
attained through experiences in the thousands of years of Chinese civilization. In the West,
time has also brought the issue of transforming art from a technical simulation of objects to a
spiritual and metaphysical field into light, and gave rise to a series of related explorations and
experiments, as manifested in the significant shift of art in the late 19th and the early 20th
centuries, during which the painting tradition began to take a modern turn, reaching from a
realist depiction to a diversity of abstract, symbolic, idealist and expressionist approaches.
Despite that the Western artists of the 20th century have dedicated quite an array of insightful
essays on this issue, however, they are much less memorable than the Chinese conceptions on
painting. The cultural profundity and the aesthetic amplitude have set the Chinese cultural
tradition far more ahead of the Western cultural and aesthetic conceptions.
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Although the introduction of the Western science and concept of democracy in the early 20th
century had indisputably altered the social constitution of China, and the introduction of
Western Realism had also contributed, to a certain extent, to the advance of Chinese art, the
sweeping tide to learn from the West had its errors and lapses. The most problematic of all
is the underestimation of our cultural tradition. Take the view on the literati painting and its
theories as an example. Despite that we have warriors such as Chen Shizeng (1876-1923)
who braved the tide of the Western trends by writing admirable and impressive essays in
defense of the genre, the literati painting was, in general, condescendingly criticized in the
contemporary times.
Nevertheless, historical reality is always the cure of ideological bias, the incitement to
reflection and thinking. The literati painting may have been decried as needing a ‘reform’
and its concept of Xieyi been submerged by the claims of Realism since the May 4th
Movement, the most widely known and respected artist, among the intelligentsia and the
populace alike, remains to be Chi Baishi (1864 – 1957), the painter of the upbringing of
literati painting. Moreover, Chi Baishi, Wu Changshuo, Huang Binhong, and Pang
Tianshou have been esteemed by the Chinese art world today, at the turn of the 21st century,
as ‘Masters,’ besides Xu Baihong and Lin Fengmian, the artists who introduced the Western
concepts and experiences to China.
Pitifully, the concepts of “intention” and “aura” have been ignored, even forgot, in the
encompassing tide to learn from the West and Russia. Or, to be more precise, they are
applied solely in the Chinese literati painting, while in oil paintings and the other genres of
art, they are considered to be disqualified as ‘modern’ concepts for the ‘modern’ works. In a
word, for reasons other than art, the mainstream Chinese art world has taken a biased stance
towards our cultural heritage in the past decades, one that has led to a less than satisfactory
accomplishment in promoting and spreading Chinese art. Again, the enunciation refers to
the mainstream theoretical and policy positions; the individual artists have largely taken a
different position. In the works of these practitioners of art, the clash and conflict between
East and West are substantially felt and carefully tackled, as demonstrated in the notions of “a
nationalist oil painting,” “an oil painting of national grandeur,” and “an oil painting of Xieyi,”
etc., and the practical researches on the heritage of national painting, combined with a slew of
valuable experiments, that have been proposed in the past decades. Here, the efforts and
achievement of Dong Xiwen (1914-1973) should be noted, but within the consideration of the
oil painters before, after, and in the contemporary times of Dong, who have devoted mind and
labor to the rooting, budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit of the foreign seed of oil painting
in the Chinese soil through individual thoughts and attempts.
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A hypothesis rose and was generally accepted in the 1980s states that a painting by a Chinese
is a Chinese painting alright, that one need not inquire after the national grandeur and
attributes in the modern Chinese art. Propounded against the nationalist purpose to
acculturate while ignoring the inherent language of oil painting, the hypothesis is plausible in
the sense that nationalist art, national attributes, or national grandeur, as a spontaneous
overflow of the thoughts and feelings of the creative subject or inside the creative work, is
beyond the circumspection of form. For instance, during the ‘nationalist’ period of the
Chinese oil painting, a large number of oil paintings in the form of the New Year paintings
were produced. The even lines and colors and the decorative form styled after the New Year
paintings, inspiring to the art of oil painting as they might be, risked missing the point when
being erected as a nationalist model. It is not surprising, therefore, that the ‘nationalist’
formulation became an object of interrogation and criticism in a more open-minded era such
as the 1980s.
In the meantime, as Lu Xun had noted, blood vessel contains blood, as water pipe contains
water. Artistic works exuding national grandeur originate from the genuine feelings of the
artists towards the nation, their cultivation in the cultural tradition, and the cultural saturation
in the character and disposition of their works. An artist of no or few cultural cultivation, to
be sure, is incapable of creating works of national grandeur. From the perspective, the claim
that in every work by every Chinese artist lies national grandeur begin to lose its
persuasiveness. Creating is premised on study. A Chinese artist engaged in oil painting
needs to delve into the history and features of oil painting, besides adeptness at the language
and skills of the genre. As a Chinese, s/he also needs to imbibe the cultural ethos of the
nation, in particular the riches of Chinese literati ink painting, of which the emphases on
creative freedom, creative state, aura, Xieyi in image formation, performance and sentiment
of ink and pen, and a symbolic, pure, and connotative language, paralleling those of the oil
painting, tremendously assist in the innovation of Chinese oil paintings. As long as they
have an excellent grasp of both the conceptual and technical quintessence of the classical and
modern Western oil painting, and, with a firm hold of our cultural soil, the nuances of
Chinese painting, the Chinese oil painters will be creatively empowered, especially in terms
of Xieyi.
In the final analysis, creative art involves two aspects: the spiritual aspect and the technical
aspect. While both are indispensible, the former is of more critical importance.
Unfortunately, people work in the field of art often occupy themselves with more technical
innovation than intellectual contemplation, and turn out to be artisans rather than artists, after
decades of imbalanced training. We therefore advise the contemporary painters to study;
this study shall include not only a proficiency in the painting skills, but also reading,
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observation, and experiencing. This continuous absorption of the cultural traditions of both
East and West, traditional and modern, and pondering over the essence and rules of art, when
brought to a culmination, will give birth to extraordinary works. The self-assurance
acquired by then will further prevent the artist from a blind imitation of the Western art, from
producing ‘postmodern’ works which are neither fish nor fowl, before they learn what the
term refers to.
Pang Jiun is an outstanding oil painter who had taught art for years. He is keen on theories,
and has published numerous essays and monographs related to his theoretical studies. As a
voracious reader and assiduous thinker, he has been engrossed in the art heritage of his nation
with passion and zest, and dedicating efforts to equip his oil paintings with the tradition of
Chinese painting, distinguish them with the innovative use of Xieyi. This book is a tentative
summary of his years of study, thinking, and researches. Its merit derives from his unique
perspective in analyzing the general art practices and the substantial and effective argument,
which enables him to balance the metaphysical intricacy with concrete examples. His
opened-mindedness provides him with a generous access to the Eastern and Western art
theories and historical documents; his writing is highly readable, informative, and instructive.
Certainly, Pang’s book attracts attention more because of his theoretical vision and passion
for the art of oil painting, than because of the tangible advises the book offers. His ardent
quest, his intense ambition, has overwhelmed all the other concerns in this book. Pang
believes that the marriage of the art of ink painting and the method of oil painting will
eventually open new ground for the Chinese oil painting; meanwhile, he is aware that this
new ground is not at a step’s distance, but lies at generations away. He identifies himself as
one of the warriors in the long struggle, and has progressed remarkably. A journey of miles
is triggered by the first step the foot takes. As long as the national soil as our point of
departure and the bring-together of East and West as our direction are confirmed, the prospect
for the Chinese oil painting will begin to take shape.
It is a great honor to be asked by Pang to write the introduction for his new book. In
response, I have jotted down the paragraphs above, as a reading of the book, in hope of
inducing further exchanges from Pang and the readers.
By Da-Jen SHAO
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