Xiao Sui said painting 丨 painter Shen Yuyuan

"Beijing School of Gongbi Flowers and Birds" chases the five generations of Song and Yuan Dynasties, is a very important art genre in the painting world, with Yu Min, Tian Shiguang, Yu Zhizhen, Liu Lishang and other gentlemen as important representatives, the painting style is more emphasis on color style, modeling, bright color, elegant artistic conception, full of wealth and nobility, has been loved by people of different classes in ancient and modern times. "Beijing School of Gongbi Flowers and Birds" has a strong regionality, the group of painters is mostly concentrated in the Beijing area, the development of the school of painting mainly relies on the traditional master-apprentice teaching, and then due to the death of the older generation of artists, although this way of introductory worship is gradually declining, there is no shortage of outstanding art heirs in the contemporary era. Many of the artists I know have benefited from this. The painter Shen Yuyuan is one of them.

I have some teacher-friend relationships with Shen Yuyuan. He was a disciple of the famous Gongbi painter Gao Zongshui, and his teacher's husband was Yu Zhizhen, the representative figure of the "Jingpai Gongbi Flowers and Birds". One of my teachers during college was also Mr. Yu's proud protégé, and if we follow the traditional teacher inheritance, we can say that we are the same teacher. The difference is that my brush painting learning comes from the teaching of the college, and the learning is staged, while Shen Yuyuan is the traditional teacher-apprentice teaching, because I can get the guidance of the teacher all year round, and the learning is coherent and sustainable. Therefore, his Gongbi painting creation is more systematic and more in-depth, and after decades of pen and ink cultivation, he is now an excellent inheritor and developer of contemporary "Beijing Gongbi Flowers and Birds".

Shen Yuyuan's art is mainly based on gong brush strokes. His paintings retain a lot of traditional essence, such as color, sketching, layout, line drawing, etc., all inherit the painting skills of the older generation of artists, and because he has the experience of studying at Capital Normal University, he can make an exploratory integration of traditional teacher inheritance and college learning, which has been well reflected in his creation, and his works not only meet the aesthetic standards of the "Sheikh Six Laws", but also have no lack of academic Western artistic vision. However, under the influence of personal preferences, Shen Yuyuan's paintings are more rooted in tradition, starting from the teacher's inheritance and inner experience, and creating Chinese-style pictures of flowers and birds in life.

Shen Yuyuan's works have a rich and auspicious atmosphere. Chinese flower and bird painting is known as "Huang Tsuen is rich and noble, Xu Xiyeyi". The former generally refers to the group of court painters, which is in line with the later Northern Song Dynasty court paintings. From the perspective of painting style, Mr. Yu Feimin, the founder of the "Beijing School of Gongbi Flowers and Birds", was directly influenced by the courtyard body painting. Throughout the ages, such paintings have been painted either by ancient court painters; or by children of well-to-do families and rich food and clothing; or by artists with unique temperament. Combing Shen Yuyuan's artistic path, you can feel his love and persistence in "Jingpai Gongbi Flowers and Birds" should be completely out of personal temperament. Shen Yuyuan is very talented, thoughtful, familiar with traditional Sinology culture, and has in-depth research on astronomy and geography. He has always been in awe of nature and all things, and is good at discovering the beauty of art and the beauty of life. His life and creation are nearly ancient, immersive, and philosophical. He is far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, contemplating the world's customs and objects, and always creating paintings with a relaxed and accessible state of mind, which should be the state pursued by many high-level brush painters. This state of mind also directly affects the creation, he often uses magpies, butterflies, peonies, peonies, moon seasons, magnolias and other materials with auspicious content into the painting, exquisite coloring, rigorous modeling, subtle portrayal... This makes the picture full of a quiet and elegant atmosphere, which not only reflects his spiritual temperament, but also intuitively reproduces the aesthetic charm of "Beijing Pai Gongbi Flowers and Birds". This is the result of Shen Yuyuan's understanding of nature and learning tradition, and it is also the artistic presentation of his profound cultivation of traditional Chinese studies.

Shen Yuyuan's works are close to physical situation and physical. Art is emotional and at the same time scientific. The master of Chinese painting, Elder Shiraishi, once had an interesting story that he could not agree to a friend's request to paint because he did not know whether Basho's heart was left or right. It can be seen that the state after art reaches the extreme is not to not seek rules, but to do whatever you want after seeking rules. From the twilight scenery to the scenery of the four hours, the scenery of the world is all physical, and the perception of things and physics comes from life, from nature, and from observation. Shen Yuyuan strictly follows the teacher's teachings, understands the true meaning of painting, and is good at observing the changes in the beauty of flowers blossoming and falling, fish leaping insects singing in sketching. Flowers are the main body of Shen Yuyuan's paintings. The flowers of the four seasons have their own beauty. He uses multi-angle observation and selects the best artistic perspective for the craftsman's processing layout to complete the conception and creation of the whole work. The flowers on the picture, or positive, or sideways, or hidden, or explicit, or gathered, or scattered, contrast with each other, embellish each other, paint the flower feelings, draw the flower rhyme, and convey the quiet beauty. He also decorated different flower landscapes with bees, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, water bugs, mosquitoes, flies, etc., to increase the dynamics of the picture. These objects are depicted vividly, moving, static, up, or down, or singing, or swimming, also written and painted, with almost ultra-realistic artistic techniques to portray the subtle state of Chinese painting, painting vitality, painting divine color, conveying a sense of flexible beauty. Between a quiet and a movement, the picture is harmonious and unified, the color is alive and fragrant, and its artistic conception is beautiful, fresh and sunny, reflecting his mental thinking of painting and painting physics.

The creation and development of Chinese painting is inseparable from tradition, from teacher inheritance, from life, and even more inseparable from the artistic and humanistic cultivation of the creators themselves. Shen Yuyuan's paintings take tradition as the teacher and life as the teacher, inherit the creative techniques and laws of Chinese painting, with unique chinese culture cultivation, looking for the most beautiful scenery between heaven and earth, in the meticulous portrayal of a flower, a grass, a worm and a thing, completed the artistic creation of both true and illusory, which can be described as ancient and modern, with feelings and scenes, interpreting the unique artistic charm of "Beijing Pai Gongbi Flowers and Birds". In the context of contemporary culture that traces back to the origins, creators such as Shen Yuyuan, who have both a vision of traditional Chinese studies and artistic accomplishment, are worthy of inspiration and reflection on the inheritance and development of contemporary Chinese gongbi painting in the collision of Eastern and Western cultures.

Sui Yonggang (The author is the editor-in-chief of Beijing Business Daily Collection Art Weekly)