Wu Shouming is a Chinese painter full of creative passion. In his artistic career of half a century, he has trekked thousands of mountains and rivers, and with unremitting pursuit, he has created many popular, lively and vivid landscape paintings, reflecting his deep patriotic feelings for the mountains and rivers of the motherland.
In the early spring of 2002, in the warm living room of his home, when he told the scene of sketching on Wolf's Tooth Mountain, he emotionally sang a song that circulated in the Liberated Areas in the 1940s:
Checkerboard top, high cliff,
The blood of a strong man.
Blood red, blood red,
The brave Eighth Route Army,
Five good heroes...
Hearing this song, I couldn't help but be touched by the heroic feats of the five heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain in blocking the Japanese Kou, heroic and indomitable, and jumping off a cliff after smashing a gun. Therefore, I followed this song and entered Wu Shouming's artistic journey.
He was born in 1938 in Wangzhuangzi Village, Yangliuzhuang Town, Luan County (now Luanzhou City), Hebei Province. From the time he remembered, he participated in the activities of the children's group, singing "Singing the Second Little Cowherd" with his friends to deliver letters and read the news tree for the Eighth Route Army. His elder brother Wang Duzhong (Wu Shouxin) was 15 years older than him and joined the Eighth Route Army in the 12th Division, and his family became a fortress household. Wu Shouming's earliest contact with art is shadow puppetry, the Eighth Route Army Luanxi County Brigade often string villages to engage in propaganda, play shadow puppets, children love to watch Song Zheyuan Lugou Bridge killing Japanese Kou and Wagangzhai and other traditional passages.
As long as there is a performance in a nearby village, he will ask his friends to chase after it. Later, when he went to elementary school, he was still obsessed with shadow puppetry, and because his family was poor, he could not afford to buy shadow people, so he borrowed them from his classmates and made them with great interest. When he graduated from elementary school, he carved more than 100 various filmmakers, which fully demonstrated his artistic talent.
In 1953, he was admitted to the junior high school of Hebei Provincial Tangshan Middle School (later Tangshan No. 1 Middle School). At that time, the school's art teacher was Mr. Xuan Daoping, who graduated from The Peking Art College in his early years. Every time in class, the teacher would bring a stack of art magazines and pictures to show the students, including Xu Beihong's horse, Qi Baishi's shrimp, Yu Feimin's peony, Wang Xuetao's flowers and birds, Dong Xiwen's characters, and so on. Wu Shouming listened attentively to the lecture and watched it conscientiously, which opened his eyes. Xuan Daoping was very fond of Wu Shouming, and often called him to the studio to see the paintings and give him demonstrations.
Once, Teacher Xuan said to him: "No matter how well you draw, if the inscription can't keep up, it will give people an imperfect feeling, which is a big deficiency." "Encourage him to work hard. Under the guidance of Teacher Xuan, in the third grade of junior high school, Wu Shouming was already the leader of the art extracurricular activity group in the middle school of the school. At that time, the Tangshan Municipal Education Bureau held an exhibition of middle school students' art works, and 6 of his watercolor paintings were recommended by the school to participate in the exhibition.
At the age of 18, Wu Shouming graduated from junior high school and was admitted to the Fine Arts Department of Tianjin Hebei Normal University (the predecessor of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts). At that time, there were a number of famous painters here, such as Qin Zhongwen, Zhang Qiyi, Li Hechu, Pu Zuo, Li Zhichao, Liu Junli, Sun Qifeng, Wang Songyu, etc., all engaged in teaching activities in the front line. In particular, Mr. Liu Junli, Zhang Daqian's proud protégé, often took him out to sketch, observe art exhibitions, and revise his drawings. In the strong artistic atmosphere of the college, 5 years of formal, rigorous and systematic study and training have enabled Wu Shouming to lay a solid foundation in the theory and creative practice of landscape painting.
After graduating from university, he was assigned to Hebei Fine Arts magazine as an editor. In the process of interviewing and composing the manuscripts, I got to know a group of famous painters such as Li Keyan, Ye Qianyu, Dong Xiwen, Jiang Zhaohe, Wu Jingting, He Haixia, Shao Yu, Huang Yin, Li Hu, wu guan, and so on. Wu Shouming carefully studied and discussed the artistic characteristics and expression skills of the masters, and gained lessons from many aspects. Because of his work relationship, he often participated in various exhibitions and had the opportunity to go to all parts of the country to sketch, and his footprints spread throughout Taihang Mountain, Yanshan Mountain, Taishan Mountain, Lushan Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, Emei Mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, Danxia Mountain, Putuo Mountain, Three Gorges, Guilin and other places, accumulating a large number of creative materials. In his editorial practice, he eagerly digested and absorbed many aspects of artistic nutrition to enrich himself. Even during the "Four Qings" Movement and the "Cultural Revolution", he did not put down the brush in his hand and painted more than a thousand sketches successively. He has successively participated in the creation of comic strips such as "The Enemy Sharpens The Knife, We Must Also Sharpen the Knife", the landscape painting "New Look of Mountains and Rivers", "New Map of Haihe River", "Great Changes in Taihang" and other works, which have been published in many newspapers and periodicals such as "People's Liberation Army Pictorial" and "Hebei Literature and Art", creating an artistic world of his own.
Looking at Wu Shouming's artistic tracks in the past half century, we can find the far-reaching righteousness and endless interest of his landscape paintings. He never simply copied objective scenes, but composed a deep love for the mountains and rivers of the motherland with his own unique visual and spiritual outlook. His works are the fit of the soul, the transformation of life. All of this can be interpreted in his experience from a children's group to a painter, and find a foundation in the ancient and profound artistic fertile land of Yanzhao.
Most of Wu Shouming's landscape paintings are based on the Taihang Mountains, Yanshan Mountains and the famous mountains of the motherland, of which the Wolf's Tooth Mountain series and the Great Wall series have the most regional characteristics.
On the eve of graduation from college in 1961, he went to Wolfa Mountain with great enthusiasm to sketch, and with traditional pen and ink and personal feelings, created "Spring Color of Wolf's Tooth Mountain", which was unanimously praised by famous teachers, and was selected to participate in the Hebei Provincial Art Exhibition and published in "Hebei Fine Arts". Since then, he has used the Taihang Mountain as his creative base and has visited wolf's tooth mountain many times to sketch. In the autumn of 1978, he and Zhong Changsheng climbed up the mountain road from the main peak of Wolf's Tooth Mountain. At 10 o'clock in the morning, when we arrive at the checkerboard top of the main peak of Wolf's Tooth Mountain, the brilliant sun shines on the majestic peaks and autumn leaves of the mountain. The tall Martyrs' Memorial Tower stands dreamily on top of the mountain. The strong revolutionary atmosphere slapped his heart, as if he smelled the smoke of the anti-Japanese battlefield and heard the cries of the martyrs fighting in blood, so he couldn't help but sing the songs of his childhood: "Chessboard, high cliffs" A creative passion rushed in his heart. After his return, he created a huge Chinese painting "Taihang Haoqi Passed On through the Ages". The whole picture is based on red, symbolizing the great rivers and mountains of the motherland dyed red with the blood of countless martyrs. The ravines are long and horizontal, the cliffs are stacked and layered, thick and majestic, showing the indomitable fighting spirit of countless martyrs, and has a touching artistic charm. After his works were published in the "Chinese Painting and Calligraphy" series, they were collected by Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.
Series of works such as "Taihang Haoqi Passed Down through the Ages" and "Ode to Wolf's Tooth Mountain", "Wolf's Tooth Mountain Peak", "Haoqi Eternal Survival", "Taihang Autumn Rhyme" and so on have attracted the attention of the world with their deep and broad temperament and majestic and simple style.
Wu Shouming was born at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, he is familiar with the landscape of the mountains and rivers there, understands the customs and customs there, so he is free to create works with the theme of the Great Wall. The Great Wall series, composed of works such as "Oriental Dragon", "Ancient Ruins and Vicissitudes", "Ancient Rhyme of the Great Wall", "Guanshan Ruixue" and other works, use different techniques to praise the long history of the Chinese nation and the tenacious and indomitable national spirit. Created in 1990, "The Great Wall of Panjiakou Reservoir" vividly depicts the flying of the mountains and the majesty of the Great Wall with a general technique and a strong penmanship.
Under the mountains, the high gorge out of the ping lake, a few white sails on the calm water echo with the beacon tower on the top of the mountain, full of poetry, triggering people's remembrance and reverie of the ancient battlefield in the past. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, he composed the "Great Wall March", taking the Jinshanling Great Wall in the sunset as the carrier, using a strong rhythm of black, red, blue, gray bands and colors, making people feel as if they are in the roar of "building our flesh and blood into our new Great Wall", which is a successful work with strong artistic shock. Over the years, Wu Shouming has followed a path of learning traditions – field sketching – and meticulous creation. From Wutai to Putuo, from Emei to Penglai, from Poyang Lake Estuary to Yanshan Gusai, he has created a large number of works, which have been published in dozens of domestic and foreign newspapers and periodicals such as "People's Daily", "Chinese Calligraphy and Painting", "Chinese Painting", "News and Publications", "At Home and Abroad" in the United States, "Shang Bao" in the Philippines, and has been selected into large-scale albums such as "Selected Works of Chinese Art" and "Contemporary Chinese Art". Some of his works have been collected by Zhongnanhai, Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Bada Shanren Memorial Hall, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places on the mainland, as well as relevant institutions and collectors in the United States, Britain, France, Austria, Japan, Canada, Congo and other countries. His theoretical works such as "Essentials of the Transformation of Landscape Painting" and "Composition of Landscape Painting" have been distributed in nearly 10,000 volumes.
Wu Shouming was successful artistically, but he was never proud. Respecting the teacher and supporting the descendants has always been the criterion for him to behave as a person. Attending school in Tianjin and working in shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, he often returned to Tangshan to visit his enlightenment teacher, Mr. Xuan Daoping. In Xuan Daoping's later years, Wu Shouming carefully sorted out the teacher's drawings, asked Mr. Huang Ji to write the title of the book, and Mr. Chen Dayuan to write the preface, and actively engaged in the editing and publication of the "Xuan Daoping Painting Collection". Unfortunately, when the album was published in 1984, the teacher had passed away. He respected the painters at the grassroots level and lived with them as equals. With his care and support, Qianxi County, located in the northern mountainous area of Tangshan City, established the country's first county-level landscape painting society. He actively participated in cross-regional cultural activities such as the "Youyan Ten Counties Calligraphy and Painting Film Festival" and the "Dongchen Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition" organized by the county cultural center. In February 1997, the landscape paintings of Qianxi County were transferred to the provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and Wu Shouming attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
When talking about his future ideas, Wu Shouming said: "A painter can never say 'success is fame' and 'pure fire', because that will be the end of artistic life." I want to continue to tour the holy land of the revolution, the famous mountains and rivers of the motherland, walk everywhere, paint according to the special topic, continue to create with the mentality of the student era, be a 'white-haired schoolboy', paint until the old, learn from the old. ”
Wu Shouming is a scholar-type painter whose achievements are multifaceted.
His Chinese paintings are magnificent, with strong bone veins, strong lines, vivid ink color, fresh and elegant, with a typical Yan Zhao Xionghun painting style. His landscape paintings have participated in national art exhibitions and special exhibitions held by the China Artists Association, and won awards at home and abroad, winning praise.
In 1988, he combined his research results to compile and publish "Essentials of the Transformation of Landscape Painting", which surveyed ancient and modern times, commented on the sources, and outlined the changes in the art of landscape painting. In 1995, he also edited and published "Composition of Landscape Painting", which expounded the structural formal rules of landscape painting art with pictures and texts, and issued nearly 10,000 copies, which was highly praised by peer experts and calligraphy and painting enthusiasts.
He is good at art criticism, and has written commentaries and prefaces to albums for more than 30 famous painters such as Cheng Shifa, Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Qiyi, Sun Qifeng, Li Luogong, Lu Kunfeng, Jia Youfu, Zhao Xinfang, Zhang Xinguo, zhong Changsheng, etc.
He also studied calligraphy and seal engraving, and studied Wang Xizhi and Mi Fu for many years, with exquisite penmanship and quaint and dignified manners.
He is one of the few members of the China Artists Association and the Chinese Book Association, and has served as a director of the Hebei Provincial Artists Association, the first president of the Hebei Landscape Painting Research Association, and the vice president of the Hebei Seal Engraving Research Association. He was a judge of the "Contemporary Young and Middle-Aged Calligraphy Competition" held by Shanghai Calligraphy Magazine. His books and printed works have been published in magazines such as Chinese Calligraphy and Painting, Calligraphy, and Modern Prints, and have been collected by Xi'an Calligraphy Museum, Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House, France, the Philippines, Singapore and other countries.
His resume has been included in several classics. In 1995, he enjoyed the special government allowance of the State Council.
This article was published in "Tangshan People of the Book Painting Garden" published by Tianjin People's Fine Arts Publishing House in October 2005
Author: Liu Shiyu, former deputy secretary-general of the Tangshan Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, art critic.