<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > biography</h1>
Li Kuchan (11 January 1899 – 11 June 1983) was a Chinese poet whose original name was Li Ying (李英) and Li Yingjie (李英杰), courtesy name Li Gong, and a native of Gaotang, Shandong. From an early age, he learned to paint under the influence of folk painting artists. In 1919, he entered the "Work-study Institute" (also known as the French Seminar) attached to Peking University, and at the same time studied sketching and Western painting from Xu Beihong at the "Amateur Painting Research Society" attached to Peking University. In 1920, he entered the Department of Chinese of Peking University to study Chinese, and in 1922, he transferred to the Department of Western Painting of the National Academy of Arts in Beijing. During this period, he often relied on pulling foreign cars at night to maintain his life. To this end, classmate Lin Yilu gave him the name of "bitter Zen" (suffering, that is, the experience of suffering; Zen, ancient freehand painting as Zen painting).
In 1923, Bai Baishi studied Chinese painting for his teacher and became the first disciple of Qi Men. The old man of Shiraishi gave him a handwritten cloud "Bitter Zen (the first brush and thought will rise from the remnants, not yet reversed, the height of the true character can be known"; he believes that "Ying (bitter) is also over me, Ying is invincible, if the old and dead do not have a big name, it is a ghostless god".
After graduating from the Beijing National Art College in 1925, he became a teacher of Chinese painting at the Beijing Normal School, and in 1930 he became a professor at the Hangzhou Art College. Because of his close contacts with patriots on weekdays, he was once arrested and imprisoned, and he was unyielding in prison. In 1946, he became a professor at the Beijing National Academy of Arts, and in 1950, he became a researcher at the Institute of Ethnic Fine Arts affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Later, he was a professor in the Department of Chinese Painting of the Academy. Good at large freehand flower and bird painting, the work inherits the fine tradition of national painting, and integrates Chinese and Western techniques as a furnace, often with pine, bamboo, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, stone, lotus, fish, chicken, eagle, etc. as the theme, with heavy pen and ink, majestic and compelling, the unique style of profound and horizontal, image washing and distinct, establishing a new style of large-scale freehand flower and bird painting, and the long screen is more eye-catching.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > life experience</h1>
In 1916, he entered the Liaocheng Provincial No. 2 Middle School in Shandong Province, and learned to paint from the Chinese painter Sun Zhanqun, and first learned to paint lotus flowers. He made Chinese paintings "Cat", "Chicken" and "Crane"
(Originally four screens, one is missing). In the summer of 1918, he entered the "Painting Research Society" of Peking University, learned charcoal painting from Xu Beihong, and benefited from Mr. Chen Shizeng, He Luzhi, Tang Dingzhi and others. The following year, he copied Xu Beihong's oil painting "Fighting Lion".
In 1919, as a representative of the students of Liaocheng No. 2 Middle School, he went to Beijing to participate in the "May Fourth" and "June 3" patriotic movements. Later, he entered the "Work-study Institute in France" attached to Peking University, and worked half time and studied half time.
In 1920, he was an observer at the Department of Chinese of Peking University and studied Chinese. At Peking University, he listened to the speeches of Cai Yuanpei, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Liang Qichao, Russell (Britain) and others, and also met Mao Zedong and Xu Teli, who were famous at home and abroad in the future.
In 1922, he was admitted to the Western Painting Department of the National Beijing School of Fine Arts (renamed the National Peking Art College in 1934), and made a living by pulling a rickshaw at night, which was extremely difficult, and his classmates gave him a stage name "Ku Zen", and since then he has lived under the name of Ku Zen.
In the autumn of 1923, bai Qi Baishi was a teacher, studying Western painting during the day and taking time out of his time to study Chinese painting at Qi's house in the evening.
In 1924, under the meticulous cultivation of Qi Baishi, his painting art made great progress. The "Nine Friends Painting Society" was established in the National Art College, and the nine friends were: Li Kuchan, Wang Xuetao, Wang Zhongnian, Xu Peixiao, Sun Gongfu, He Jixiang, Yan Ailan, Yan Bolong, and Yuan Zhongyi.
In the summer of 1925, the Beijing National Art College held an exhibition of graduate works, and Li Kuchan exhibited the oil painting "Chorus" and eight large freehand paintings of flowers and birds, which were all bought by Principal Lin Fengmian and other teachers.
The following year, he graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts. He was recruited as an art teacher at Beijing Normal School and Baoding Second Normal School. Meet Wang Senran and become a lifelong friend. In the following year, he painted watercolor paintings "Wanping County", "Wheat Harvest" and "Visiting the Exhibition Hall". He made a huge Chinese painting "Eagle Figure". In 1926, the price of Qi Baishi's paintings increased greatly, and many people faked his paintings to sell for a large price. Li Kuchan was extremely disgusted by this behavior, preferring that his paintings were worthless rather than making them for profit. Qi Baishi gave him a poem cloud" Bitter Zen learning I am not like me. "Bitter Zen is not for (not fake paintings) true disciples."
On May 22, 1927, the Weekly Pictorial, a supplement to the Morning Post, published his work "Pine Eagle" no. 85, and Qi Baishi inscribed on the painting: "In the past, people who learned the Tao had one word and knew ten, but they could not know the two, and the same was true for learning to paint." The inferior talented can see any number and can't do it! The fool sees it as if there were none. The study of bitter Zen is more than enough, and the one can be seen and two. White Stone inscription. ”
There is an editor's note under the picture: "Li Yingjie Li Jun's bitter Zen, painting white stone and can change, in the art conference is very good, the most praised." "Art Conference" refers to the Spring Art Conference of the National Beijing Art College, initiated by Lin Fengmian and advocating aesthetic education. The main members of the "Roaring Rainbow Art Society" (full name "Chinese and Western Painting Society Roaring Hong") organized with Zhao Wangyun and others are Li Kuchan, Wang Xuetao, Sun Zhiyan, Hou Zibu, Wang Qingfang, etc. The purpose of the society is "to take the middle as the body and the west as the use". The company's first group exhibition was held in the Water Pavilion of Zhongshan Park in Beijing. The following year, important works include the Chinese painting "Group of Ospreys", the oil painting "Activity", "Fountain of Peace", "Ghost", "Battlefield Night", "Philosophy of Love", "Symbol of the Center of Gravity", "The Ring of Venice", etc., but unfortunately this batch of works has a lot of difficulties and is still missing.
In 1928, he married Wang Senran as a brother, and was invited to live in Wang Senran's home in the West Four Stone Monument Hutong, where they spent time together and discussed literature and art together. During this period, Li Kuchan's life was relatively stable, and there was a breakthrough development in painting. Qiu, married to Ling Songlin. The following year, Wang Senran founded Art Weekly for Tianjin's Ta Kung Pao, which introduced the art of Li Kuchan and Zhao Wangyun in large quantities, which attracted great attention from the society. On April 14, the Ta Kung Pao published his work "Bleak Kyoto." On November 23, he published his work "Miserable Twilight", which is quite printmaking style.
On July 1st, he participated in the exhibition held by the Chinese and Western Painting Society in Beihai Yilan Hall. On August 4, Xiaguang Pictorial launched the second special edition of the Chinese and Western Painting Association's second painting exhibition, which published Qi Baishi's evaluation of Li Kuchan: "Looking at the works of the kings of the Chinese and Western Painting Society, they are all elegant, no woman sees people with a shy attitude, and if they exhibit again in the future, there will be considerable ears." The painting of bitter Zen is much better than the previous exhibition, how frightening my generation is! Remember it. Shiraishi Shan Ong. ”
At the same time, Hao Zuochun's evaluation of Li Kuchan was also published: "The precursor of the revolution in the art world." The following year, Qi Baishi gave Li Kuchan a copy of the "Qi Baishi Painting Collection"; and inscribed on the cover: "The brushes and ideas of the bitter Zen brother will rise to the remnants..." In 1929, the Roaring Rainbow Painting Society published two issues of the "Roaring Rainbow Monthly", but later suspended the publication due to tight funds and the interference of the Kuomintang gendarmerie.
There are also two volumes of "Collection of Paintings of Bitter Zen Wangyun". The following year, he made an album for Liu Shudu, a female disciple of Qi Men Seal, on which Qi Baishi inscribed: "Bitter Zen paintings think of people, and Shudu is aware of this work." Win three thousand classmates, do not smell the Yangtze shame carving worm." Qi Baishi compared his disciple Li Kuchan to Confucius's Yan Hui. The following year, the "Li Kuchan Painting Collection" was published, signed by Qi Baishi.
In the spring of 1930, at the invitation of Lin Fengmian, he went to Hangzhou to serve as a professor of Chinese painting and worked with Pan Tianshou. The two get along day and night, exchanging freehand art with each other, and the two informal artists become friends. He mailed Pan Tianshou's works to Qi Baishi, who lived in Beiping, for the first time, and became friendly with Kamsky (Russia), a disciple of the great French sculptor Rodin, who taught art colleges. In terms of teaching, he has proposed the merger of Chinese and Western painting departments to promote the integration of Chinese and Western painting. While in Hangzhou, he met Zhang Daqian and the Peking Opera master Gai Mingtian.
In 1931, he taught at the National Art College in Hangzhou.
In 1932, he taught at the National Art College in Hangzhou. The following year, he painted Chinese paintings such as Osprey, Game fowl, and Magpie.
In 1933, he taught at the National Art College in Hangzhou. The following year, he painted Chinese paintings such as "Ink Chicken" and "Osprey".
In the autumn of 1934, he held a solo exhibition in Shanghai.
In 1935, he participated in the "12.9" patriotic demonstration movement. Xia, reunited with Zhang Daqian in Beiping. The following year, the family was changed, and he divorced Ling Songlin; he changed his name to Li Gong. As a gift to Wang Senran, Qi Baishi inscribed: "Ying also passed me." ”
In 1936, he made a living by part-time classes and selling paintings. In January, the Beiping Binglin Printing House printed and published the "Li Kuchan Painting Collection", which contained 17 frames of his works from the early 1930s, with Wang Senran as the preface, and the collectors were: countless Qingshan worship grass owners, that is, Wang Senran.
In 1937, Peiping fell. The pseudo-"New People's Association" tried to woo Li Kuchan and other socialites to do things for them, but he categorically refused. After that, he resigned from teaching at a Japanese pseudo-"public" school and taught Chinese painting at a private art school for a short time. At that time, he mainly made a living by selling paintings and participated in the underground anti-war activities led by the CCP.
On May 14, 1939, on the charge of "colluding with the Eighth Route Army", he was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese gendarmes at the same time as the student Wei Yinru, tortured for 28 days, and severely tortured, but he was unyielding and showed lofty national integrity. After his release from prison, he refused to hold a false post and continued to participate in patriotic activities. The following year, together with students Wei Yinru and Qi Baishi's disciple Li Hao, a joint exhibition of calligraphy and painting was held on the board of directors of Beiping Zhongshan Park, and the works were sold out, and the difficulties in life were temporarily alleviated.
From July 5 to 7, 1941, an exhibition was held in Beiping Zhongshan Park, exhibiting more than 50 works.
From April 2 to 4, 1942, he went to Shandong with Wei Yinru and held a joint exhibition at the Jinan Youth Association. Among them, Li Kuchan's works on display include 64 paintings such as "Flock of Doves", "Pine Eagle", "Dead Wood Goshawk", "Hibiscus Bird", "White Plum Magpie", "Iron Tree Lychee", "Butterfly Love Flower" and so on. In November, he married Li Huiwen. After marriage, he went to Qingdao with Wei Yinru and Guan Yousheng to hold a joint exhibition of calligraphy and painting. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the private Chinese Art College was re-established in Jinan, and Li Kuchan was the director of teaching.
In 1946, he was hired by President Xu Beihong as a professor of Chinese painting at the Beiping National Art College, and was elected as the executive director of the first "China Art Writers Association" the following year, and became acquainted with the painters Wu Zuoren and Xu Linlu.
In the spring of 1948, a painting exhibition was held in the "Laijin Yuxuan" in Zhongshan Park in Beiping. He held group exhibitions with Cao Longding in Lanzhou, Xining, Lintao and other places.
On the eve of liberation in 1949, together with He Siyuan (mayor of Beiping City), Xu Beihong and other celebrities in The cultural circles of Beiping, he joined forces to mediate and call for the peaceful liberation of Beiping to protect the cultural relics of the ancient capital and the safety of people's lives and property.
In 1950, he was treated unfairly and deprived of the right to lecture, so he wrote to Chairman Mao Zedong. Chairman Mao Zedong immediately wrote a letter to Xu Beihong personally, instructing him to try to resolve the matter and sending his secretary Tian Jiaying to visit him on his behalf. In the days when Li Kuchan was hit, Xu Linlu's "peace painting shop" gave him a lot of warmth. In the spring, he met with Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, and Xu Linlu at the "Peace Painting Shop" and used the stroke of God to make a splash of ink "Lentil Diagram", which won everyone's applause. Qiu, for the birthday of Xu Linglu's mother, "Double Chicken Diagram", Qi Baishi inscribed on this painting: "Mr. Snow has no such super-longitudinal, and the old man of Baishi does not have this liver and gallbladder."
In 1951, he became a researcher at the Institute of National Fine Arts. Because he voluntarily signed up for land reform work, he was sent to Sichuan Jiangyou to participate in the land reform task force, found a long-missing Warring States bronze heavy weapon in a peasant's home, reported it to his superiors, and the relevant departments immediately transported it back to Beijing to save this rare treasure. After the land reform, he returned to Beijing to make a landscape painting "A Glimpse of Jianmen Guan" based on memory, and zhang Shouchang was given to Zhang Shouchang, who rarely made landscape paintings in his lifetime, which is one of the most precious.
In the summer of 1956, he was invited to give a lecture at the Fine Arts Club of Peking University. Critically acclaimed.
On September 16, 1957, Qi Baishi died, deeply sad. In 1961, he was invited to Qingdao, Jinan, Yantai, Bengbu, Hefei and other places to hold exhibitions and academic lectures.
In 1964, he was unjustly criticized at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966, he was brutally criticized and raided for being falsely accused of being a "reactionary academic authority", and was imprisoned in a "cowshed", tortured to the end, and never yielded. Even in the "cowshed", he never stopped standing on piles and practicing exercises, and he still had confidence in the arrival of the light.
In 1969, the "rebels" forced him to admit that he had committed irregularities during the War of Resistance, and he indignantly wrote a letter of guarantee to counter the slander of the "rebels" against him.
In 1970, he was forcibly sent to the "May 7" cadre school in CiXian County, Hebei Province, for "labor reform" and fainted many times.
In 1971, due to illness, he returned to Beijing and was instructed to guard the door in the communication room of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and soon retired to live. The old man is alone in Beijing and has an extremely difficult life.
In 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai instructed a group of painters to make exhibition paintings for hotels and embassies abroad, and Li Kuchan was also among them, painting more than 300 pieces for the state in three years.
In 1974, he was branded a "black painter" by the "Gang of Four" and was criticized by the general assembly four times, but he was indignant and secretly painted the picture.
In 1975, he had a premonition that the end of the "Gang of Four" was coming, and he drew "Cabbage River Crab Diagram", using cabbage as a metaphor and "river crab" as a metaphor for the "Gang of Four".
In 1976, the "Gang of Four" was smashed and his reputation and professorship were restored.
In 1977, he was elected as a director of the Chinese Artists Association. He has made more than 200 paintings for the Chinese Painting Creation Group of the Ministry of Culture (the preparatory agency of the Chinese Painting Research Institute).
In 1979, he composed a huge "Pine Eagle" and a huge "Midsummer Map" for the Great Hall of the People (in collaboration with his son Li Yan).
In 1980, he made a huge "Ink Bamboo Map" for the Tibet Hall of the Great Hall of the People. This is the first largest bamboo painting since the Tang Dynasty. Immediately after that, he painted a second ink bamboo "Jinjie Diagram" of the same length. He was appointed as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (special Participated in the shooting of three scientific and educational films, "Chinese Flower and Bird Painting", "Bitter Zen Painting Eagle" and "Bitter Zen Freehand", and contributed a lifetime of freehand techniques.
On December 6th, he was invited to Hong Kong to hold the "Li Kuchan and Li Yan Father and Son Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition" and gave lectures in Hong Kong.
From 13 to 19 December, the "Li Kuchan, Li Yan Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition" was moved from Hong Kong to The Boya Gallery in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon to continue its exhibition. The Collection of Li Kuchan Paintings was published by the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House. This is the first large-scale album he published since the founding of New China. His disciple Gong succeeded him as editor, and he was very satisfied with this
In 1981, he was elected as a member of the "Chinese Painting Research Institute". Completed the huge Chinese painting "Midsummer Map", which is magnificent and full of pride. This work is made of four "Zhang'er horses" connected, covering an area of about 21 square meters, which is a miracle in the history of China's large-scale freehand flowers and birds. Participated in the filming of the teaching film "Bitter Zen Freehand". Go to the Li River to sketch and paint.
In 1982, he went to Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Suzhou and other places to visit. During his visit to the Shenzhen Special Administrative Region, he wrote about the aftermath of the "Literature of the Special Administrative Region" and inscribed the inscription "Brilliant Spirit, Revitalization Is Expected". In Shekou, the inscription "Revitalize China, From the South to the North" was left.
On January 13, 1983, the China Artists Association, the Beijing Branch of the Artists Association and the Central Academy of Fine Arts jointly held a large-scale tea party at the Beijing Hotel to celebrate the 86th birthday of the old man and congratulate him on his 60 years of art education. More than 100 artists from the capital's fine arts circles and other people from all walks of life attended the meeting.
On June 5, he collaborated with Li Yan on "Feeding The Baby", in which he painted bamboo stones and inscriptions, which was the last painting he made before his death. On June 8th, he was invited to write a couplet for the Confucius Temple in Nagasaki, Japan: "The Most Holy Realm, the World, the Virtue of the World".
In the early morning of June 11, he died of a heart attack.
In 1977, he was elected as a director of the Chinese Artists Association. He has made more than 200 paintings for the Chinese Painting Creation Group of the Ministry of Culture (the preparatory agency of the Chinese Painting Research Institute).
In 1979, he made a huge "Pine Eagle" and a huge "Midsummer Map" for the Great Hall of the People (in cooperation with his son Li Yan).
In 1980, he made a huge "Ink bamboo map" for the Tibet Hall of the Great Hall of the People. This is the first largest bamboo painting since the Tang Dynasty. Immediately after that, he painted a second ink bamboo "Jinjie Diagram" of the same length. He was appointed as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (special Participated in the shooting of three scientific and educational films, "Chinese Flower and Bird Painting", "Bitter Zen Painting Eagle" and "Bitter Zen Freehand", and contributed a lifetime of freehand techniques. On December 6th, he was invited to Hong Kong to hold the "Li Kuchan and Li Yan Father and Son Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition" and gave lectures in Hong Kong. From 13 to 19 December, the "Li Kuchan, Li Yan Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition" was moved from Hong Kong to The Boya Gallery in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon to continue its exhibition. The Collection of Li Kuchan Paintings was published by the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House. This is the first large-scale album he published since the founding of New China. His disciple Gong succeeded him as editor, and he was very satisfied with this.
In 1981, he was elected as a member of the "Chinese Painting Research Institute". Completed the huge Chinese painting "Midsummer Map", which is magnificent and full of pride. This work is made of four "Zhang'er horses" connected, covering an area of about 21 square meters, which is a miracle in the history of China's large-scale freehand flowers and birds. Participated in the filming of the teaching film "Bitter Zen Freehand". Go to the Li River to sketch and paint.
In 1982, he visited Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Suzhou and other places. During the visit to the Shenzhen Special Administrative Region, he wrote about the impressions of "Literature of the Special Administrative Region" and inscribed the inscription "Brilliant People, Revitalization Is Expected". In Shekou, the inscription "Revitalize China, From the South to the North" was left.
On January 13, 1983, the China Artists Association, the Beijing Branch of the Artists Association and the Central Academy of Fine Arts jointly held a large-scale tea party at the Beijing Hotel to celebrate the 86th birthday of the old man and congratulate him on his 60 years of art education. More than 100 artists from the capital's fine arts circles and other people from all walks of life attended the meeting. On June 5, he collaborated with Li Yan on "Feeding The Baby", in which he painted bamboo stones and inscriptions, which was the last painting he made before his death. On June 8th, he was invited to write a couplet for the Confucius Temple in Nagasaki, Japan: "The Most Holy Realm, the World, the Virtue of the World". In the early morning of June 11, he died of a heart attack.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="63" > achievement contribution</h1>
In the early 20th century, the center of our Chinese art movement was Shanghai, Beijing, and a later one was Hangzhou. Mr. Kuzen happened to have lived and worked in all three of these areas. His early artistic practice, just like the development of contemporary Chinese art, pushing forward, is moving forward and merging into one, and he plays an important role here. He is not on the conservative side, but on the side of innovation. In Mr. Kuchan's art, as a structure of knowledge, he has a Chinese tradition and a Western concept of art.
He integrated a very broad oriental background into his artistic concept and artistic creation. So I think Mr. Kuchan's art, in the Chinese contemporary Chinese painting world, he is a very outstanding representative, and he is also very outstanding in the long river of history.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" > artistic features</h1>
Li Kuchan (1899-1983), a master of modern Chinese freehand flower and bird painting and an art educator, was originally named Li Yingjie and Li Ying. Born in a poor peasant family in Gaotang County, Shandong Province, he was influenced by the traditional culture of his hometown since childhood and embarked on an artistic journey.
Li Kuchan's calligraphy and painting complement each other perfectly. It is recommended that "the book is the height of the painting, and the painting is the pole of the book". Li Kuchan believes that Chinese freehand paintings are written and Western paintings are painted, and in this regard, China is superior to the West. This is manifested in the transformation of "integrating the beauty of results" and "the beauty of means", and the integration of "space art" and "time art". The combination of calligraphy and painting is precisely the opportunity and key to this change. Li Kuchan said: "If you don't understand the art of calligraphy, if you don't practice calligraphy, you don't understand the aesthetics of capitalization and freehand." Therefore, Li Kuchan is unique in the "painter's character" of Chinese calligraphy art. Li Kuchan has become a simple, thick, wind god, and gentle grass art in the past few decades of searching for monuments.
Inheriting the tradition of Chinese painting, Li Kuchan drew on the techniques of Shi Tao, Bada Shanren, Yangzhou School, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi and others, and was distinctive in the freehand painting of flowers and birds. There is a bold, imposing, and vivid style, which has established a new style of large-scale freehand flower and bird painting. Li Kuchan used his own aesthetic views and expression techniques to create many artistic images. Li Kuchan's paintings of flowers and birds have a certain realistic component, not an objective depiction of natural objects, but a creation after condensation. There is a simple and humble atmosphere in the casualness, and there is a masculine atmosphere in the natural implication. The larger Li Kuchan's canvas, the more he can wield it freely. Li Kuchan's works in his later years reached the artistic realm of "simple and complex".
"Big" is a distinctive feature of Li Kuchan's paintings. For example, the huge "Midsummer Chart" (Lotus Flower Diagram) is made of four pieces of rice paper, with an area of 22.04 square meters. Flowers like pots, leaves like covers, stems like arms, blooming lotus flowers, mountain stones, water birds, make up a huge picture. Another example is "Ink bamboo diagram": it is a huge piece spliced together with three pieces of rice paper. Li Kuchan likes to use heavy ink in painting, making good use of splashed ink, scorched ink, ink halo, and drawing small works with large brushes.
When Li Kuchan talked about pen and ink, he said, "Ink should be thick to be durable." The color should also be used as ink, whether red or green can reach the ink five colors thick." For example, the work "Jinjie Tu" uses a solemn pen and is unique. The traditional Chinese freehand painting method has fewer sets, mainly one or two levels. (Right album [16]) Li Kuchan applied the pingyuan and lofty methods of landscape painting to flower and bird painting, which can reach three or four levels. Li Kuchan uses the thickness of ink color, dryness and wetness, the cold and warm of colors, and the interplay of black and white to increase the sense of layering of the picture, and pushes the viewer's vision and feeling layer by layer into the distance. For example, in the "Midsummer Chart", the first layer is near the shore, colored with light ochre.
The second layer is to paint the lotus and aquatic grass with thread and thick ink, and the third layer is to paint the lotus leaves with light ink and the lotus flowers with red. The fourth layer is the painting of the giant stone and the water bird, and the fifth layer is the lotus flower behind the stone, so that the layers are slowly progressing. Li Kuchan's painting realm is plain and naïve. For example, "The Land of Green Rain and Bamboo" depicts that under the banana leaves after the rain, several cormorants that look around stop on the thick and simple boulders, with different looks, and are enjoying the fresh air after the rain. The cormorant's head and neck are painted boneless in vermilion, and the round eyes make the water bird look energetic. The surrounding scenery is depicted around the theme, pointing out the living environment of cormorants. The pen and ink are natural, no mannerism, simple colors, and simple shapes. Another example is "Ci Mushroom Heron", which is set in the water town of Jiangnan and depicts a heron leisurely in nature. Li Kuchan used a simple, thick ink color to draw taro leaves and herons, and used lines to outline leaf tendons and aquatic plants. It shows the natural wild interest of Gangnam. In the picture of "Lotus Pond Kingfisher", a kingfisher flies over the lotus leaves in the breeze, and the dew drops fall little by little, between the remnants of the lotus pond, full of life.
Li Kuchan's paintings are uniquely selected, often using pines, bamboo, plums, orchids, chrysanthemums, stones, lotuses, starlings, cormorants and eagles as their themes. For example, the picture of "Godson Learning to Fly" depicts eagle chicks attached to the back of an eagle and eager to fly. Square eye sockets, axe-shaped sharp beaks, emphasizing the opposite of the eagle and the chick. The overall shape of the diagonal triangle, the overall dynamics of the upward flight. Li Kuchan painted eagles mostly as "static" eagles, mostly in a crouching posture. For example, in the "Pine Eagle Chart", several eagles stand on the top of the mountain, ready to attack.
From 1930 to 1933, at the invitation of Lin Fengmian, he went to Hangzhou to serve as a professor of Chinese painting (now the China Academy of Art). In 1946, he was hired by President Xu Beihong as a professor of Chinese painting at the Beiping National Art College, and was elected as the executive director of the first "Chinese Art Writers Association". In the same year, in order to celebrate the first anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he participated in the exhibition of calligraphy and paintings of 100 Chinese calligraphers and painters held in Zhongshan Hall of Zhongshan Park in Beiping. At that time, together with Jiang Yunong, Wang Qingfang, and Bai Duozhai, they were called the "Four Monsters of Beijing".
He has painted more than 200 paintings for the Chinese Painting Creation Group of the Ministry of Culture (the preparatory agency of the Chinese Painting Research Institute). In 1979, he made a huge "Pine Eagle" and a huge "Midsummer Map" for the Great Hall of the People (in collaboration with his son Li Yan). In 1980, he made a huge "Ink Bamboo Map" and "Jinjie Map" for the Tibet Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
He was invited to serve as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People Participated in the filming of three scientific and educational films: "Chinese Flower and Bird Painting", "Bitter Zen Painting Eagle" and "Bitter Zen Freehand". On December 6th, he was invited to Hong Kong to hold the "Li Kuchan, Li Yan Father and Son Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition" and gave lectures in Hong Kong. In 1981, he was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Painting. Completed the huge Chinese painting "Midsummer Map". Participated in the filming of the teaching film "Bitter Zen Freehand". Go to the Li River to sketch and paint. On June 8, 1983, he was invited to write a couplet for the Confucius Temple in Nagasaki, Japan: "The Most Holy Realm, the World, and the Virtue of the World". In the early morning of June 11, he died of a heart attack.
Li Kuchan's calligraphy and painting complement each other perfectly. It is recommended that "the book is the height of the painting, and the painting is the pole of the book". Li Kuchan believes that Chinese freehand painting is written, integrating "result beauty" and "means beauty" in one, and integrating "space art" and "time art" in one change. The combination of calligraphy and painting is precisely the opportunity and key to this change. Li Kuchan said: "If you don't understand the art of calligraphy, if you don't practice calligraphy, you don't understand the aesthetics of capitalization and freehand." Therefore, Li Kuchan is unique in the "painter's character" of Chinese calligraphy art. Li Kuchan has become a simple, thick, wind god, and gentle grass art in the past few decades of searching for monuments.
Inheriting the tradition of Chinese painting, Li Kuchan drew on the techniques of Shi Tao, Bada Shanren, Yangzhou School, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi and others, and was distinctive in the freehand painting of flowers and birds. There is a bold, imposing, and vivid style, which has established a new style of large-scale freehand flower and bird painting. Li Kuchan's paintings of flowers and birds have a certain realistic component, not an objective depiction of natural objects, but a creation after condensation. There is a simple and humble atmosphere in the casualness, and there is a masculine atmosphere in the natural implication. The larger Li Kuchan's canvas, the more he can wield it freely. Li Kuchan's works in his later years reached the artistic realm of "simple and complex".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="75" > character evaluation</h1>
The artist's knowledge and skill are important, but more important is his artistic temperament. Chinese literati freehand paintings reflect "qi" everywhere, is it tacky or stingy, is it flattering or childish? No, because there is a difference between high and low, holiness and inferiority, the vitality of the nation, the masculinity of the human nature, is an extremely valuable factor! The specific expression of qi is often hidden in "big, heavy, and clumsy", and Picasso, Bada Shanren, Shi Tao, Qi Baishi and other ancient and modern Chinese and foreign artists cannot escape the choice of the meaning of these three words.
Mr. Li Kuchan has the foundation of Western realistic modeling, but if he wants to embark on the road of Chinese freehand modeling, he must metamorphose from the western modeling laws, otherwise it is a burden, and some people cannot get rid of it in a lifetime, so it is difficult to control the skills of Chinese literati freehand painting, but it has formed a disadvantage. The requirements of the two modeling systems of the West and the East are fundamentally tit-for-tat, but at a certain point they are essentially the same.
Because Western painting represents a concrete "bouquet of flowers", while the Chinese literati express the "flower" in the abstract heart. The bitter old man can transform from the elements of Western painting into the concept and practice of traditional Chinese freehand, and the Western painting skills he mastered at that time became his advantage, which is very different from whether there is this advantage, he has this advantage, so he can be higher than others.
He uses the concept of Western realistic statue-making to observe the object, and can also immerse himself in the Chinese freehand art to explore the pursuit, from Liang Kai and Xu Wei to Bada Shanren and Shi Tao, from Zhao Zhiqian, Wu Changshuo to Qi Baishi and other large-scale art, one by one skipped and opened up another path. Large-scale freehand flowers and birds, as a milestone of Qi Baishi, it seems that the road has come to an end, and it is difficult for future generations to surpass. However, with his own hard work, Kulao fulfilled Qi Baishi's prophecy: "... Ying also snatched my heart, Ying also passed me, Ying was invincible..." (Li Kuchan's original name was Li Ying)
For many years, due to the suppression of the one-sided understanding of the traditional art of flower and bird painting in society, the old man of Kuchan was forced to put aside his pen for a while, but it was difficult to extinguish his in-depth thinking about the aesthetic category of Chinese freehand art. Therefore, once the social conditions are met, it will "be turbulent, although there is no difficulty in a thousand miles a day" (Dongpo sentence) and burst out of the majestic power of freehand ink. Freehand art does not need to be shown off like magic, nor does it need to be clever in craftsmanship, nor does it need to engage in any "tricks" in techniques. It is like the art of Chinese calligraphy, when it is realized, it is full of qi, and it is completed in one go.
The special aesthetic connotation of his art lies here. Mr. Kuzen does not paint, as long as he lifts the pen to the paper, he will have a calm mind, as if his nerves are relaxed, and he will enter a state of Tai Chi Qigong, frank and frank, and confident. For superb art cannot be produced in that tense mental condition. However, the presentation of real freehand brush and ink must be like this, which is a difficult realm in the art world. After the "Cultural Revolution", the bitter old man was more diligent, and it was society that forced him to do so. I remember that in the late 1970s, when he was living in Lishi Hutong in Dongcheng, he often took the painting he had just finished, walked to the courtyard, and repeatedly pondered the change of ink color against the sunlight. He once said to me, "If you can give me some more years, I can still make progress in pen and ink." "I, the younger generation, listened, and it was difficult to calm down for a long time.
The mouth, eyes, and claws of the eagle created by the bitter old man, the leaves and buds of the lotus, the branches of the old plum, the orchids with arrows, the mountain stones that are written first and then lit after being dyed... They are all the embodiment of the power of rigidity and softness, and are a symbol of personality integrity. He was a man who was as vicious as the enemies of the nation and who treated the people with compassion. He can draw a sword to his friends, and he can help the poor and help the poor. He loves everything beautiful in life, and he shows infinite tolerance in the face of childish ignorance.
He is optimistic, he is righteous, he is not stingy, he is sincere, he is childlike, he is frank, fully possesses the main composition of a great artist, and is a high degree of synthesis of human character paintings. His pen and ink are surprisingly successful, full of vitality, and are magical crystallizations in art. We study him not only to learn his trees and flowers, but to learn to study the original unity of other people's character, personality and paintings,—the reasons for their creation, and the comprehensive factors that make a dignified master of art. The existence of bitter Zen is worthy of the pride of the Chinese nation. The art of bitter Zen is the essence of the treasure house of human culture and art! (Yang Xianrang, famous painter professor)
His works inherit the fine tradition of Chinese painting, drawing on the techniques of Shi Tao, Bada Shanren, Yangzhou School, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi and other predecessors, and integrating Chinese and Western techniques in one furnace, infiltrating ancient methods and creating unique paths, and developing their own unique characteristics in the freehand painting of flowers and birds. With a unique style of heavy pen and ink, majestic and compelling, profound and vertical meaning, and vivid image washing, it has established a new style of large-scale freehand flower and bird painting, and the long-screen huge screen has attracted the attention of the world.
Mr. Li Kuchan's world of flowers and birds is thick, plain and wonderful. He often painted on pine, bamboo, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, stone, lotus, myna, cormorant and eagle. He uses his unique aesthetic views and rich expression techniques to create many artistic images with both forms and gods.
The flowers and birds in his pen have a certain realistic component, but they are not pure and objective depictions of natural objects, but are recreated after a high degree of condensation. In the seemingly casual contains the simple atmosphere, in the natural implication contains the masculine atmosphere, his pen lines are like clouds flowing water, vigorous and simple, the brushwork is condensed and simple, but it is full of interest. The pen and ink are indulgent and majestic. His ability to master pen and ink, his ability to master freehand skills is amazing. For him, the larger the frame, the more free he can wield it. Especially in his later years, his works have become more and more simple and true, majestic and vigorous, and have reached the artistic realm of "simple and complex writing" in the brush and ink strokes.
He integrated Western sculpture, painting methods and spirit into the teaching of Chinese painting. And took the lead in introducing Beijing opera as a "synthesis of traditional aesthetics and culture and art" into art teaching, personally put on the stage, and appeared on the stage, just as the "Morning Post" commented that year: "The pioneer of the creative school in the northern art world over the years, unique and unique, to count this famous Mr. Li Kuchan."