Historical Research on Chinese Oil Painting

The art of oil painting has completed a journey of more than one hundred years in China. This is the history of its roots, sprouts and tortuous growth in this land. This is the history of its gradual integration into the blood of the Chinese nation. Prior to this, oil paint, as a painting technique, had been introduced to China as early as the Ming Dynasty, and portraits of royal dignitaries were painted in court circles. Some of those works were painted by foreign painters, and some were completed by their Chinese disciples. They are noted primarily for their historical rather than artistic value. For more than a hundred years, oil painting art has followed Chinese society through ups and downs. The Revolution of 1911, the May 4th Movement, the Anti-Japanese War, the War of Liberation, the Cultural Revolution, and reform and opening up, these historical events that promoted or hindered social change, all gave it a baptism, testing and tempering it. It has gone through several stages of development: the end of the 19th century - 1937 is the first stage. After oil paintings were introduced to China, they immediately participated in the cultural enlightenment of society. As a foreign art form, it gives the Chinese people a refreshing feeling. While providing a new sense of beauty, it promotes the Chinese people's economic reform and social progress. 1938-1949 was the second stage. During the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, due to the limitations of the war environment and material conditions, the art of oil painting could not develop. However, the painters who were already engaged in this art may have been tempered in the struggle life and accumulated materials for subsequent creations. , or he overcame difficulties and completed some works in the rear area where the war was less involved, and trained a group of young oil painters. At this time, the art of oil painting was in adversity. Its temporary suppression is like a vigorously growing tree trunk that has been mercilessly damaged by wind and rain. It becomes twisted but still maintains the vitality of upward development. The founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the unification of the country and the revitalization of the nation gave oil painting favorable opportunities for development. From 1949 to 1965, although the art of oil painting was disturbed by political movements based on class struggle, and the creative enthusiasm of artists was restricted or even attacked from time to time, oil painting still developed greatly, and artists created many outstanding works. works. Of course, many works are marked as serving politics. During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, oil painters and their art were ruthlessly destroyed. The few works that were allowed to be created mostly served the purposes of the Cultural Revolution. The rebirth of Chinese oil painting is in the new period after the reform and opening up (1977 to the present). A relatively stable and peaceful political environment and a relatively free artistic atmosphere enable artists to engage in artistic creation with greater peace of mind; broader international art exchanges enable artists to learn more about the artistic information of the contemporary world. The booming economy and the obvious improvement in people's lives have given artists encouragement and motivation to move forward. The journey of Chinese oil painting in the new era is also very uneven. There are twists and turns, ups and downs in the progress, and many new problems have been encountered, especially the impact of Western avant-garde art radicalism and the impact of commercialization. But in terms of the momentum of artistic creation, it is full of vitality and the results of its creation are fruitful. The gradual trend towards diversified concepts and diversified creative practices is an important feature of art in the new era, including oil painting.

Looking back at the path China has taken over the past 100 years, we have to focus on the issue of how Chinese oil painting differs from Western painting. In other words, we have to study how Chinese oil painting has evolved since the introduction of oil painting from the West. What are the characteristics that make it different from the West? Oil painting art is a universal language. Art is not restricted by national boundaries and is appreciated by people of all nationalities around the world. From an artistic point of view, it is difficult to establish such statements as European oil painting and Chinese oil painting, because oil painting, as a global art, has the same standards, but because creators of different nationalities differ from each other in terms of expression content and expression techniques. There are just differences. Therefore, when we examine the history of the development of oil painting in China, theoretically speaking, it must be measured against the world's most common standards for oil painting. However, what is the universal standard for oil painting art? Generally speaking, oil painting art has three levels for examination: technical level, formal skill level and spiritual content level. The technique must be passed, and the ABC of oil painting technique must be mastered. This is the most basic requirement. Using technology to express your feelings and describe what you see, hear, and feel depends on how to describe, how to express, what techniques to use, and what form to use. As a classical realistic oil painting, Europeans have a strong foundation of realistic modeling, that is, sketch modeling.

After the Impressionists, European oil paintings gradually turned to expressionism, using symbolic, freehand and abstract techniques. However, because they have a foundation of figuration and realism, and have the origins of classical oil paintings, their spatial awareness is still connected to their traditions, giving them People's feelings are still rich but not thin, and there is a three-dimensional spatial atmosphere without being superficial in depiction. This is true even when they consciously get rid of the three-dimensional space and pursue flatness. Another important link in the formal skills of oil painting is color. As a type of painting produced in Europe, Europe's history, geography and humanistic environment have cultivated oil paint art. Europe's natural environment and climate determine that their painting advantage lies in oil paint, not ink. The brilliance and harmony of European oil painting colors are eye-catching in the world art world, and have also cultivated the eyes of generations of oil painters. To use oil painting technology, you must meet certain requirements in terms of color perception and application. You must pass the color barrier and master the methods of color contrast and harmony. Technology, technique and form ultimately serve spiritual content. The key to the success of a work of art is not the technical and formal skills, but the spiritual capacity it contains. Spiritual capacity has a relatively broad content, the most important of which is the depth of aesthetic feeling reflected in works of art. Anything with deep aesthetic feeling can touch people's hearts, whether it is writing about characters, landscapes, landscapes or still lifes.

Using these three standards to measure Chinese oil painting art in the 20th century, we feel that there are many shortcomings. It is an obvious fact that technical and formal skills are not yet perfect. Because of the social turmoil and instability, the seniors who are engaged in oil painting do not have enough time and energy to conduct more in-depth research and exploration in this area. We still need to do make-up work. As for the spiritual capacity of our oil paintings, on the whole, Chinese oil paintings in the 20th century have a relatively close connection with life and reality. Although there was a tendency of pan-politicization in a period, it was influenced by narrow literary and artistic concepts and biased The result of the impact of literary and art policies. The understanding of aesthetic intolerance has affected the comprehensive and healthy development of Chinese oil painting. This is an unavoidable fact when we look back on this period of history. However, the elite creation of Chinese oil paintings during this period also had another characteristic. It was unique in depicting and reflecting real life, with idealism and optimism. These works have influenced the spiritual life of the Chinese people, actively participated in China's social changes, and promoted the pace of social progress. In this way, the oil painting art produced in China in the 20th century can basically withstand being measured by world-wide standards. We give it the evaluation and praise it deserves, not out of narrow nationalism and patriotism. In fact, art circles in other countries without any prejudice also give fair evaluations to Chinese oil paintings. From an artistic point of view, what are the most important features of Chinese oil painting? realism. There are two meanings here, the realistic spirit and the realistic form. The reality of China in the 20th century and China's social changes have led many Chinese intellectuals and artists to regard literature and art as a weapon to transform society. For most of the century, artists paid close attention to reality, drew creative resources from social life, and imbued their works with the spirit of realism and related formal techniques. At the beginning of the 20th century, when oil painting was first introduced to China from the West, the main forms were realistic, concrete, and with the spirit of realism. At that time, the trend of modernism was widely popular in Europe, and realistic oil paintings had begun to be suppressed. The Chinese people could choose between realistic oil paintings with classical colors and modern oil paintings full of radical colors. Because most Chinese students study in foreign art academies and receive mainly realistic education from the academy, some (such as Xu Beihong) are firm realists and advocate realist art. There were also people who were interested in modernist painting and studied and practiced it, such as Lin Fengmian, Pang Xunqin, Wei Tianlin, etc., but these artists were not modernists in the true sense. They adopted an eclectic attitude, not only studying classical realistic oil painting but also paying more attention to the exploration of modern art, borrowing expression languages ??from them, or making partial experiments. For example, some of their works adopted expressionism, fauvism, and cubism techniques. It is worth noting that at that time, academic art education in Europe and Japan had already accepted some concepts and techniques of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism at the end of the 19th century. It can be said that even the painters who insist on classical realism among Chinese students are already quite different from the authentic academics in Europe in the 19th century.

When these painters returned home, what they saw was the backwardness and decline of their motherland, and the devastated scene caused by Japan's invasion and ravage. What society and the people need is realistic art that they can see and understand. Realism occupies the mainstream position and modernism is suppressed. This situation is inevitable. From a sociological point of view, this may be justifiable, but from an artistic point of view, it is a very regrettable phenomenon. Because modernism also pays attention to life and reality, and does not want to build a pure art palace that is divorced from society. However, in old China, where the task of cultural enlightenment had not yet been completed, it was difficult for the people to accept modernism. In the 1930s, there were societies such as Juelan Society that wanted to promote modernist art, but they failed. Some oil painters who were enthusiastic about making modernist art gradually changed their tune and painted more realistic paintings. During a period in the 1930s, many oil painters' expression techniques were more diverse based on realism. At that time, the art environment was relatively relaxed and there was little administrative intervention in artistic creation methods. However, the material conditions were extremely difficult and artists were still in danger of losing their jobs. In the 1950s and 1960s, the realistic art in Chinese oil paintings had a strong conceptual nature. Influenced by Soviet socialist realism, artistic creation closely served the politics of the time. Oil paintings approved by the ideology of the time generally had strong political content. Some oil painters with their own artistic ideals (such as Wu Dayu, etc.) were doing their own explorations outside of mainstream art.

A detailed analysis should be made of the oil paintings of this period. At that time, the political enthusiasm of the people across the country was high, and they were rejoicing at the prosperity of the country's construction cause. With a sincere attitude and strong patriotic enthusiasm, many oil painters praise the prosperity of the motherland, the great victory of the People's War, the heroic figures of workers, peasants and soldiers, and new things in society. They also carefully consider their art and create many works. Works that have both ideological content and formal beauty should be fully affirmed and given historical evaluation. These works are the artistic fruits of New China. Needless to say, among the works that serve politics, there are also many mediocre works and some pseudo-realist works. The 1950s and 1960s were the harvest period for Chinese realistic oil paintings. The oil painters who studied abroad or were educated in China in the 1930s and the oil painters who grew up after 1949 all contributed many excellent works to the Chinese Realism Gallery during this period.

Fake realism was rampant during the Cultural Revolution. Looking at the oil paintings during the Cultural Revolution from an artistic perspective, except for the artistic explorations made by some artists in private despite the public disapproval, most of the publicly displayed works were subject to objective social conditions and lacked the true spirit of realism

In the more than 20 years since 1978, Chinese oil painting has been hit by two major shock waves: China’s youth avant-garde thoughts under the influence of Western modernist art and the trend of art commercialization under the impact of the commodity economy. The so-called 1985 New Wave is actually a youth artistic trend that widely introduced Western modernism, with a radical overtone. The main thrust of this trend of thought is to deny the tradition of pseudo-realism. The reason why it came into being and many artists expressed sympathy or participated in it is because some of the things it denies are exactly what we should abandon, such as false idealism, red light, whitewashing, and stylized artistic creation methods. Chen Chen Xiangyin, etc. Some of the artistic concepts and methods it introduces are relatively unfamiliar to us, and they are quite inspiring to us. The 85 New Wave is not so much a positive result in artistic creation. Rather, it serves as an impact force, making us more clearly aware of certain shortcomings of existing art models, so that we can consciously suppress and overcome them; it makes us broaden our horizons. Vision, see that there is a sky beyond the sky. In addition, some of the extreme and one-sided slogans and practices of the 1985 New Wave have also gone wrong, making us alert and vigilant, and aware of the negative consequences of negating all possible consequences without analysis, so that we can consciously maintain the good things in tradition without throwing bath water on it. At this time, throw away the baby in the basin. The 1985 New Wave did not destroy the realist tradition of Chinese oil painting, but realist art was tempered by it and moved towards a broader and healthier path. At the same time, schools other than realism have also gained corresponding development space driven by new trends of thought.

The tide of commercialization has brought oil paintings to the market. The demand of the market has caused a worrying kitsch tendency in oil painting creation, and many works that cater to the market and have a cheap taste have appeared. The impetuous mood among some oil painters is also related to the inability to correctly handle the relationship between art and the market. Some people have to downgrade their skills in order to break into the market.

The market was once flooded with vulgar and cheap pseudo-classical realism and works that were satisfied with fleeting depictions of amorous feelings. However, the art market itself has the ability to improve itself. Art dealers, collectors and the public are constantly improving their appreciation of art, and artists are also constantly improving the interest and style of their works. The domestic art market, at least the quality of art sold by influential auction houses and galleries, is constantly improving. Generally speaking, the emergence of the art market has instilled new vitality into Chinese oil paintings, and this vitality will become more apparent as time goes by. Therefore, since the 1980s, realism has still been the mainstream in Chinese oil paintings. However, the face of realism has undergone great changes. The concepts of realism are more open and the techniques are more diverse. The concepts and methods of realism reflect, compete with, and blend with other schools. Many expressive and symbolic realistic works have appeared, as well as some surreal, absurd, and meaningful works. Works called New Reality that are ridiculing and ironic, etc. In the 1990s, this trend became more obvious, and the situation where realism dominated the world has become a thing of the past. This is consistent with the process of diversification of artistic concepts and practices. Chinese oil painting has ushered in the spring of blooming flowers.

There is no doubt that Chinese oil paintings in the 20th century were influenced by Western (including Russian) classical traditions and contemporary art. However, in the process of development, influenced by the real life, traditional culture and artistic heritage of the nation, it has formed a look different from the oil painting art of other nations. It is difficult to describe this appearance in one word, but one thing is obvious, that is, it is indisputably freehand. The genres of oil painting are divided into two broad categories. The first category is creative works based on objective reproduction; the second category is creative works based on subjective expression.

In the first category, such as Baroque, Roque, Classicism, Academicism, Romanticism, Realism, Realism, Photorealism, and Impressionism that appeared after the Renaissance, they all aim to reproduce nature. foundation, expressing the painter's different thoughts and purposes. Baroque - Baroque was popular from the 17th to the 18th century. The original meaning of the word "Baroque" is irregular, twisted, and grotesque. It advocates the distortion of movement, the plumpness and volume of the body, and its artistic language is strong, exaggerated, dynamic and flashy. These are the characteristics of Baroque painting, and its representative figure is Rubens.

The Roqueque School - the original meaning of "Roqueco" refers to the shape of a shell. Its artistic style is complicated, delicate, slender, sweet and popular in the 18th century. Its representative painters include Watteau and Franc. So Buu et al.

Classicism and Academicism - Classicism is based on respecting the aesthetic principles of ancient Greece and Rome. The composition is symmetrical and balanced, the momentum is solemn, brilliant, noble and upward, the technique is exquisite, and the depiction is in-depth. This is also the principle pursued by academicism. As Facchino, the founder of the academic school, said, "Beauty is the highest goal of all works of art. It is an objective quality of things, consisting of order, harmony, proportion, and rules." Its representative writers include Raphael, Ingres and so on.

Romanticism - Romanticism originated in France in the early 19th century. Its representative work is "The Raft of the Medusa" by Ricoeur. In this work, the composition, light, color, dynamics and expressions are all... It shows the artist's rich imagination. It breaks the horizontal and vertical lines in the classical composition. The soft and uniform light creates a kind of passion in the picture. This is also an important element of romantic painting, which focuses on the catharsis and expression of emotions.

Realism - Realist painting refers to the mid-19th century, when painters led by Miller advocated using techniques that were faithful to objects to express normal visual images and reflect the essence of life. His representative works include Miller's "The Gleaners" and so on.

Realism and Photorealism - Realism, as its founder Courbet said in 1885: "Representing the things of my time truthfully as I see them. Customs, ideas and its appearance. In a word, creating art is my purpose. "Photorealism is to put life on the screen in a photographic form, such as Close's "Portrait of John". To draw a work, it must first take a photo or slide, and then enlarge it onto the cloth at a scale ten times larger than life, showing the details of the object more delicately and realistically, such as every texture and texture on the face. Every hair on your head and so on.

Impressionism - Impressionism was a period when painters in the 19th century walked out of their studios to explore the instantaneous changes in light and color in nature, breaking the traditional concept of inherent color, such as a tree or an orchid. The green and the shadow are black, which objectively draws the influence of the surrounding environmental color on the inherent color. Its representative painters include Monet, Seurat, Cezanne, Renoir, etc.

If the above-mentioned painting schools are still painters faithfully reproducing nature, but only adding, emphasizing and developing it, the second major category introduced below is post-impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Abstraction, Surrealism, etc., are no longer true depictions of objective objects, but free creations based on the painter's subjective intentions. Most of them appeared after the 20th century.

Post-Impressionism - Post-Impressionist painters emphasize the expression of self-feeling and pay attention to the contrast of colors and the inner structure of things. Representative painters include Van Gogh, Gauguin, etc. This painting school had a profound influence on modern Western painting.

Fauvism - Fauvism expresses inner passion with exaggerated shapes, strong colors and rough lines. Matisse is the founder of this school of painting.

Cubism - Cubism school of painting, the viewpoint of the picture is no longer one direction, but an all-round expression of things, reducing objects into geometric shapes. Its founders are Spanish painter Picasso and French painter Braque.

Futurism - Futurist painters use abstract forms, using colors and lines to express the speed, power, combination and separation of movement.

Abstractism - Abstractionism relies on lines, blocks, surfaces, and colors to carry out non-representational abstract combinations. Its representative painter is the Dutch painter Mondelian.

Dadaism - Dadaism had a certain influence on later Surrealism, movable sculpture, Pop Art and even Postmodernism.

Surrealism - The Surrealist school of painting was influenced by Bergson's intuitionism and Freud's subconscious theory, advocating the expression of human subconsciousness and dreams. Representative painters include Spanish painters Dali and Miro.