The largest lacquer mural "Ode to the Great Wall" appeared in the Party History Museum
Our reporter Wang Guangyan
In the golden autumn morning sun, the mountains are red all over and the forests are dyed. The Great Wall winds through the mountains like a giant dragon, straight into the depths of the sea of clouds.
At the recently opened Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall, the first thing the audience saw when they walked into the prologue hall was a 600-square-meter large lacquer mural "Ode to the Great Wall."
It is 15 meters high and 40 meters wide. It is tailor-made for the preface of the Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall. It is the largest lacquer mural to date.
In the large-scale epic "The Great Journey" theatrical performance celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the magnificent picture of "Ode to the Great Wall" also appeared on the big screen.
This huge work unprecedented in the history of lacquer painting was completed by a team of more than 50 people led by Professor Cheng Xiangjun from the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University.
Cheng Xiangjun recently accepted an interview with this newspaper to tell the story of the birth of "Ode to the Great Wall".
More than 20 revisions to depict the magnificent Great Wall
In the newly completed Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall, the prologue hall is the first space for the audience to enter the exhibition hall. The murals hanging here are of special significance.
For this reason, as early as two years ago, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China used the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Chinese Artists Association to solicit drawings from famous art artists, art academies, and professional painting academies across the country. Later, in early April 2020, it commissioned The Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts continue to design murals for the Preface Hall of the Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall.
This major creative task is to create a proposition, requiring the Great Wall as the theme. Artists of all painting art categories attach great importance to it. Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts has produced more than 30 proposals. After repeated selections, Cheng Xiangjun's proposal stands out.
Knowing that the first draft was shortlisted, Cheng Xiangjun was very excited. "Chinese lacquer painting finally has the opportunity to show its charm in a hall-level space. As an artist who has been engaged in lacquer painting for a long time, I have the responsibility and obligation to complete this difficult task. ."
In order to better create, Cheng Xiangjun visited the Great Wall many times, but after the inspection, he gave up on the famous scenic spots recommended by the scenic management committee. "Because these scenic spots are very famous, the audience is prone to aesthetic fatigue, and we What is to be shaped is a realistic and non-realistic Great Wall, that is, to show the Great Wall in your mind.” After inspecting it again and again, he remembers the beauty of the Great Wall from different angles in his heart, and his creations are no longer confined to a certain fixed picture.
From the initial plan to the final completion, the draft of "Ode to the Great Wall" has undergone more than 20 revisions.
"A lot of details have been repeatedly scrutinized. I was under great pressure during the drawing process. Sometimes I was so tired that I fell asleep while eating. The team members often worked for more than ten hours a day." Cheng Xiangjun introduced that the final "Ode to the Great Wall" was a bird's-eye view of Chinese paintings. The picture is divided into three levels: close-up, middle-range, and long-range. The close-up is composed of ancient pine, beacon towers and rocks of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty.
The rivers in the mountains converge into rivers, which means that the Chinese nation has a long history and a long history.
For the first time to use aluminum honeycomb panels as tires
The preface of the Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall is 23 meters high, and the frame of "Ode to the Great Wall" needs to reach 600 square meters. Such a large-scale work has brought a series of tests to both creation and installation.
Cheng Xiangjun adopted the method of composing the entire picture with 100 drawing boards to pay tribute to the centenary of the Communist Party of China.
"The creation site of the mural is an indoor workshop of 400 square meters. Due to the large size of the painting, partial completion was adopted. It was not until the last installation on the wall that I saw the complete effect of the whole painting for the first time." Cheng Xiangjun Said.
At the beginning of the conception of the drawing, considering that the mural is facing the glass curtain wall, it is easy to reflect light. In order to avoid indoor glare from interfering with the appreciation of the mural, the main creative team used a lot of material texture to disperse the glare of the smooth paint surface.
In the creation of "Ode to the Great Wall", there is also a domestic first craft.
Because traditional lacquered boards are made of wooden tires, the size error is large, the material stability is not good, and they are easy to deform. The tires made by the multi-layer painting process have a heavy weight, which is not conducive to fire prevention and difficult to install.
In order to solve this technological difficulty, Cheng Xiangjun boldly conceived and decided to use aluminum honeycomb panel as the mural template through technical demonstrations by domestic experts. This is the first time that aluminum honeycomb panel is used as the mural template in domestic lacquer murals.
"Aluminum honeycomb panel not only reduces the load on the wall, it is not easy to deform, but also has small errors, which can make the overall picture smooth."
The installation of this huge painting also reflects the excellence of the craftsmen of the great countries.
It is about seven kilometers from the creation site to the mural installation site. The installation team chose three routes to conduct detailed tests on the number of traffic lights and the turbulence index to reduce friction.
The embedded installation and splicing are neat, so that the audience can see the screen from the side evenly.
It's time to show the charm of lacquer painting
"As an artist, I am very grateful to this era for allowing lacquer paintings with thousands of years of history to be on the national palace. This reflects the country's emphasis on and support for traditional culture." Cheng Xiangjun said, for many years, the Chinese Artists Association The Lacquer Painting Art Committee has done a lot of work on the creation and popularization of lacquer painting. Higher art colleges and universities across the country have successively opened lacquer painting courses, which have played an important role in the cultivation of artistic talents.
In his early years, Cheng Xiangjun studied under the famous lacquer painter Mr. Qiao Shiguang, and has produced fruitful achievements in decades. He has held more than 30 solo exhibitions in many national art institutions such as the National Art Museum of China.
His lacquer painting works not only have a profound artistic background of Chinese lacquer painting, but also pay attention to absorbing the nutrition of other paintings, so that the work achieves the harmonious unity of content and form.
In "Ode to the Great Wall", he combined the cinnabar pigment in traditional lacquer art with the techniques of line modeling in Chinese painting, reflecting the innovative spirit that is not limited to tradition.
"Ode to the Great Wall" is a display of the artistic charm of Chinese lacquer painting, and it is our gift to the party's centennial birthday." Cheng Xiangjun said, hoping to show the magnificent rivers and mountains of the motherland with this new era art work, reflecting the national spirit and cultural heritage. Show the elegance of Chinese lacquer painting to all the audience who came to the Party History Museum.
Photo courtesy / "Ode to the Great Wall" creative team