Luo Zhongli's "Father" is a past tense, want to recover the tradition and make it eternal
Luo Zhongli, the creator of the famous oil painting "Father", held a large-scale retrospective exhibition in Beijing for the first time, and was interviewed by a reporter from the Beijing News to review the creation process of "Father"
Luo Zhongli at the exhibition site.
Photo by Beijing News reporter Guo Yanbing
On July 18th, the large-scale retrospective exhibition "Return to the Beginning: Luo Zhongli Retrospective Exhibition 1965-2022", the first large-scale retrospective exhibition held in Beijing by oil painter and former president of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, came to an end at Tang Contemporary Art Center - Beijing Double Space.
The 40-day exhibition showcases more than 200 works by the artist, making it the most comprehensive review of Luo Zhongli's works so far.
When it comes to Luo Zhongli, the first thing that comes to people's mind is the oil painting "Father", which deeply touched the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese people and depicts the typical image of Chinese peasants with a grand monumental composition.
The peasant father in the work became the epitome of the 800 million peasants at that time. Whether it is the professionalism of the realist school and the profundity of the theme, it is an unparalleled masterpiece.
Luo Zhongli also became famous in the Chinese painting circle in the early 1980s with this painting.
In the decades that followed, the image of the ordinary peasant father who looked ahead, with a dark face covered with ravine-like wrinkles and holding a large bowl of coarse porcelain, was deeply engraved into every person who opposed him. the hearts of those who have seen.
"Father" was not only collected by the National Art Museum of China, but also selected as a national textbook, becoming a landmark work in the history of contemporary art.
This "Luo Zhongli Retrospective" focuses on the artist's artistic creation from 1965 to the present, and traces the artistic changes of the artist from the beginning of his creation to the present.
During the exhibition, Luo Zhongli also came to Beijing to accept an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News. While reviewing the creative process of "Father", he also shared his indissoluble love with Dabashan.
Two peasant images established the original appearance of "Father"
The exhibition is divided into ten units, beginning with the manuscript of "Father" in 1980, which is also the center of the whole exhibition.
In the process of viewing the exhibition, the audience can fully understand the creation process of this landmark work in the history of contemporary art through Luo Zhongli's paper sketches and painted manuscripts.
The original idea of "Father" originated from Luo Zhongli's snowy New Year's Eve in 1975. He saw a middle-aged farmer watching the toilet near his house from morning till night. He squatted stiffly by the cesspool. , his eyes were fixed on the pool, and he could not see the slightest struggle.
On New Year's Eve, there was a festive and peaceful atmosphere around. Luo Zhongli had to think, what was the mental activity of the farmers standing by the cesspool at that moment?
This scene is not only deeply imprinted in Luo Zhongli's heart, but also he found the original impulse to conceive this painting - "to create for farmers".
After the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977, Luo Zhongli, who was approaching his thirties at that time, was admitted to the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts with a professional double-A grade.
Under the influence of the school's open school-running atmosphere, in 1980, Luo Zhongli, who was in his third year, began to fully prepare to participate in the "Second National Youth Art Exhibition".
Luo Zhongli recalled that for those of their generation who had experienced a special period and education, they had already subtly accumulated a large amount of first-hand creative materials in their lives.
Although the subject matter of painting people in the mountains and painting farmers has already been determined in his heart, Luo Zhongli has been thinking hard about how to paint for a year.
During this period, in the 1960s, when Luo Zhongli was experiencing life and looking for creative materials in Shuangcheng Village, Sima Town, Pingchang County, Bazhong City, the image of his landlord, Deng Kaixuan, came to mind.
For this reason, Luo Zhongli returned to Daba Mountain after a few years to find creative inspiration. At the same time, he also found all the photos of Deng Kaixuan and painted everything he could draw.
Luo Zhongli recalled that the bronze-colored skin, well-defined lines, strong aura of the "dung-guarding old man" and the image of Daba Shanren Deng Kaixuan's perseverance, loyalty to labor, and perseverance to life, the images of these two farmers, laid the foundation for "Father". "The original appearance.
After several editions of manuscripts, Wu Guanzhong named the painting
Before the birth of "Father", Luo Zhongli had created several manuscript works.
When creating "Farmers Keeping Dung", Luo Zhongli deeply felt the relationship between food and fertilizer, and then thought of a city, a country, and an entire nation.
He believes that farmers are the largest labor group in Chinese society and the backbone that supports the country and the nation. These experiences deeply inspired Luo Zhongli to create a work that specifically expresses farmers.
Cui Cancan, the curator of "Return to the Beginning: Luo Zhongli Retrospective Exhibition 1965-2022" said that in the subsequent manuscripts, Luo Zhongli decided to enlarge the figures' heads, and then the "dramatic" and "literary" scenes were reduced. Realistic portraits replace realist plots.
Therefore, in the manuscript box of "The Farmer in Harvest" exhibited this time, it can be seen that Luo Zhongli has further determined the composition of the portrait from the profile to the front, drawing on the style of Cross's photorealism.
In the manuscript of "Captain of Production", the military kettle with a sense of vicissitudes held in the hands of "Captain of Production" was eventually replaced by a large coarse porcelain bowl in the hands of the farmer's father, and in order to depict the details of the wrinkles on "Father"'s face, Luo Zhongli painted many faces of old Yi people as materials. In the contrast of warm and cold tones in the whole painting, the image of "father" is fully determined.
According to Luo Zhongli's recollection, he spent the whole summer of 1980 in a student dormitory of less than ten square meters at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts. It was not until November of that year that he completed the creation and named it "My Father".
Before the work was sent to Beijing to participate in the "Second National Youth Art Exhibition", Luo Zhongli was not sure whether the work could pass the review of the Sichuan Artists Association, and some friends advised him not to take it out, which would easily cause trouble.
Out of love for this work, hoping to pass the review smoothly, someone suggested that Luo Zhongli should change the cigarette in the painting to a ballpoint pen to reflect the image of a peasant in the new society.
In order not to destroy the whole, Luo Zhongli drew the perspective very large, similar to the effect of the center of the front, and chose the most popular and cheapest ballpoint pen with a set of bamboo rods at that time.
Luo Zhongli recalled that his starting point for accepting this proposal at the time was the opposite of the original intention of the proposer. This detail revision can actually more objectively record the indelible imprint of the era in the early days of China's reform and opening up.
At that time, "My Father" was an unprecedented huge portrait in the history of Chinese oil painting. At least before that, no one dared to use such a large size to express the image of an ordinary peasant. At that time, almost all the judges were shocked by the painting.
According to the suggestion of the judge Wu Guanzhong, Luo Zhongli removed "my" in the title "My Father" and kept "father" as a description of the collective image of an entire generation. In the end, this work was included in the 543 works in the exhibition. He stood out and won the gold medal of the "Second National Youth Art Exhibition", which was the highest honor in the Chinese art circle at that time.
At that time, for the birth of this new style of painting, the academic and art circles still gave mixed reviews to the works.
Daba Mountain is the hometown of Luo Zhongli's artistic life
For decades, Luo Zhongli has been trying to transform and innovate the artistic language and form of oil painting, but the only constant is the creative theme of "Daba Mountain".
Luo Zhongli goes to Daba Mountain to sketch almost every year. Although the old man Deng Kaixuan has already passed away, Luo Zhongli still chooses to live in Deng Kaixuan's home every time he goes to Daba Mountain.
Luo Zhongli often mentioned to his friends that if he had not been rooted in the rural life of Daba Mountain for many years, and had not spent many years getting along with the farmers of Daba Mountain, it would have been almost impossible for him to create a series of oil paintings such as "Father" and "Spring Silkworm" in the 1980s. Works expressing Chinese rural themes.
Since the reform and opening up, Luo Zhongli has deeply felt that the field of art creation in China has been undergoing tremendous changes. From the past, there was only one national art exhibition developing to a new situation of diversified and open exhibitions in various places. The painting style has also developed from figurative and realistic to colorful. Artistic look.
But for Luo Zhongli himself, focusing on the rural themes of farmers is his creative direction that will never change: "Those who have never been out of Daba Mountain for generations because of poverty in the past have come to a place they once thought was too far away. Although Chinese farmers have a new beginning in the new era, they still need humanistic care.”
In recent years, Luo Zhongli has tried to turn the creation of social themes into the creation of artistic themes. From the works of "Father" and "Spring Silkworm" that carried the connotation of the times, he gradually turned to the expression of painting itself.
For decades, Luo Zhongli has walked into Daba Mountain countless times and returned to his hometown of life and art. I also hope to find the possibility of transformation and innovation of oil painting art from concept to form from the rich and colorful ethnic folk culture and art in Daba Mountain.
Daba Mountain, located in the northern part of Sichuan, is not only simple in folk customs, but also breeds a variety of folk art: New Year pictures, paper-cuts, embroidery, stone carvings, clay sculptures, wood carvings, etc., which have always been deeply attracted by Luo Zhongli, those exaggerated and deformed forms, simplicity The straightforward language, witty and romantic mood, and unrestrained methods made him unforgettable for a long time.
With the continuous absorption of nutrients from folk art, Luo Zhongli's paintings are also gradually changing.
He tried to use bright colors, exaggerated shapes, rough brushstrokes, and the way of Chinese calligraphy to express his yearning. His depiction of Chinese rural areas and farmers gradually changed from individual and specific image shaping to general attention and abstract expression.
As the dean of Chuanmei to build an ecological campus
In 1998, Luo Zhongli became the dean of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts and officially resigned in 2015.
In his 17-year career as Dean of Chuanmei, Luo Zhongli's philosophy of college management has always been adhering to the free and open college atmosphere and study style created by the predecessors of Chuanmei, represented by former Dean Ye Yushan.
Recalling this experience, Luo Zhongli said with a smile that being President of Chuanmei was actually an "episode" in his life.
At that time, Luo Zhongli was directly appointed as the president of Chuanmei from an ordinary teacher. Such an administrative appointment is extremely rare in the eight major academies of fine arts and even in colleges and universities across the country. Because of this, Luo Zhongli spent more than 17 years as the president. Ordinary people have more time and energy.
Recalling that before becoming the dean, as an ordinary teacher, Luo Zhongli also persuaded Ye Yushan, the former dean of Chuanmei, not to be the dean. He believes that when artists are producing works, they should not let tedious administrative work consume their talents. Artists are the greatest impact on society. Contributions are their own work.
However, after some decisions, Luo Zhongli, who had no administrative experience at the time, took over the responsibility of the president of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts.
From the age of 16, he entered the middle school attached to the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts to learn painting, and at the age of 30, he officially became a student of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, and then he was promoted from teacher to dean. For more than 30 years, Luo Zhongli has been familiar with every corner of "Chuanmei".
Therefore, no one knows better than him what kind of learning environment students need and whether they are satisfied with the curriculum arrangement.
During Luo Zhongli's 17 years as the dean, his most proud creation was not an art work, but the creation of the new Chuanmei campus into the first most beautiful ecological campus in China.
The school not only preserves the original life of the local residents, but also the photos of Luo Zhongli leading students to herd cattle, sheep and work in the fields on the Chuanmei campus were often widely circulated on the Internet.
Luo Zhongli pays special attention to the group of local residents. He believes that the construction of a new campus is not simply to demolish the old and build the new, but a kind of ecological sharing. All people should share the development achievements of reform and opening up. Rice, the traditions left over from the Chinese farming civilization for thousands of years, reflects the attitude of the builders to the equal coexistence of local residents at that time.
Returning to Chinese Cultural Tradition to Find Contemporaneity
As one of the representative works of "Scar Art", in the past 40 years, people have had rich and diverse interpretations of the work "Father". Even now, when the outside world faces Luo Zhongli, it is habitual to focus on Above the painting "Father".
But for Luo Zhongli himself, "Father" has long since become a thing of the past, and he hopes to devote more energy to the changes in his painting style and language style now and in the future.
"The weather is good, let's go to work in the field" is a phrase that Luo Zhongli often talks about. In his opinion, the country is now in an unprecedented good era. As the happiest Chinese artist in the world, he must grasp the pulse of the times and present the A new atmosphere of artistic creation in the new era.
Luo Zhongli has a special feeling of gratitude for reform and opening up.
"China's reform and opening up is actually opening up the country, giving us the opportunity to learn advanced knowledge, but without forgetting our own traditions." In recent years, Luo Zhongli has also been working hard to explore and inherit the contemporary spirit based on Chinese cultural genes. Art Paradigm - a kind of oil painting art with the characteristics of Chinese culture.
Starting from the concept of Chinese culture, he tries to reinterpret the classics in the history of foreign oil painting in a unique way of Chinese painting, and at the same time interprets the creative concept of Chinese landscape, flower and bird and figure painting in the way of oil painting art. Based on Chinese civilization, he re-reads through painting creation. In the history of Chinese and foreign art, Luo Zhongli's purpose is to find the ideal cultural orientation of Chinese oil painting art and to find a way of oil painting of his own.
"From the perspective of the times, the time difference between me and the students has been 30 or 40 years. This change is not only a change in the whole of China, but also a change in the world. In terms of personal artistic pursuit, I still hope to return to China. I want to find its contemporaneity in cultural traditions. Especially in the process of urbanization, traditional things are going away, disappearing, and going away. I want to recover these very precious things and make them eternal. The core value pursued by the entire artistic creation now.”
Beijing News reporter Liu Zhen