Appreciation of Abstract Painting Yao Huang by Xiong MingBy Gao Liuxing一个画家能涉及许多绘画领域是很不容易的，但要能在这么多领域都能画得出彩，那就更不容易了，可熊明却做到了。之前我们已经欣赏过熊明的国画油画，国画有牡丹图和骏马图兰花图等，油画则有风景写生、静物花卉、写实肖像画等。可是熊明的才能还不止于这些，他还画了大量的抽象画，不过这些抽象画都被封存在卢浮宫中，暂时难于与观赏者见面，我能见到的熊明的抽象画也只有两幅。对于熊明抽象画我一直不敢轻易去评点。It‘s not easy for a painter to dabble in multiple painting fields， and it’s even more difficult to have outstanding performance in each field. However， Xiong Ming did it. We‘ve already appreciated and discussed Xiong Ming’s traditional Chinese paintings and oil paintings. His traditional Chinese paintings mainly cover peonies， steeds and orchids， while his oil paintings include landscape sketches， still life flowers， realistic portraits and so on. But Xiong Ming‘s talents are far beyond this. He has drawn a large number of abstract paintings which are archived in the Louvre， and thus not available to the audience for the time being. I have only seen two of them. I would never have dared to comment on Xiong Ming’s abstract paintings.

熊明抽象画《姚黄》

　　Abstract Painting Yao Huang by Xiong Ming擅长绘画和雕刻的法国小说家韦科尔讲了一个小故事：Vercors， a French novelist who was good at painting and sculpture， once told a short story： “毕加索委托我复制一幅很旧的小画，一幅色调柔和而迷人的《静物--白色吉他》，正在这时候，有一位经常来的老电工，在完成了他新近在布里磨坊寓所内部电路安装时，他在毕加索的画前，瞧着我复制，继而笑着，想了好久，突然冲口而出：‘我的小儿子也能画出来的。’几个月后，一个晴朗的日子，在许多其他作品中，他不止二十次地瞧着这幅立体派的吉他小作品，完全沉浸在冥想之中，带着一种非常惊愕的态度对我的妻子说：‘好吧，太太，请你相信我，瞧，我变成了这个怪物毕加索的爱好者了！’”“I was entrusted by Picasso to reproduce a particularly old small painting named Still Life with White Guitar that is attractive with pastel shade. Just then， an old electrician who visited us frequently watched me reproduce it in front of Picasso‘s painting after he finished the installation of the internal circuit in the Bree Mills Apartment. While watching， he smiled sometimes and then pondered long， and finally and suddenly blurted out “My little son can draw it.” On a sunny day a few months later， he observed this small cubist work on guitar among many other works for more than twenty times， and was completely immersed in meditation， then he said to my wife with a very stunned attitude， “OK， madam， please believe me， I have become a fan of the freak Picasso！”

　　毕加索《吉他》

　　Guitar by Picasso

　　这个故事一直激励着我去欣赏熊明的抽象画，让我本着商博良破译罗塞塔石碑上的文字那样的精神去揭示熊明抽象画中的奥秘。通过不断的学习、观察、思索与想象，我觉得我终于对那幅被熊明题名为《姚黄》的抽象画有了较为深入的了解，并且由此获得了极大的乐趣和一定的自我满足感。

　　This story has always inspired me to appreciate Xiong Ming’s abstract paintings， and encouraged me to reveal the mystery of Xiong Ming‘s abstract paintings in the spirit of Champollion deciphering the words on Rosetta Stone. Through constant study， observation， thinking and imagination， I feel that I finally have a relatively deep insight of the abstract painting titled Yao Huang by Xiong Ming， and have gained great pleasure and a sense of self-satisfaction.

　　对于抽象画，千万别下这样的断语，认为自己肯定看不懂，于是转身离开画面。试想一下，把欣赏一幅抽象画当作探索一座纸上迷宫来对待是不是很有挑战性也极具趣味性？且把它当作一个自主的游戏，这次没看出什么名堂，可以在下一次接着看。毕竟抽象画的定义就在那里，只不过定义有广义狭义之分，也就是说这座迷宫有两个入口，得先选定一个入口。可以随便作出选择，大不了遇到此路不通的情况下回头再走另一条路。

　　For abstract paintings， don’t make such a judgment that you definitely can‘t understand it， and then turn around to leave. Just imagine， isn’t it particularly challenging and interesting to appreciate an abstract painting in the way you explore a paper maze？ You can take it as a self-directed game. If you don‘t gain much this time， you may continue your exploration next time. After all， abstract painting can be defined in either broad sense or narrow sense， that is to say， this maze has two entrances， and one must be selected in the first place. You can select whatever you want. Even if the worst comes to the worst， you may go back and start all over again by taking another road.

　　瓦西里·康定斯基《构图-7号的初稿》

　　First Draft of Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky

　　皮特·蒙德里安《百老汇爵士乐》

　　Broadway Boogie-Woogie by Piet Mondrian

　　下面我就让我与高邸文化的各位读者分享一下我是如何欣赏熊明的抽象画《姚黄》的过程吧。I’d like to share with the readers of Gaodi Cultural Communication how I appreciate Xiong Ming‘s abstract painting Yao Huang.首先要告诉大家的是，我选择了狭义抽象那条路吧。一经选择，我就得一再叮嘱自己要努力忘掉这幅画中有什么人物事物，也不去揣测绘画主题、画家想表达什么思想、传递什么个人情绪，我应该只纯粹从颜色、点、线、面、肌理、构成、组合的视觉形式等方面去解析画面。First of all， let me tell you that I have chosen the narrow sense of abstract painting. Once I make the choice， I have to tell myself repeatedly to forget the characters and things in this painting， and not to speculate on the painting subject， what thoughts the painter wants to express， and what personal emotions the painter desires to convey. I should only analyze the picture solely from the aspects of color， point， line， plane， texture， composition and combination.

熊明抽象画《姚黄》

Abstract Painting Yao Huang by Xiong Ming

　　熊明这幅抽象画的画面给人一种从上到下的倾泻与流动感。有些地方如一个突然翻倒的颜料桶，颜料从中倾泻而下。主体造型又如背面被涂上颜料的一块竖着放置的玻璃，而这玻璃被人从正面泼了一层水，玻璃上因此出现许多从上往下流动的水线，这水线在光的照耀下质感强烈，形态自然而优美，俨然是浑然天成的，而不是被人为画成的。那些线与线又组成许多块面，块面与块面又因为色彩的深浅而产生了一种体积感，而且很有片岩的肌理与质感。至此，那就很难不让人联想到云南的石林，再看造型，又会让人忍不住联想到云南石林中的阿诗玛。这情形，加上水线似的线条，再因为色彩，又会让人联想到浙江瑶琳仙境中溶洞里的情形--洞里有着色彩斑斓的灯光映照，水沿着石壁缓缓流下，水线在灯光下闪着白光；石壁上偶尔有个小小的石洞深不可测；有时石壁上又会出现一个石洞，石洞中汩汩流下一股泉水，泉水流过光滑的石块分成几股细小泉流；钟乳石的形态又让人浮想联翩：看！那是一个美丽的女子，那是一只小狗……The picture of this abstract painting by Xiong Ming gives people a sense of pouring and flowing from top to bottom. Some portions are like a suddenly overturned paint bucket， from which the paint pours down. The main body resembles a vertically placed glass coated with pigment on the back， and this glass has been splashed with water from the front， so there are many water lines flowing from the top. These water lines with natural and graceful shapes have a strong sense of reality under the light， which seems to be totally natural rather than artificially painted. Those lines make up a large amount of planes， and the planes present a sense of volume thanks to the depth of color， rendering the texture and quality of schist. At this point， it is hard to watch it without thinking of the Stone Forest in Yunnan. When it comes to the styling， it’s natural to think of Ashima in the Stone Forest. In addition to this association， water-flowing lines and colors are connected in the mind to the scene in the karst cave in Yaolin Wonderland， Zhejiang Province - colorful lights shine upon the cave， water flows slowly along the stone wall， and the water lines flash white under the lights； unfathomable small caves occasionally emerge on the stone wall； sometimes there is a cave on the stone wall with a stream of spring water gurgling down， and the spring water is divided into several small streams when flowing through the smooth stones； and the shape of stalactites makes people fall into a reverie： Look！ That‘s a beautiful woman， that’s a puppy ……

威廉·德库宁《交换》

Interchange by Willem de Kooning

　　唉，说好不去考虑人物事物的，怎么就…？我不得不折回原路。接下来我就仔细欣赏了这幅画的色彩。Well， I‘ve told myself not to think about the people and things， but how could I…？ I had to turn back. Then I carefully appreciated the colors of this painting.这幅画的色彩体现出了中国传统文化对美的一种追求，那就是“含蓄之美”。The colors of this painting reflect the pursuit of beauty in Chinese traditional culture， that is， “beauty of connotation”.乍看之下，这幅画的颜色主要是红黄绿与黑白灰，似乎没有出彩的地方。但是，当你仔细观察后，你会发现画家在辅色方面有许多非凡之处。黄色和红色构成了画面的主色调，给画面营造了一种辉煌大气和尊贵典雅的氛围。黄色作为背景色，显得神圣而庄严，红色和绿色是一对互补色，画面中除了大块的红色，还有散列的红色小碎片，少量的绿色正好对红色加以调和，增强了画面色彩的谐调感。而黑、白、灰这三种中性调和色，有了它们的加入，画面的俗艳感因此被消解了，典雅之气由此而生。At first glance， the colors of this painting are mainly composed of red， yellow， green， black， white and gray with no highlights. However， when you observe carefully， you will find that painter has remarkable talent in complementary colors. Yellow and red constitute the dominant hue of the picture， creating a brilliant， noble and elegant atmosphere for the picture. As the background color， yellow seems sacred and solemn. Red and green are a pair of complementary colors. In addition to massive red color blocks， there are also small red elements scattered in the picture. A small amount of green tones down the red， which enhances the coordination of colors in the picture. On the other hand， the addition of three neutral compound colors， namely black， white and gray dispels the gaudy feeling of the picture and renders a sense of elegance spontaneously.

熊明抽象画《姚黄》

　　Abstract Painting Yao Huang by Xiong Ming接下来我就把图片放大了看，我想先看看那些大色块。最惹眼的算是那大块的红色了。放大后诸多红色系列的类似色相叠相融，有的地方笔触感较强，有的地方色彩融合性较强，色彩层次丰富，绚烂而热烈。我又把灰色部分放大了看。里面融合了浅褐、淡紫、浅粉和浅绿等，色彩融合得不着痕迹，色彩清新雅丽，悦目怡心。接下来我就再看画面上方的那块黑色，各位读者，你要是顺着我的眼光去看的话，那用不着我再去描绘了，你应该会与我有同样的感受的。我觉得用神秘梦幻来形容着色彩真是再恰当不过了。画家对色彩的叠加融合已经达到炉火纯青的地步了。画面左侧还有一个长条形的黑色色域，这是我心里一直疑惑的地方，画家为什么要在这里画那么一长条黑色色带？它与画面上方的那个黑色色块有什么不同吗？还有黑色色带上方的一块银灰色对画面又有什么意义？当我把这个色带放大了看之后，我非常惊喜并且如获至宝，因为我觉得我找到了这幅抽象画的秘密的钥匙。Next， I enlarged the picture to study the large color blocks first. The most striking is the large piece of red. After enlargement， the similar hues of red series blend together. Some portions are characterized by strong brush strokes and some by strong color fusion， with rich color layers for a gorgeous and brilliant presentation. After that， I enlarged the gray color blocks. Light brown， light purple， light pink and light green are blended inside with no trace of color blending. The fresh and elegant colors are pleasing to the eyes and heart. Next， I observed the black block at the top of the picture. If you look at it from my perspective， you will feel the same way as me. I think it couldn’t be more appropriate to describe the colors by using the word “mysterious dreams”. The painter‘s skills in superposition and fusion of colors have reached perfection. There is also a black color strip on the left side of the picture， which is what I have been wondering about. Why did the painter draw such a black color strip here？ Is there any difference between it and the black color block at the top of the picture？ And what’s the significance of the silver-gray block above the black color strip to the picture？ When I enlarged this color strip， I was very pleased as if I discovered a treasure， because I felt that I had found the key to the secrets of this abstract painting.

杰克o逊波洛克《NO.17A》

NO. 17A by Jackson Pollock

　　据说美国抽象画家杰克逊·波洛克在画展中听到一个小孩说他看出画中有一只小鸟，于是他立刻把那个地方改掉。这个故事在我头脑里形成了十分深刻的印象。所以尽管我感到熊明这幅画里有美女的轮廓，可我还是尽量把视角从物象上移开。现在这个黑色色块里明明隐藏了一个女人的头像，有鼻子有眼的。那块银灰色应该是女人帽子上的饰带。我无意中闯入了从狭义抽象画通向广义抽象画的交叉路口中。既然如此，我就可以堂而皇之地从物象上去分析熊明这幅抽象画了。至此我明白了熊明对抽象画所持的观点了。一方面他很重视画面的颜色、点、线、面、肌理、构成，另一方面他并不排除形象，不过这个形象是从“对具象的概括和提炼，使得画面消解了具体的轮廓和细节，变得高度象征性”。It is said that Jackson Pollock， the American abstract painter， altered his painting immediately after hearing a child say that he saw a bird in the painting during the art exhibition. I was deeply impressed by this story. Therefore， although I felt that there was a figure of a beautiful woman in this painting， I tried to move my perspective away from the object image. Now in this black color block clearly hides the head of a woman with nose and eyes. The silver-gray block should be a lace on the woman‘s hat. I accidentally came to the intersection from narrowly-defined abstract painting to broadly-defined abstract painting. Such being the case， I can directly analyze Xiong Ming’s abstract painting from the aspect of object image. At this point， I finally catch Xiong Ming‘s viewpoint on abstract painting. On the one hand， he attaches great importance to color， point， line， plane， texture and composition of the picture； on the other hand， he does not rule out the image， but this image is “the generalization and refinement of concrete， which makes the picture dissolve the specific outline and details and become highly symbolic”.

　　尽管我发现了一个女人的头像，可是自然没有解决掉那个为什么要画这么长的一个黑色色带，因为很明显女人头像下的黑色色带跟这个女人头像没有丝毫关系。为了解开这个疑问，我只能继续仔细观察放大了的画面，接着我又有了很多新的发现。我发现女子头像下面有另一个女子的正侧面头像，从这个正侧面头像往下看，我们可以依稀看出女子修长而婀娜的身姿。而在这个女子的乳峰旁边又隐约有一个秀丽女子的头像。在她的胸部至腰部的两个区域又似乎有戴着花冠的美丽少女。下面两个戴着花冠的少女旁边似乎还有一座小房子。

　　Although I found a woman’s head portrait， I couldn‘t solve the problem of why drawing such a black color strip， since it is obvious that the black strip under the woman’s head portrait has nothing to do with the latter. In order to solve this question， I had to continue to observe the enlarged picture carefully， and then I made a lot of new discoveries. I found another woman‘s front and side face under the woman’s head portrait. Looking down from this front and side face， we can vaguely see the slender and graceful figure of the woman. And next to this woman‘s breasts is another beautiful woman’s head portrait. In the two areas between her chest and waist， there seems to be two beautiful maids wearing chaplets. A small house is partly visible next to the two maids wearing chaplets.

　　现在我不再怀疑画面上最明显的像阿诗玛的人像了，画家的确画了一个云髻高耸身穿霓裳霞帔的女子，她抬起有着红色宽大衣袖的手臂，真是美丽动人，真是仪态万千。她后面还有垂着长长水袖的女子，她们只是隐隐地呈现出绰约的身姿，并不显得很分明。Now I shall no longer doubt the portrait resembling Ashima on the picture. The painter did draw a woman in a robe with a high bun. She raised her arms with wide red sleeves， which was incomparably charming and graceful. Behind the beautiful woman are some ladies with long sleeves， who only show a graceful figure vaguely.

　　当我的眼光落在那个云髻高耸的女子抬起的右手上时，神奇的事情发生了，那竟然是一张美丽女子的脸，再顺着脸往下看，我发现画上竟然有一条躺着的人鱼。当然是像是一条人鱼，也可能是一个穿着绿色靴子的女子。

　　When my eyes fell on the right hand raised by the woman with a high bun， something extraordinary happened. It turned out to be the face of a beautiful woman. Looking down from the face， I found a mermaid lying in the picture. Of course it looks like a mermaid， or it may be a woman in green boots.

　　很显然从画中女子的特征看来既有东方女子也有西方女子，她们虽然只是依稀可辨，但给人的印象是她们都是美丽的女子。

　　Judging from the characteristics of women in the painting， there are both oriental and western women. Although they are vaguely discernible， you can imagine that they are all beautiful women.另外，当我偶然把画面横过来看时，我发现这幅画又像极了从高空往下拍摄的山川地貌图，你可以一一辨认山地、峡谷、平原、道路、河流、村庄、大海和水中岛屿礁石等。于是我私下给这幅画起了一个名字，它就叫《江山美人图》，尽管画家给这幅题的名字是《姚黄》。画是给人欣赏的，画家虽有画画的初衷，可是一旦画好之后，只能由观赏者根据自己的生活经验去随意解读了，只要观赏者从中能发现美，并且能够乐此不疲地去欣赏体味，那这幅画就是成功的，就有它巨大的价值。In addition， when I accidentally looked at the picture sideways， this painting is more like a landscape map of mountains and rivers taken from high altitude. You can identify the mountains， canyons， plains， roads， rivers， villages， the sea and islands and reefs. So I gave this painting a name in private， the Beauty of Rivers and Mountains， even though the painter named this painting Yaohuang. Painting is for people to appreciate. Although the painter has the original intention of painting， once it is finished， it can only be interpreted by the viewers according to their own life experience. As long as the viewers can find beauty and enjoy the painting， then the painting is successful and valuable.

​马克·罗斯科《紫色，绿色和红色》

　　Purple， Green， and Red by Mark Rothko我觉得这幅画无论从狭义抽象还是从广义抽象的角度去欣赏，它都能给人以无限美好的享受。特别是熊明表现得像一个藏宝高手，他的这幅画简直成了一幅藏宝图，让观赏者怀着极大的挑战心兴致盎然地去发现去破解秘密。I believe this painting can give people infinite enjoyment either from the narrow abstract or the broad abstract point of view. In particular， Xiong Ming is like a master of hiding treasures， and his painting is a treasure map， making the viewers discover and decipher the secrets in high spirits.最后我来就这幅画的名字说几句。由于这幅画一直在熊明身边，而他现在人在美国，画上面也没有题名。就我所知，抽象画一般可以没有名字的，所以我问熊明这幅画有没有名字，他告诉我画的名字叫姚黄，并且他说名字与内容并无关联，只是以此画完成时他当时的心情起的名字。从画的名字看，熊明对他这幅画是很满意的，而且他自信这幅画是极有艺术价值的。因为姚黄这个词语有三种解释，其一：姚黄是帝舜和黄帝的合称；其二：有一种形容牡丹花的名贵性说法叫“花品姚黄冠洛阳”；其三：明人李日华云：“竹纸上品有三：曰姚黄；曰学士；曰邵公。”无能哪种解释，姚黄都是至高无上的代名词。由此可见此画在熊明心目中的地位。从我前面从画中的一些发现可见，熊明完全有为画成此画得意的理由。更何况我的发现也许根本不值一提，这画中肯定还有许多秘密有待观赏者们继续去破解。Last but not least， let me say a few words about the name of this painting. This painting has been carried with Xiong Ming at all time. He is now in the United States， and there is no title on the painting. As far as I know， abstract paintings are usually with no names， so I asked Xiong Ming if this painting had a name. He told me that the painting was named Yao Huang， and pointed out that the name had nothing to do with the content， but was named after his mood when the painting was finished. Judging from the name， Xiong Ming must be satisfied with his painting， and he is confident that it is of great artistic value. There are three possible interpretations for the word Yao Huang. First， Yao Huang is the collective name of Shun Emperor and Yellow Emperor； Second， there is a saying to describe the prestigious peonies “Yao Huang is the most precious peony in Luoyang”； Third， the famous litterateur of Ming Dynasty Li Rihua once said： “There are three kinds of top-grade bamboo paper， namely Yao Huang， Xue Shi， and Shao Gong.” Yao Huang is synonymous with supremacy from any aspect of its interpretations. It reveals the position of this painting in Xiong Ming‘s mind. It can be seen from my previous findings that Xiong Ming has every reason to be proud of this painting， not to mention that my findings may be fundamentally trivial， and there must be many more mysteries in it to be solved by the viewers.

　　注：本文由上海力友翻译公司翻译图片来源于网络……

　　Note：

　　The article is translated by Shanghai LiYou Translation Co.， Ltd.

　　The pictures are selected from sources on Internet.

　　作者：高六兴

　　来源： 高邸文化