当代大写意花鸟画的式微已是不争事实。式微的缘由是多方面的，其中最重要的原委可能还是传统文化在当代的断裂和写实造型美术教育造成的观察方法的改变。花鸟画固然注重写生，但这种写生不仅有别于风景的再现，而且写生最终融化到画面的依然是画家通过目识心记达到的物我同一的表现性。中国画的难度往往体现在，一方面要通过写生增强感性认知，以此为画面带来生动鲜活的因素，并因而寻求新变的可能；另一方面则是用笔墨驾驭物象，笔墨的承传占据了画家大半生精力。中国画家从来都不是所见即所画，而是怎样用笔墨表现所见；笔墨之中既有书法用笔的规范，也有超越规范的个性化追求以及笔墨本体映射的艺术主体的精神格调与文化品位。写实美术教育解决的是再现性的造型问题，而远离中国花鸟画独特的意象造型特征。传统文化的缺失，不仅体现在当代中国画家国学修养的瘠薄，更多的是缺少对于博大精深的传统中国画笔墨的驾驭与认知。对于大写意花鸟画而言，笔墨之间气韵的贯通、气韵的雄厚、气韵的宽博，也许超过了对于表面造型形象与视觉形式的作用。这或许就是当代大写意花鸟画创作认识上的盲点。

　　在坊间从事大写意花鸟画创作的画家不在少数，但有学术高度或能够进入艺术史学视域的却微乎其微。赵紫林却能在当代大写意花鸟画的这种颓废中脱颖而出，逐渐凸显出自己独特的艺术个性便显得十分珍贵。上世纪60年代毕业于山东艺专美术系的赵紫林，虽然接受过完整的写实美术教育，但从小对于中国画的喜爱而打下的童子功使他基本保留了传统绘画的造型理念，笔墨之于他几近艺术的魂灵。从今天的角度，他的花鸟画仿佛穿越了传统文化的断裂带而较为完整地呈现了花鸟画原生的中国文化观。譬如，他的创作题材依然锁定在传统的松、竹、梅、兰、菊、荷、藤以及牡丹、玉兰、芭蕉等具有人格比拟性的花木草卉，而很少扩充到非比喻性的热带花木；譬如，他画面的这些花木禽鸟依然葆有间离自然环境的折技构图特征，而鲜以生态环境的重植、或具有抽象意味的形式构成来强化视觉审美性；譬如，他把花鸟画创作的学术难点与高度依然凝聚在笔墨上，在笔墨的书写性与物象的生动性之间寻求某个平衡点，并以此探索和历炼自己的个性风格。的确，在传统绘画现实性的历史转型中，他不为现代乱象缤纷的艺术理念所干扰，这在今天看来，也许已成为艺术创作领地的稀缺资源，从中不难看出赵紫林对于传统文化显现出的精神的孤诣与坚守。

　　他的花鸟画最可贵的价值无疑体现在最艰难的笔墨个性的探索上。和这个世纪的大部分花鸟画家都受到海派影响一样，赵紫林的笔墨从总体上属于吴昌硕碑学入画的一路，用笔苍茫浑厚、老辣刚健，但和吴派花鸟画不同的是，他是以泼墨湿笔写意，在滋润湿墨之中求得苍茫厚重、意浓笔辣。譬如，最有他艺术风貌的紫藤不仅在构图上比吴昌硕画得繁密，而且藤花叶脉多以湿笔运墨而成，为求其繁密，画家甚至于在藤叶花间滴撒墨点以渲染气氛。枯渴之笔，仅仅限于圈绕藤蔓的表现。赵紫林藤花的绚丽繁密与气度恢弘完全来自于画家在润泽之中将碑学笔法融化到运笔间所得，这种润中求苍的意蕴无疑是他长期修炼的结果。再譬如，和他的繁密紫藤构图有些类似的莲荷，很少像吴昌硕、张大千、潘天寿那样画单体的荷叶、莲花、莲蓬，他总是以满池塘的荷叶铺满画面，间以莲花与莲蓬。满幅面的荷叶无疑为他纵情笔墨提供了发挥的天地，他总是以蘸满水分的大笔偏锋挥写。湿笔中，间以积墨堆塑；飞化里，穿插渴墨飞白。他的意趣在于大块笔墨中见朴实稚拙、湿润飞化里显苍茫生辣。还譬如，除了满密的构图，他的大写意也有以简取胜的佳构，尤其是在表现白梅、苍松、芭蕉、牡丹等题材中，他完全以简笔构架画面，出笔生猛迅疾，笔湿却凝得深重，笔叠却显得清透，留白与守黑互为表里，从而在华滋之中尽得苍茫。

　　赵紫林在华滋之中求得的苍茫，显现了他对于传统笔墨的深刻体悟与深入修炼。大写意之大，不仅体现在对花鸟对象的高度提炼与概括上，更呈现在这种概括完全是用气韵贯通、用气韵充实、用气韵丰富画面的意境与境界的升华上。知白守黑看似是构图构架，但黑白之间的转换，却往往是通过用笔的气势与气韵获得的。在某种意义上，大写意的灵魂是“气韵生动”，而能否贯通气韵显然也是写意之“大”否的关键。赵紫林大写意花鸟画的可贵，正在于他比当代许多画家更懂得怎样运用气韵作画上。如他的满塘墨荷乱中有序、黑而透气，则完全得益于他怎样留白上。留白在他的画面上往往是气韵充盈的“风洞”，是“笔所未到气已吞”的精华显现。这种留白通气的方法，还体现在他画繁密的紫藤上，紫藤的虬曲苍劲通过留白更彰显了气脉的流动感。而他简笔大写意的花卉，尤见留白的功底，不仅大片留白的形很考究，而且留白的气韵要通过用笔的疾徐、笔法的多变、笔墨的精神去营造。

　　来自于齐鲁大地的赵紫林具有敦厚朴实的人品风范。他的大写意花鸟画，既不是学院派式的，甚至于也不纯粹是传统文人画式的，而是绽放于广袤乡间的素朴的田园奇葩。纯净古朴、稚拙浑厚、简淡粗放，或许就是他润中求苍的审美意蕴。其实，大写意花鸟画的生命力正在于这种来自于乡野素朴之美的文人化。

2012年11月9日星期五于北京至澳门NX001航班

中国美协理事、国家当代艺术研究中心专家委员会委员、《美术》杂志执行主编/尚辉

To Pursue Vigor in Mildness

-- The Spirit of Zhao Zilin’s Flower-Bird Painting

　　It’s an undisputable fact that contemporary free idea flower-bird painting is in decline. There are several reasons for the decline, the foremost of which might lie in the fracture of traditional culture in modern society and the change of observing methods brought about by realistic plastic art education. Flower-bird painting does pay attention to sketch, but it’s not only different from the representation of landscape, but what is sketched in the end is still the expressiveness of the integration of objects and self that is observed and memorized by the painter. The difficulty of Chinese painting often lies in the aspects. On the one hand, sketch is needed to improve perceptual knowledge, so as to bring in vivid and lively factors, and further to find possibilities of novelty and change; on the other hand, objects are reined by painting techniques, to which artists might devoted their whole life. Chinese painters never paint merely according to what they see, and their problem is how to depict what they see; there are norms of calligraphy in the painting, as well as the individuality that goes beyond the norms and the artistic subject’s (the painter’s) spiritual manner and cultural orientation reflected in the painting. Realistic art education can help with the plastic ability of representation, but it’s far away from the unique image creating features of Chinese flower-bird painting. The decline of traditional culture is more reflected in the painters’ incapability of mastering and cognizing the extensive and profound traditional Chinese painting than in their lack of Chinese culture. To free idea flower-bird painting, the thorough, strong and extensive flavor of the painting may have outweighed the effect of exterior plastic images and visual forms. This might be the blind spot in the cognition of contemporary free idea flower- bird painting creation.

　　There are quite a number of painters working on free idea flower-bird painting in the art circles, but few could reach academic level or enter the view of art history. However, Zhao Zilin still came to the fore during the decline of free idea flower-bird painting. Bringing out his unique artistic individuality seems to have played a great part. Graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Shandong Art Institute in the 1960s, Zhao retained the fundamental plastic idea of traditional Chinese painting due to the basic skills he gained from his love of Chinese painting, despite that he received systematic art education. To him, Chinese painting techniques are almost the soul of art. In a current view, his flower-bird painting has gone through the fracture of traditional culture and presented the protogenic Chinese cultural view of flower-bird painting. For instance, his themes are still the traditional pine, bamboo, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, lotus, bine, and the personalized trees and flowers such as peony, yulan and plantain, rather than tropical plants that are not metaphorical. Secondly, the flowers and birds in his painting still contain the compositional features that are identical to nature, instead of intensifying visual aesthetics with changed environment or abstract forms. Thirdly, he is dedicated to the techniques of flower-bird painting, and finds a balance between the feature of calligraphy and the vitality of objects, so as to explore and exercise his individual style. Indeed, in the historical transformation of the reality of traditional painting, he is not disturbed by the numerous art conceptions in modern society, which might have become a rare case in art creation in China today. As will be readily seen, Zhao is painstaking and perseverant in traditional culture.

　　The value of his flower-bird painting is undoubtedly embodied in the exploration of his individuality, which is most difficult. Like most of other flower-bird painters of the century who are influenced by Shanghai style, Zhao Zilin generally belongs to Wu Changshuo style, fusing inscription calligraphy into painting with vigorous and powerful, skillful and sturdy strokes. But what is different is that he paints with splashed ink and wet brushes, in a vigorous and massive, implicative and skillful way. For instance, the wisteria that represents his artistic style is, in composition, painted denser than that of Wu Changshuo, and the flowers and veins are finished with wet brush. To make it denser, the painter even dripped some ink dots among the leaves and flowers to exaggerate the atmosphere. Dry strokes are merely focused on the winding vines. The floweriness and density, vigor and grandeur in Zhao Zilin’s wisterias benefit from his fusing inscription calligraphy into painting brushes in a mild way. The connotation of pursuing vigor in mildness is undoubtedly the outcome of his long practice. In addition, the lotuses that are similar to the densely composed wisterias are not like the single lotus leaves, lotuses and lotus seedpods painted by Wu Changshuo, Zhang Daqian and Pan Tianshou. He always fills the picture with a pool of lotus leaves, and separating them with lotuses and seedpods, painting with a fully wet brush. Bulks of ink appear among wet brushes; dry ink interludes in wet in all sorts of variations. His charm lies in the simplicity and immaturity of bulks of ink, as well as the vigor of mild variations. Thirdly, aside from the full composition, his free idea painting also has fine composition of briefness, especially in subjects such as white plum, grey pine, plantain and peony. In the brief composition, his strokes are sudden and fast, the brushes are wet and heavy, and the pile of ink is clear. Blank and black are consistent with each other, and the boundlessness is brought about by mildness.

　　The boundlessness gained in mildness in Zhao’s works reflects his profound understanding and thorough practice of traditional techniques. The freedom of free idea is not only reflected in the high abstraction and generalization of flowers and birds, but also in the sublimation of conception and state with thorough, substantial and rich flavor. The balance of black and white seems to be a compositional aspect, but the shift between them is more often than not gained in the vigor and charm of brushes. In a sense, the soul of free idea is the “lifelike flavor”. The value of Zhao Zilin’s free idea flower-bird painting consists in that he know more about how to paint with flavor than many contemporary painters. The sepiaceous lotuses that filled the pool appeared to be in random order, sepiaceous but airy, all of which benefited from the way he painted blank. The blank in his pictures are often the wind tunnel with flavor, which embodies the essence of “the air is moving before the brush touches”. The method of leaving blank for ventilation is also revealed in the wisteria he painted, whose curled and sturdy shape added the blank with more mobility of the veins of air. His basic skills in painting blank is especially reflected in the flowers of his stick free idea painting, where the shape of the large blank is precise, and the flavor of the blank is created with the rhythm of brushes, the variation of strokes and the spirit of techniques.

　　Zhao Zilin, who comes from Shandong, has a sincere and simple personality. His free idea flower-bird painting does not belong to academic painting, nor is it pure traditional scholar painting, but it’s a pastoral wonder in the vast and plain countryside. Pureness and simplicity, immaturity and profoundness, briefness and extensiveness, those are his aesthetic connotations of pursuing vigor in mildness. Actually, the vitality of free idea flower-bird painting exactly comes form the scholarization of the simple and plain rural beauty.

Friday, Nov. 9th, 2012,

On Flight NX001 from Beijing to Macao

By Shang Hui, Director of China Artists Association, Member of the Committee of Experts in the National Research Center of Contemporary Art, Executive Editor-in-chief of Art magazine

作者：尚辉