“艳色天下重”，是王维咏西施的句子，是那首诗的第一句，应该是说出了一个共识，即好看的，天下人都会珍重。用这来说中国画，大概也说得通。五年前，在北京万荷堂，听黄永玉说上海有个画家画得很好，他说的是张桂铭。我听黄永玉讲过他喜欢的两个比他晚一辈的画家，一个是李伯安，一个就是张桂铭了。李伯安就是画巴颜喀拉山大画的那一位，后来他把自己的命也画进去了。凤凰黄永玉的玉氏山房，大大的厅堂里，挂着的几张画里，除了主人的老朋友许麟庐他们的，就是李伯安的一张了。张桂铭他还不认识。也在那年年底，在上海的一个聚会上，他看见了张桂铭，十分开心地对张说：“我是你的戏迷、影迷。”也就是说自己是张桂铭画的爱好者。黄永玉也喜欢用色彩作画，他的画也是讲究线条、墨色和意味的，他的独到的绘画语言，可以把山水、人物、花鸟都讲得很明白，很有滋味。他喜欢张桂铭的画，其实也是感觉到张也可以像自己喜欢的那样，也能做得那么多。张桂铭的画，鲜艳夺目，色彩透明，这画的骨子里，装着的是中国画的相思豆。所谓“骨藏红豆”怪不怪?也不怪啊，直教黄永玉这么喜欢着。

　　还有吴冠中，他是从西画一步步走向中国画的。走了千里万里，吴冠中，还是回到了自己的故里。为什么呢?因为中国人的心，永远不愿意被装满，装满了，心怎么呼吸呢?吴冠中画得很出色了，可他也喜欢张桂铭。他起先也不认识张桂铭，可他觉得他认识张桂铭的画，他感觉张桂铭的画，竟然可以用广义中国画，走进只属于他自己的狭义中国画，中国画家都想把画画得很空阔，空阔的画渐渐和自己空阔的心胸，越来越相似。吴冠中很感动，因为他发现，大江之南，有一个张桂铭的，不仅画出了空阔，而且这空阔锦花团簇，这空阔是用中国的线条中国的墨色这么有意无意地完成了。有人说张桂铭学了米罗，笑话了。米罗只是到了日本，见到了浮世绘，才完成了米罗。米罗让他的同胞惊为天人，而对中国人而言，米罗的画，从传承上说，只是中国人的学生的学生辈了，怎么能将张桂铭牵连起来呢?张桂铭，甚至没有吴冠中去过欧洲这一段往事，他是纯粹的在中国土生土长的画家，他画的画，什么时候也只能被看作是纯粹的中国画。

　　在中国，再优秀的人也总是在他去世之后，人们才会清晰地感觉到。七八十年前，上世纪的大画家很年轻，可他们已经是大画家了，可天下人也不大在意。到了今天，他们的名声越来越如雷贯耳。而现在呢?已经六十多岁的张桂铭，画得那么好了，大家只觉得他还年轻。石虎很幸运，他比张桂铭年龄小，已经成了大名。因为石虎是赵人，燕赵多悲壮之士，他这人，他这画，龙盘虎踞，突兀在了尘海之间。而就是他，对张桂铭惺惺相惜。同样是艳色，石虎是艳到了无以复加，而张桂铭是艳到了无以复减。同样从中国画的亘古苍茫中走来，石虎疑似西画了，而张桂铭仍然是纯纯粹粹的中国画。张桂铭应该成就了，现在中国的许多地方都已经感觉到了张桂铭的力量，距离很明确地产生了美。而在张桂铭的艺术发生地，上海也渐渐开始感受到了张桂铭的力量，没有距离，可美还是渐渐产生了。“艳色天下重”的下一句是：“西子岂久微?”王维发问了，同时他本人也回答了，这问这答，就像“艳色天下重”这句话一样 ，也应该是一个共识了。

　　“A Beauty Exalted by the world”, praising the beauty—Xishi, is the first line from one of Wang Wei’s poem. Today people have reached a consensus that all beauties would be exalted by the world. When applied to a Chinese painting, it perhaps does make sense. Five years ago, while I was staying at Wan He Hall, I chatted with Huang Yongyu, and he talked about Zhang Guiming, an artist who had drawn a lot of good works. At that time, among the younger artists, he said that he appreciated two, one was Li Boan, and the other one Zhang Guiming. Li Boan was the one who had made a great painting of Bayangela Mountain, unfortunately, all of his painting worn out all his energy. In the YuShi Mountain house of Huang Yongyu, several paintings were hung in a large hall, among which there left one piece from Li Boan, while others coming from an old friend Xu Linlu. That year, he didn’t know about Zhang Guiming. But by the end of the year, he met Zhang at a party in Shanghai, and he was very happy to say, “ I am a fan of your plays and movies”, which indicated that he was the amateur of Zhang’s painting. Huang Yongyu, is also good at colorful painting, paying more attention to strokes, ink color and meaning in his paintings. With his unique painting language, Huang Yongyu elaborates thoroughly and meaningfully in the creation of Chinese ink and Wash Landscape, human figures, and flower and birds. He was really fond of the painting of Zhang Guiming, because he is able to get a certain feeling from Zhang’s painting, which reflects as much characteristic as he loves. Zhang’s painting, bright and full of fresh and transparent colors, contains ‘a love bean of Chinese painting inside its nature’. Do you feel strange when hearing about the Chinese idiom of “a love bean lies inside the core” ? But it is not strange for Huang Yongyu at least. Who allows himself to love these paintings so much?

　　As for Wu Guanzhong, he returned to Chinese painting from the influence of west, step by step. With Wu Guanzhong’s painstaking efforts, his painting style finally returned back to his hometown. Why? Because a heart of the Chinese, never felt satisfied with what he had. If satisfied, how can a heart have space to take a breath? .Wu Guangzhong has made his name in Chinese painting circle. Much as he achieved, he does appreciate Zhang Guiming. At first, he actually didn’t know Zhang, but he feels that he knew about Zhang’s paintings. He was so amazed that Zhang was able to walk into his own narrow Chinese paintings using the broad Chinese paintings. Chinese artists tend to draw paintings with a broad view, which can help these paintings approach to their heart and mind.Wu was deeply impressed by Zhang’s paintings. He found Zhang, was the only person, in the extensive land of china, who could not only depict the boundlessness, but also filled this boundlessness with blossoms. This boundlessness feeling can only be completed by Zhang’s strokes and ink color either consciously or unconsciously. It is said that Zhang’s painting has got some talents from Miro. Just joking! Miro made his name after he went to Japan and met with Ukiyoe, Miro was regarded as a genius by his patriots at that time. For the Chinese people, the paintings of Miro, are just pieces of work produced by the juniority of Chinese students in cultural heritage. But how can we tie up Miro with Zhang? Zhang Guiming, is a absolutely native artist born in Chinese land. What he paints, is only considered as absolutely Chinese painting.

　　In China, no matter how excellent you are, you talents can only be clearly by people after you passed away. Seven or eight decades ago, most great artists had already been very talented at a young age, however, they were not paid much attention to. Up to now, they have become really popular. But how about it today? Zhang Guiming has been renowned for his painting in his sixties, who is believed to be comparably young. Shi Hu, luckily becomes a celebrity, younger than Zhang. As an old saying, “More tragic literary figures appeared in the land of ancient States of Yan and Zhao”, Shi Hu, as a native of ancient Zhao State (which it is now located in Henan Province), standing proudly from the earthliness, depends on his personality and his grand paintings. However, he and Zhang Guiming, share the same mind. In the aspect of applying color, color used by Shi Hu, can’t be splendid any more , while the color used by Zhang Guiming, can’t be simple any more. Stepped from the vast expense of Chinese painting, Shi Hu seems to be more of the western style, but Zhang Guiming still carries his absolute style of Chinese brush drawing. Thus, Zhang Guiming should fulfill all his achievement. Presently, most places in China have come to experience the strength of Zhang, which undoubtedly proves that ‘distance breeds beauty’. Shanghai, the original place of Zhang’s art, is experiencing his strength in paintings, which proves that beauty can also be produced without distance. The next line behind “A beauty exalted by the world” in that verse is “How can Xi Zi be long in the gutter?” Wang Wei threw out that question in his poem, and then responded to himself. This conversation may have become a common viewpoint just like the previous line “A beauty exalted by the world”.

作者：陈鹏举