听说叶先生是很有才气，绘画与众不同，别具一格。偶尝一次在公众展场见到叶先生的作品，一种强烈艺术视觉冲击，久萦回于我的心间，于是怀着仰慕的心情，走进了叶先生的会馆。

　　在走廊和画室里叶先生的作品就象黑暗里的一盏“明灯”，那样的勾人眼球，那样的让人发醒，使我情不自禁伫立品视着每一件作品，看每件作品都给人一种独特的个人风格和笔性特点，但细审慢赏每一件作品，又发现它们都没有重复仿制之处，每一件都是不可复制的艺术佳作，都是作者在特定的意境和灵感瞬间爆发所产生的艺术与灵魂交织的产物。

　　他多年来的呕心沥血的作品让笔者一览无余，一个勤奋好学、持之以恒的艺术家，以及他与众不同绘画语言和绘画艺术，深深打动笔者的心。从那一刻以后，笔者有一种冲动，或者说是受叶先生绘画作品艺术感染力的驱动，萌发我要把叶先生绘画艺术的感识写出来，与世人共享，使其独特的绘画艺术魅力让更多人品赏。

　　一、得自然之灵性，孕艺术之梦想。

　　与叶先生的交谈中，笔者深切感受到叶先生的绘画独特的创作风格形成，与其童年的劳动生活环境有很大关系。叶先生从小在杭州莫干山的农村长大，广阔的大自然的美丽山川陪伴他成长，那里的一山一水一丘一壑，以及树木花鸟都深深地留在了他的记忆中。虽然当时的社会环境和家庭条件等限制，使他没有机会去专心画画，然而大自然千姿百态的神奇之美，却深深埋在了他的幼小心灵里，同时他的父辈喜好绘画对其也产生了一定影响。待到他长大后，随着环境变化和条件改善，早年萌生在他内心绘画的灵感，喷薄而出。叶先生说：他的很多得意之作都是在童年梦幻的一种升华，一种灵魂深处感情、感悟的倾诉。绘画艺术创作源于生活、来自劳动，而艺术作品又高于生活和劳动，它是一种精神的升华、灵魂的净化，让人从中体验到人赋予艺术的美，艺术美又传递给了人们一种愉悦，这就是艺术的生命力的展现。当我们用这一美术理念去审视叶先生的绘画作品时，无论是具象的还是抽象的作品，抑或是两者皆有的作品，都有叶先生饱含深情和灵魂意念融入于作品之中的审美趣味和音乐般的韵味。因此，欣赏叶先生的绘画，如作品《生》、《秋恋》等，它会给人们带入梦幻般的艺术境界中，这种与众不种的境界，正是叶先生他童年所得大自然的灵性和孕育艺术之梦的重现，这也是叶先生之所以成功的秘诀之一。

　　二、冲出传统水墨，探创色彩之美。

　　由文人画主导下的中国传统绘画理念，其主张的是“水墨至上”，对绘画设色或颜色的应用限制颇多，仅用一些赭石浅绛色为之，水墨唯上成为很长一段时间中国传统绘画追逐的最高艺术境界。清未民初，以上海为中心的“海上画派”的崛起，刮起一股中西绘画融合的旋风，大红、大绿、大黄等各种五彩缤纷的颜色融入了中国传统绘画之中，给人们带来了耳目一新的视觉效果，“以色碍墨”的传统观念被人们“色墨相融”、“色即墨、墨即色”的观念所替代。赵之谦、吴昌硕等海派先驱和大师，他们在绘画上的大胆设色赢得了市场的认赞，并一直影响至今。现当代的林凤眠、周昌谷等艺绘画大师，他们都是以“色”取胜的创新实践者。诚实，中国绘画的生命主要体现在“用笔”和“墨色”两大元素上。“用笔”千古不变，是指中国特有的以毛笔作为绘画工具的笔性不能改变，“墨色”当随时代，是说绘画构成的基本元素“墨色”应当随时代的不同审美要求而有所变化。赏析叶向礼先生的绘画，他所遵循的正是这种绘画理念，同时加入了他个人对色的理解和运用的感受经验，对绘画的色彩之美进行了探索及创新，倾入了他对色独特运用的技法。在他的《荷魂》系列的绘画中，整幅作品上都有设色，底子上的调色多以浅咖啡色调敷之，给人一种稳重之感，且出一种油画的厚实之味，这是与众不同技法之一。荷的花瓣、叶子、茎杆、莲蓬等敷色协调又有差异，荷花那种婀娜多姿和流畅自如的天趣充分体现出来。通常人们对绘画中的“线条”特别强调，而对色的搭配居于“线条”之下，但真正好的绘画是“以线带色”，或“以色带线”，笔者认为叶先生的绘画两者同时使用，增强了他绘画的表现力，这也是他与众不同的技法之二。在叶先生写意或抽象绘画作品中，运用了一种黄宾虹大师在水墨山水画常用的一种“渍墨”法，黄在山水画上渍墨的是黑色的点，而叶先生是用白色的点，即一种“渍白”法，但两者是异曲同工，达到了一种意趣横生的艺术效果，可谓是叶先生与众不同的技法之三。中国画是一种散点透视，明暗对比多以墨色的强弱或深浅来为之，而对用色为主来绘画的画家来说，处理好明暗，或一幅画上的“睛点”，色的运用至关重要。叶先生对色的理解是从内心和灵魂深处的高度来把握的。他说，睡至半夜有时候绘画灵感来了，他会马上起来将这种稍纵即逝的灵感，一挥而就的绘制在他的作品中，在他的这些意象的濛胧作品中，用一亮色绘以一荷花红蕊、或一金丝翠鸟，或一虎头、或一人像、或一束佛光等，以色点“睛”，富有一种油画般明暗的审美趣味，是其与众不同技法之四。叶先生以花卉、花鸟绘画为主，但有时他将山水与花卉（鸟）绘制在一起，产生了一种奇妙的效果。花卉（鸟）本是在山水画中一个小景，现在叶先生反把花卉（鸟）作为主题，山水作为一种陪衬，看似走出了常规，而作为一种意念升华的东西，它又是合乎情理的。如在他的《秋的晚霞》作品中，他将相隔西湖对岸的雷峰塔山水景色与荷花相处一作品中，荷花处于醒目的画面，而远处的塔、山峦与西湖水相连，似有“湖水共天长一色”之意景，这种图式也是叶先生与众不同的技法之五。综观叶先生的绘画作品，以意为先，有感而发，以色取胜，以奇出妙的艺术风格，让人在他的作品前观赏，总有一种意犹未尽之感。到过他艺术馆的很多美术评论家等都与笔者有相同的感受，即他的绘画成就与所谓学院派的绘画大师相比，更多的荒率、天趣、意韵——即一种魂趣，是他们无法企及的，可以说叶先生的绘画作品是一种真正的心声和灵魂意象的倾吐，这种艺术品位之高，随着时间的推移，会慢慢信服更多的人，终被世人所接受。

　　三、才力引创艺术，画求魂趣之妙。

　　著名浙派大师周昌谷先生有一句名言：功力是画好画的基础，才力是绘画创新的动力。时下绘画界名人高手辈出，各种画展让人目不暇接。画的品位高低和市场价位，有的以“官位”定价，有的以“名气”大小定值，有的以“学院”派的大小定格，有的则是通过媒体广告的大肆炒作来运作。很多艺术家、画家在这市场化的进程中，随波逐流，有利是图，迎合市场化那些程式化、图式化的作品充斥市场。而那些有艺术创新、别具一格、富有个性且有创新的作品，往往遭冷落，这是在当今中国艺坛很不正常的一种现象。叶先生的绘画起步较早，最初的作品并没有象现在看到的那样震撼人心，但叶先生是一个富有哲学理念的画家，勤奋思考，重视实践，使他的绘画理念超乎常人。叶先生有一个雅趣，就是喜欢收藏，曾经收藏过一大批民国时期“朱山八友”的瓷版画，并编书出版，另在艺术馆还收藏有各种名家书画和艺术品等。从历代的绘画大师的成长经历看，绝大多数既是画家，又是收藏家，因为收藏品会给画家带来巨大的创作源泉。以近现代而言，凡是艺术大师，多为收藏大家。如吴湖帆、黄宾虹、齐白石等。叶先生颇丰的艺术品收藏，对其绘画创作影响很大，由此也带动了他到国内外各大博物馆、美术馆去观摩相关的艺术品。他说在游历各地各大博物馆、美术馆等绘画作品后，对他的创作、提高的帮助很大，从师法绘画传统精典到师法大自然，再到观摩各种艺术品实物，将三种有机的结合，并通过哲学思辨的精神活动，从灵魂深处的意感一并化作于绘画作品上，这也正是叶先生的才力逐渐培养起来的过程。所以当人们观赏他的作品时，往往会产生一种“错觉”——这些画作肯定是一位年高望重的艺术家所为。纵观叶先生的创新作品，真正引领他绘画的是一种常人缺乏的才力，他的才力就是象他所说的勤奋、刻苦、思辨、想象、心力、坚持、执着等。很多人在大学学习绘画专业，但坚持下去的并不多，有的改行有的放弃，原因之一是在绘画上没有创新。这里也有叶先生的一段插曲，他的夫人原先是大学学美术毕业后画画的，叶先生曾是为其夫人服务为主，而现在叶是画画的主角，他的夫人作了他的配角，这也说明叶先生在才力方面实有过人之处。大凡一个艺术家在创作上都有一个追求和目标，而叶先生的创作追求，在我品赏了上百幅的作品后，以“魂趣”二字来概括他的作品，似乎更为合适。叶先生很多得意之作，往往在一瞬间的梦魂和心灵的碰撞产生火花之时创作完成的。有时没有灵感，他一周或半个月都没法去下笔创作，且十分痛苦。所以，叶先生每创作一幅作品，是不能复制的，有些题材看似相同，而细品画中的一笔一色和意象韵味，实都不尽相同。要想领会其作品的真正的内含，需要我们从画面的“景语”中去想象深入到画的“魂语”（精神境界）之中，方能感知他创作的艺术作品实来自不易，那是叶先生的“魂趣之妙”和艺术精华的彰显。

浙江省博物馆书画部主任、研究馆员

中国美术学院兼职教授 赵幼强

2013年6月

Images of Mountains and Rivers Soul's Delight in Flowers and Birds

--A View of Mr. Ye Jianming's World of Paintings

　　I heard that Mr. Ye is very talented, and his paintings have a unique style of his own. A strong artistic visual impact imprinted in my mind the moment I had the first acquaintance with Mr. Ye's works in a public exhibition, so I entered Mr. Ye's studio with admiration. Mr. Ye's paintings, just like "bright lights" in darkness, are so fascinating and illuminating that I stay adoring every painting, since every painting shows a peculiar individual style and feature; however, every painting is an irreplicable artistic work without any monotonous repetition since it is originated from the integration of art and soul in a particular image and inspiration of the painter.

　　His works with utmost efforts display to us an industrious and perseverant artist unique in his painting language and art. From that moment on, I have an impulse, or rather, driven by his artistic appeal, to depict the perceptions of Mr. Ye's painting art to be shared and appreciated by more people.

　　I. Nurtured by Nature, Cherishing the Dream of Art

　　From the dialogues with Mr. Ye, I understand that his unique painting style is closely bound with his living surroundings. Growing up in the countryside of the Mogan Mountain, Hangzhou, he has had a profound memory of the mountains, trees, rivers, flowers and birds of the extensive beautiful nature. Though confined by the social and family conditions at that time, he did not get chances to be devoted to painting; however, the wonder and beauty of nature as well as the preference of his elder generation towards paintings instilled an inspiration in his heart. Mr. Ye said, many excellent works are the sublimation of his childhood dreams and the extension of his inner feelings and understanding. Paintings, though originated in life and labor, transcend the life and labor and let us experience the beauty of art. The beauty of art carries forward delight, which is the exhibition of the life of art. When we, with this artistic concept, view Mr's Ye's paintings, both abstract and concrete, we find the aesthetic beauty and musical beauty immersed in his works with his affection and images.

　　Therefore, Mr. Ye's paintings, e.g. "Life" and "Autumn Love", bring us into the dream-like artistic arena, which is the representation of his childhood inspiration and dream from the nature and art. It is one of the keys to his success.

　　II. Surpassing the Traditional Ink and Wash Paintings, Pioneering the Beauty of Colors

　　The concept of traditional Chinese paintings, dominated by literati paintings, advocates "ink and wash paintings are the superior", so little color, only ochre or light crimson is applied in the paintings. The ink and wash has long been pursued by the traditional Chinese paintings. However, from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, "Shanghai Painting School" brought about an integration of Chinese and Western paintings since the colorful scarlet, green and yellow were immersed into the traditional Chinese paintings and showed fresh and new visual effects. The traditional concept of "colors hindering ink" was replaced by "the integration of color and ink" and "color is ink, ink is color". The pioneers and masters of "Shanghai Painting School", e.g. Zhao Zhiqian, Wu Changshuo, with their audacious coloring, have won the recognition of the market and exerted their influence so far. Besides, the modern painting artists, Lin Fengmian and Zhou Changgu for example, are the pioneers of "colors". Indeed, the life of Chinese paintings is shown in "brush" and "ink color". "Brush" will not change since it is the tool for paintings, while "ink color" is changing with different times and aesthetic flavors. The pioneering use of colors in paintings is integrated with his feeling, understanding and unique techniques of colors. In his series of "Soul of Lotus", the background color, mainly of light brown, displays to us a sense of sedateness and thickness of oil paintings, which is one of his unique skills. The petals, leaves, stalks and seedpods, with coordinated and differentiated background colors, show the gracefully slender and flowing charm of the lotus. The "lines" in paintings, as a rule, are highlighted and the coordination of colors is not. However, truly excellent paintings adopt the art of "colors outlining lines" and "lines outlining colors" and Mr. Ye combines two skills, which adds to the expressiveness of his paintings, constituting another unique skill.

　　In addition, in his freehand brushwork or abstract paintings, Mr. Ye uses a method of "soaking of black ink dots" usually adopted by Master Huang Binhong in his ink and wash paintings; however, Mr. Ye uses white dots, i.e. "soaking of white dots"; these two use different approaches, but achieve equally satisfactory and charming results, which is the third unique skill of Mr. Ye. Cavalier perspectives are usually adopted in the Chinese paintings and the painters who are devoted to the use of colors should have a superb mastery of colors since the contrast of light and shadow is shown by the deep and light ink colors. Mr. Ye has a mastery of colors from his heart and soul, as he said, sometimes when he had inspirations deep at night, he would get up soon to depict this transient inspiration in the painting in a while. In these obscure paintings of images, he would paint a red stamen or pistil, a gold kingfisher, a tiger head, a figure or a beam of Buddhist light with a bright color, similar to the aesthetic flavor of oil paintings, which is the fourth unique skill of Mr. Ye. He devoted to the paintings of flowers and birds, but sometimes he would integrate landscape and flowers (birds) to help create a unique effect. Flowers (birds) are formerly a small sight in landscape paintings; however, Mr. Ye highlights the flowers (birds) against the background of landscape, which is rather reasonable as a sublimation of images, rather than being extraordinary. For example, in his "Autumn Sunset Glow", he highlighted the lotus against the background of Leifeng Pagoda, mountains and the West Lake faraway, similar to the artistic conception of "the lake and the sky enjoy the same color", which is also a unique skill of Mr. Ye. Taking a general view of Mr. Ye's paintings predominated by images, feelings, colors and unique features, we sense his paintings are really beyond our expression. Many artistic critics who once viewed his paintings all share the same view with me, i.e. his paintings, compared with those of other academic painting masters, show more delight of the soul-more abandonment, more charm and more images. Mr. Ye's paintings, indeed, are the expression of real soul, images and inner feelings. This high artistic taste, with the passage of time, will win the recognition of the people eventually.

　　III. Talent Leading Art, Delight of Soul Embedded in Paintings

　　Mr. Zhou Changgu, a famous painting master of Zhejiang School once said, professional quality is the basis for good paintings and the talent is the motivation for the painting innovation. The current society sees a myriad of painters and numerous exhibitions. The artistic taste and prices of paintings are determined either by "official ranks", or by "fame", or by "academic schools", or by promotions of media and advertisements, therefore, the market is experiencing an abnormal situation-it is congested with stereotyped paintings since many artists and painters hanker after profit and fame in the marketization and many paintings with unique artistic creations are often neglected. Mr. Ye had a late start in his paintings, and his early paintings were not as impressive as the present ones; however, he is a philosophical painter diligent in thinking and practice, so his paintings outsmart others. Besides, Mr. Ye has fascination towards collection. He once had a collection of porcelain engravings of "Eight Friends of Zhushan", compiled them and had them published. He also had a collection of many famous paintings, calligraphy and works of art. Throughout history, many artistic masters are also collectors, for example, Wu Hufan, Huang Binhong and Qi Baishi, since the collections will give the painters enormous creative origins. Mr. Ye not only drew inspirations from his large collections, but went to see different works of art in museums and art galleries at home and abroad. Mr. Ye was brought up with the integration of learning from the classics of paintings, learning from nature and observing different works of art and, nurtured by his philosophical thinking and inner feelings, therefore, while appreciating his works, people would have an "illusion"-these works must have been painted by an aged and celebrated artist.

　　The creative works of Mr. Ye are finished with his uncommon talent-diligence, assiduity, intellectual inquiry, imagination, mental efforts, determination and obsession. Many people pursue the major of paintings in university, but they can not hold to the last since they do not have any innovations in paintings. One interesting interlude goes like this-Mr. Ye's wife is also a painter after getting her degree in fine arts and Mr. Ye once worked for her, however, they have changed roles since Mr. Ye became a professional painter while his wife not. Any true artist usually has a clear goal in his creations and "Delight of the Soul" may be the correct words for his artistic pursuit in paintings after I appreciated more than one hundred paintings. Some of Mr. Ye's favorite works are finished with the dream soul and inspiration in a while and he may feel extremely agonized when inspiration does not strike him for one week or half a month, therefore, Mr. Ye's paintings are irreplicable. Though some may seem identical in themes, the paintings are actually different in touches, colors, images and tastes. A true comprehension of the essence of his works may require us to probe into the "words of soul" (mental outlook) from the "words of landscape" in his paintings. His assiduous artistic works are really Mr. Ye's "charm of soul's delight" and the artistic essence.

Zhao Youqiang, Director and Research Fellow of

Department of Paintings and Calligraphy, Zhejiang Provincial Museum

Adjunct Professor of China Academy of Art

June 2013

作者：赵幼强