王健先生自20世纪80年代前往美国，在那里学习绘画和工作，至今已有二十余年。这期间中国艺术发生了巨大的变化，有许多在海外学习的中国艺术家不断回到国内进行交流。对国内艺术界来说，王健先生是一位新同仁，但是，当他的作品和他的艺术经历展现在我们面前的时候，我们也获得了崭新的感受。

　　在我看来，王健的艺术人生有两个方面是十分难能可贵的。一是他许多年来坚守在绘画领域，沉潜探索，不懈追求，对绘画保持着充沛的热情。他在艺术思潮变更迅速的美国画坛有许多经历，但他始终把绘画当作自己的艺术语言，在这个领域作不断深入的文章，这是一种十分朴素但可贵的精神。二是王健在绘画上所坚持的理想，促使他不断研究绘画的造型规律，强化绘画的艺术语言特征，形成了鲜明的艺术风格。把他和他在艺术上的体会和经验介绍给国内的同行以及观众，很有助于大家相互交流与探讨。

　　王健的艺术出自美国的现代艺术教育，他的起步因此没有沉重的包袱。在美国加州的学习经历，使得他在绘画上非常注重直率地表达自己的感受，在造型语言上突出地体现出“直接表现”的方法，与此同时，他在绘画的表达中注入自己的思考，使直接表现与思想性的内涵结合起来。我首先很欣赏他在美国画的一批风景画，那是他沿着当年开发美国西部的华人先辈的足迹寻找到的风景。在看似寻常的大自然景观面前，他以一种追踪历史、追寻文化遗迹的情怀去感受与描绘，这就带出了他笔下风景有历史感的内涵。这种面对自然默默无闻的感受为他的风景画注入了生命的意涵。基于他对美国生活的熟悉，他的其他作品则很鲜明地带有美国生活特别是加州地区特点的色彩，比如说他画的一批静物，在构图上十分别致，在造型上也十分生动，画面上虽然没有人的形象，但是充满了一种美国式的日常生活气息。他的一些肖像同样在构图和造型上别开生面，大片的空间烘托出现代人物的姿态，就像在现代都市建筑的窗口前所摄取的切片，透溢出美国人的生活情趣。他作品中最突出的色彩强烈度和饱满的笔触与他所画的主题是贴切的，在语言和内容两方面的结合上形成了鲜明的个性风格。

　　王健先生回国之后带着饱满的热情画出了一大批人物肖像。这批作品保持了他在美国时期的“近观”的方法，用逼近人物对象的视点作尺寸大幅的头像，尤其表达了强烈光线下的人物神态。在他这种淋漓尽致的表现性语言中，可以看到他对鲜活的生命个体投以关注的艺术观念。

　　在今天多种艺术观念与风格样式齐头并驱的时代，王健先生坚守绘画的艺术道路和他已经取得的成果是很有价值的积累，他自己也把他前往美国和回到本土视为一个行与归的过程。我相信，王健先生的归来将是他艺术发展的新起点。

　　Foreword

　　By Fan Dian, the Director of the National Art Museum of China

　　Since the middle of the 1980s, Jian Wang has studied art and worked as an artist in the United States . During this time, the art in China has changed dramatically. More and more Chinese artists who have studied abroad return and share their experiences with artists in China. To the Chinese art world, Jian Wang is a new face. But after we see his work and learn about his experiences, we will come to understand him.

　　In my opinion, Jian Wang’s life as an artist has two advantages. First, as a painter, he pursues his art with great passion and untiring exploration. He has had many experiences in the diverse American art field yet keeps painting to pursue his own artistic vision. His is a respectable and honorable spirit. Secondly, his ideals keep him studying to improve his artistic language. His style is fresh and brilliant. It will be beneficial to introduce his art to artists in China.

　　Since Jian Wang began his art education in America, he didn’t have to worry about changing his style when he arrived. Due to his studies in California, Jian Wang tries to express his feelings in his paintings and emphasize a direct approach to his subject matter. I very much appreciate a series of landscape paintings he painted in America. The landscape depicts the very place the Chinese pioneers landed in America. He is following the footsteps of the Chinese ancestors. With his brush, the normal scenery is endowed with historical meaning. He describes the site with feeling as if he is pursuing history and a lost culture. Thanks to his familiarity with the American scene, his other works relate to that life. For instance, his series of stills lifes has a vivid freshness one thinks of in America. Some of his portraits also have an unusual composition, using a large space as a foil for the expressions of modern people. The strong color and the powerful brushstrokes he used are relevant to the theme. His unique personal style creates the perfect mix of painting technique and content.

　　Upon his return to China, Jian Wang painted a series of portraits, using a “close up” compositional technique that he developed in America. In this, the artist observes the face from very close point of view and paints a big canvas with a large face depicted under strong light. We can see his strong concentration by looking at the individual expressions on each portrait.

　　In a time of quickly changing art fashions, Jian Wang has insisted on following his own vision, and as a result has developed a powerful, unique style. He sees his studying in America and coming back to China as a progression that has now come full circle. I believe the return of Jian Wang will give a new impetus to his development as an artist.

作者：范迪安