Profile of Qiao Shiguang

Qiao Shiguang (1937--) is a famous lacquer painting artist, one of the pioneers of modern lacquer art and one of the founders of lacquer painting in China. A native of Tantao, Hebei Province, he graduated from the Mural Painting Department of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (CAAAC) in 1961, and stayed on as a teacher in 1964, and is now a professor of the CAAAC (now Tsinghua University Academy of Arts), a director of the China Artists Association, and the president of the China Lacquer Painting Research Association. He has held more than ten exhibitions in China, Japan, France and the Soviet Union. Qiao Shiguang's works focus on the unity of lacquer and painting, so that modern lacquer painting has maintained the traditional cultural character while continuing to innovate and gradually become independent. He is known as the "Father of Chinese Lacquer Painting". His masterpieces include "Water Festival", "Tibetan Plateau" and "Dipper".

Chinese Name: Qiao Shiguang

Alias: Father of Chinese Lacquer Painting

Nationality: Chinese

Birthplace: Guantao, Hebei

Date of Birth: 1937

Occupation: Lacquer Artist

Graduated from the Central Academy of Arts and Design

Major Achievements: One of the pioneers of modern lacquer painting in China. One of the pioneers

One of the founders of Chinese lacquer painting

Representative works: "Water Festival", "Tibetan Plateau", "Dipper"

Introduction

Qiao Shiguang (1937.2-) Lacquer painting artist. He specializes in lacquer paintings and murals. He was born on January 24, 1937 in Guantao County, Hebei Province, into a peasant family. 1961 graduated from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts and began to study lacquer painting, went to China's famous lacquer hometown of Fuzhou to worship lacquer artisans as a teacher, graduated and stayed in the school as a teacher in 1964. 1986 with the "Chinese Modern Lacquer Painting Exhibition" to visit the former Soviet Union. 1987 since then, he has been in the Since 1987, he has held "Qiao Shiguang Lacquer Painting Exhibition" in the National Art Museum of China, Fuzhou Arts and Crafts Museum, and the Japan-China Friendship Association Museum in Tokyo, Japan. He is now a professor of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts and a member of the China Artists Association. He has been engaged in teaching and researching lacquer painting for a long time. His work "Fishing Song in the South Sea" was selected in the first exhibition of Chinese painting by members of the Chinese Artists Association in 2004. He is a special painter and senior art consultant of Tang Feng Art Museum in Beijing.

Major writings

On Lacquer Painting, On the Development of Lacquer Painting, New Flowers of Lacquer Art, The Diverse World of Lacquer Painting to China Lacquer Painting Exhibition, New Flowers of Lacquer Art to Carved Lacquer Painting, Composition of Decorative Paintings, and Image of Decorative Paintings. The lacquer paintings he has created and designed include "Water Splashing Festival" (Second Prize of the Fifth National Art Exhibition, collected by the National Art Museum of China), "Tibetan Plateau" (Silver Prize of the Sixth National Art Exhibition, collected by the National Art Museum of China), "Dipper" (Outstanding Work Award of the 1986 China Lacquer Painting Exhibition), "Bonfire" (collected by the Museum of Oriental Art), "Tibetan Woman Collecting Green Trees", and "Parking", etc. He has been exhibited in the Soviet Union before and after. They were exhibited in the Soviet Union.

Chinese Modern Art Complete Lacquer Painting was published by People's Fine Arts Publishing House in January 1998;

Lacquer Art was published by China Academy of Art Publishing House in August 2004;

Lacquer Art

Qiao Shiguang's art comes from life and nature, and he insists on taking the creation of the world as a teacher. Over the years, he has visited the Dai Village three times, entered the Tibetan area three times, traveled to the Yangtze River twice, and traveled to the South of the Yangtze River four times, and painted a large number of watercolors and gouache, ink and colored ink, drawings and sketches, which not only provided rich materials for creation, but also strengthened his painting skills. Qiao Shiguang pursued both the artistic form of his works and emphasized the connotative meaning of his works, and devoted himself to the study of material techniques. He advocated the unity of ideology, art, and technique; the unity of content, form, and medium; and the unity of heart, eye, and hand, and also had great reference value for young people studying art.

The Water Splashing Festival is his masterpiece. The composition of this painting is unique, the artist will be dressed in festive dress Dai women sparse back display in the foreground, the dragon boat racing in the river and the opposite bank of the boiling crowd as the background, highlighting the warm atmosphere of the festival. The rich craftsmanship reflects the painter's mastery of lacquer, he used eggshell inlay to express the white blouse, the colorful skirt combines the silver foil overlay lacquer grinding method and the inlay technique of conch shells, and the clay and silver painted water also provides the best background for the beautiful characters. The whole painting is graceful and elegant.

Qiao Shiguang's lacquer painting creation, from the folk start to later the father of Chinese lacquer painting, he has gone through a forty-six-year course. Painter's life and the road of art, not flat, during which there are twists and turns, there are bumps, twists and turns in the search, bumps in the march, from the excitement to the loss, from the pain to the metamorphosis, from the reflection to stand up again, experienced history and reality, culture and art of the wind and clouds of change and ebb and flow. Qiao Shiguang's creations, no matter how the history migrates and changes, his steadfast efforts and chanting like a cuckoo's cry always haunt the land that gave birth to him and raised him, never forgetting the people's public inculcation of him and y rooting in this way in the life of the Chinese nation's root system. At the same time, the painting art cultivated in the fertile field of lacquer culture also lets him grow into the modern time and space, breathing the breath of modernity, so as to build a unique style of lacquer painting art which is the docking of his tradition and modernity. Such lacquer paintings not only have modern aesthetic value, but also have important historical significance and humanistic value.

The Road of Lacquer Painting

"It is the lacquer painting that accomplished Qiao Shiguang, and it is also Qiao Shiguang who accomplished the lacquer painting in China". Whether it was the mural paintings that prompted Qiao Shiguang to choose lacquer paintings and lacquer, I think the past does not allow assumptions. Art ****existence, dependence for Qiao Shiguang made the best choice, and made it clear that this choice is wisdom, he is a trend, but also an objective.

In the early spring of 1962, Qiao Shiguang went to Fuzhou under the leadership of Mr. Lei Guiyuan for a year and a half of study of lacquer art. From the understanding of the properties of lacquer, the use of tools, the basic techniques of painting and grinding, to lacquer painting, color painting, gold painting, to Chibaosha (a kind of variegated lacquer technique), "shavings" (inlaid tin in metal inlay), "kiln" (a kind of variegated lacquer imitating ceramic kiln), to eggshell inlay, to "Kiln" (a kind of variegated lacquer imitating ceramic kiln), and to eggshell inlay, Qiao Shiguang learned the art of lacquer. (a kind of imitation of ceramic kiln change in the change of paint), and then to the eggshell inlay facing a hundred lacquer technique samples, its ever-changing techniques, mysterious and magical effects, so that Qiao Shiguang as if entering a labyrinth, and once again strengthened his determination to devote himself to the art of lacquer paintings.

In the summer of this year, on the way to Fuzhou for the second time to study lacquer, because the train was blocked and stranded in Hangzhou, when he saw the thatched cottages, bamboo bushes, paddy fields, shepherd children, fishponds, sails and shadows of the Jiangnan, so that the son of this northern country's peasant family felt that is friendly and fresh, a sudden burst of interest, painted the first lacquer painting "Fish and Rice Township". This is Qiao Shiguang in the study of certain lacquer techniques, after repeated brewing trial production of "fine art".

Now it seems that his creative mindset at that time is still unreservedly in front of everyone, the pure heart that longs for the beautiful, the persistence, the upward youthful pursuit, all of them are embodied to the fullest extent: the free swimming fish in the fishpond, the cheerful shepherd children on the ridge, the quiet and cozy cottage composed of a small farm scene with a great deal of interest. Although, as far as the painting itself is concerned, the painting skills are not yet skillful and the details are slightly rough. More often than not, he lacks his own individuality. But the spiritual elements he contains, the artistic language he reveals, the formal instrument he pursues and the way he handles the materials and tools have in fact covered up the shortcomings of the picture itself, and people strongly feel the sincerity and lush artistic talent revealed from it, which is not difficult to make a better interpretation for the status of the father of Chinese lacquer paintings in the future.

Although lacquer painting is related to crafts, handicrafts, and folk art, it belongs to painting, and it has the same characteristics as all forms of painting. When most painters devote their whole life to turn their attention to painting itself, Qiao Shiguang is still concerned about the possibilities and overall harmony that lacquer technology brings to him; he cannot become a lacquer painter if he understands only lacquer art but not painting; he cannot be a lacquer painter if he understands only painting but not lacquer art. The amphibious character of lacquer painting attributes the practitioner's uneven and rugged artistic path from the very beginning.

Because of his desire to explore the many possibilities of lacquer painting, and because of the need to teach, Qiao Shiguang went to Yangzhou to learn lacquer carving and inlay, to Chengdu to learn carving and filling, to Pingyao to learn "rubbing colors," and to Beijing to try to work with masters to knock down the gold and carve the lacquer, and to Xinjiang, Shanxi, to try with masters to try "cloud carving," which is a form of "cloud carving. "Cloud carving" (a kind of lacquer carving) left a series of footprints on the road of his lacquer painting. Since then, the combination of heart and hand, and the collision of soul and mind have pushed his skills to maturity, and also played a transition and paved the way for the rounding of his art in the future.

The Central Academy of Arts and Crafts during the teaching period, the painter's mind, accompanied by the Su School of realism of the flow of the tide of a moment of reversal, began to impinge on his inspiration, he was quite a feeling of rebirth. Faced with the impact of Western literary and artistic trends, the Chinese painting world was reflecting. Pang Xun_ and Lei Guiyuan, as one of the most representative pioneering painters of the avant-garde tendency of that era, had a profound and positive influence on Qiao Shiguang. The quality of folk art formed the foundation of Qiao Shiguang's lacquer paintings, which to a certain extent also defined his lacquer painting style. However, the formal rules and artistic language of painting have no national boundaries, and are subject to people's subjective aesthetic interests, and at that time, China put forward the absorption method of "taking the best and removing the dregs" in its culture, combining and blending all good things, and then integrating them into his paintings. The Chinese culture at that time proposed to "take the best and remove the dross", to combine all the good things, and then to integrate them into their own nation. Of course, there are also many wrong behaviors of taking the garbage discarded by others as the most precious. Qiao Shiguang, in such an uncertain era, on the basis of respecting the Chinese national culture and traditions, was compatible, emphasizing the decorative nature of lacquer painting, striving for balance, echo, symmetry, harmony, and focusing on the spatial beauty of the picture, planarization, and programming. He has made a deeper sense of metamorphosis by his physical practice. He insisted on externalization as a teacher, not relying on classroom training to maintain the original essence of a painter, which is also the necessary artistic posture and style of a true master.

Not long after, the Cultural Revolution broke out, and the atmosphere at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts was tense, with teachers on edge, fearing that they would be labeled as "bourgeois formalists" and "formalists," but as a result, Pang Xun_ was still criticized for organizing the Dueling Lanes Society in the 1930s and for being a member of the Dueling Lanes Society. But the result, pang xun_ or for the 30's organization of the decision of the Lan society and was said to be the drummer of formalism, Zhang Ding was criticized as "Picasso city god temple". Witnessed a scene of farce, qiao shiguang began to dare not have a half step, especially after the "inspiration explosion" purgatory, the painter's ego gains and losses and success or failure, to seem less important, prompting him to take up the brush with great courage to paint "shaoshan" "yan'an" "beijing" "jinggangshan period of mao zedong portrait" and so on a series of lacquer paintings. A series of lacquer paintings. Some critics at the time that: "Qiao Shiguang's works of this period is completely in the form of pan-political pandering and a show" hold this view, I do not agree, the aesthetic existence of any art, there must be a special era, in the context of a special environment, it is very difficult to be free from the constraints of space and time, and alone. On the contrary, the perspective of art can be integrated into social life, parallel to the times, and only such works have artistic tension, can withstand the test of history and elimination. Art itself should not be divided into right and wrong of "pandering and show", but more importantly, human factors and provocations. The painter's psychological contradiction and existence at that time has been unable to recover, so he is at a higher aesthetic level, will be purely vernacular ethnic themes into the social reality of the form, this is not simply the external rhetoric jealousy, but the inner perception of its artistic heritage; whether from the breadth and depth of the subject matter, but also horizontally and vertically, I think it is a kind of progress.

Early after the publication of the "Speech at the Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium," Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the idea that literature and art should be in the service of politics. Compared to pandering to more suspect forms of literature, the mere tendency to paint subjects at best serves as a mapping of phenomenal symbols. Qiao Shiguang paid a heavy price, and this heavy, and does not seem to be recognized by him, that is, in the interior decoration work of the Beijing Hotel expansion project, due to the "Gang of Four" criticized "black paintings" aborted when his charming bone still seems to be steadfast and unyielding. Yes, this is Qiao Shiguang! This is the unchangeable painter Qiao Shiguang!

But, needless to say, all of Qiao Shiguang's creations in the meantime, just for the future of a higher level of exploration to open the channel. He is good at collecting materials and practicing sketching, not limited to lacquer paintings only, but also oil paintings, Chinese paintings, drawings and sketches at the same time, because he understands that the essence of sketching is not only for practicing and collecting creative materials, but also for creating works directly. Different from the general purpose of sketching, Qiao Shiguang's sketching pays more attention to artistic feeling and individual expression. In particular, he tried to introduce traditional Chinese literature, music and calligraphy techniques to enrich his paintings. This is an important step for any artist who is good at controlling the whole situation, and it can even be said to be an important shortcut that drives him to a higher level.

Artistic diversity has been evident in such representative paintings as The Water Festival (1978), Guangzhou Peasant Movement Seminar (1977), and Dai Women Combing Their Hair (1978). Taking "Water Splashing Festival" as an example, the artist chose the backs of several women as the foreground, and the boiling crowd and the fierce scene of dragon boat racing as the background; the people in the painting are watching the scenery, and the people outside the painting are watching the people in the painting. The near shore, the opposite shore, and the dragon boat are all treated horizontally, while the figures of several women are upright, and attention is paid to the changes of gathering and dispersing between them, their mutual correspondence, and the staggering of their heights. This structure of intertwining horizontal and vertical, warp and weft, seems to be natural, but is in fact deliberately arranged. In terms of craftsmanship, the comprehensive use of eggshell inlay to show the white clothes of the Dai women, stud inlay to show the patterns on the tube skirt, silver foil overlay lacquer and then grinding method to show the beautiful dress, and the surface of the water is painted with clay and silver, the overall effect of the bright and magnificent, seemingly Tang style. In addition to the painting, the painter borrowed Bian Zhilin's "Broken Chapter" in the "you are standing on the bridge to see the scenery / see the scenery of the people upstairs to see you / / the bright moon decorates your window / you decorate other people's dreams" of the poetry of the mood, the artistic language of painting to another high level.

In 1979, "Water Splashing Festival" won the second prize (the first prize was not awarded) in the Fifth National Painting Exhibition for the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, and was collected by the National Art Museum of China. This is the result of Qiao Shiguang's pursuit of art and valuing life.

Historical Evaluation

Qiao Shiguang's lacquer painting is accompanied by the national meaning of modernity. It originates from life, transcends life, and at a higher level of modern aesthetics incorporates many factors and personal subjective colors from both the traditional and the Western. It realizes its modern transformation from within the national culture, or folk culture form. Unlike any other period of time, his paintings are dedicated to capturing the truth and purity of real life, discovering the wisdom contained in such truth and purity, and pondering the eternal philosophical light of life that may be reflected in such wisdom of life. Whether it is the recollection of life, the doubt of destiny, the reflection of history, or the reverie of nature, all of them are closely related to the exploration of human society and the ultimate concern for human beings.

Integration of art and life,

Integration of tradition and modernity.

This is the mission of the Beijing Lacquer Art Research Association,

and this is the orientation of the lacquer art workers in the capital.

We come from all directions,

we go in all directions.

--Qiao Shiguang

This is Qiao Shiguang's speech at the Beijing Lacquer Art Exhibition, which is not only a poetic outreach, but also a true reproduction of Qiao Shiguang's mind. In fact, life is not external, art is not external, it is in your heart, in your human nature created by alienation. To find the home of life that returns to the basics is to return to the true, essential nature of human life. The awakening of the painter's subjective consciousness is an ontological factor and internal mechanism of his artistic creation.