An Analysis of Xu Wei's Style and Aesthetics of Bird and Flower Painting in Dacrylism

An analysis of Xu Wei's style of painting birds and flowers in large-scale and aesthetics

Introduction: The formation of Xu Wei's style of painting birds and flowers in large-scale is related to his difficult life experience, but also affected by the social and cultural trends of the Ming Dynasty. I came to analyze the style and aesthetics of Xu Wei's painting of birds and flowers in capital letters, I hope it will help you.

[Abstract] The Ming Dynasty painting wizard Xu Wei will poetry, calligraphy, painting into one, to the wild grass brushwork into the painting, expressed his unrecognized talent full of resentment and turbulent feelings, the works of the condensation of his lonely and downtrodden experience, the formation of a distinctive personality, wild and bizarre artistic style, the inauguration of the Chinese bird and flower painting style of painting in large scale, and the later generations of painters He was the first Chinese painter to create a style of Chinese bird and flower painting, and had a profound influence on later generations of painters.

[Keywords] Xu Wei; capitalism; bird and flower painting; aesthetic advocate

The Ming dynasty painter Xu Wei had an unusual lonely and downtrodden life experience, and he created a style of Chinese bird and flower painting in capitalism by virtue of his unique artistic talent, and by using his hearty ink and brushwork, he brought the pursuit of literati painting to the extreme, and unlike the previous literati paintings, he was not able to create an artistic style of Chinese bird and flower painting in capitalism.

First, the wild and spicy style of painting in capitals

Xu Wei can be described as one of the artistic wizards of the Ming painting world, since childhood, intelligent, talented, poetry, calligraphy, painting have outstanding achievements. However, he had a rough life, miserable fate, half a lifetime of struggle, the end of the career with no connection, empty talent, to foot no door. In his later years, he made a living by calligraphy and painting, and was in dire straits. The fate of his misfortune made him scarred, lonely and angry, and he used poetry, calligraphy and painting to vent his repressed feelings and the pain of not being able to realize his ambitions. From his unconventional forms and tension-filled brushwork, one can feel the pent-up feelings and full of indignation in his chest. He incorporated all this into his poetry, calligraphy and painting, forming a unique style with distinct personality and strong emotions.

The formation of Xu Wei's style of painting is not only related to his difficult life experience, but also affected by the social and cultural trends of the Ming Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, social contradictions intensified, and the ideological and cultural fields also showed new changes, especially Yangming's "psychology" thought was respected, and the cultural and ideological fields broke through the constraints of the Cheng-Zhu rationale and feudal culture, and emphasized self-expression and personality liberation, and the pursuit of expression of self-truthfulness. It became an aesthetic trend after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and also an aesthetic tendency believed by the literati and painters. This spirit of rebellion and the art of expressing one's true feelings also influenced the ideological basis of Xu Wei's paintings.

Xu Wei's ink and watercolor flowers also pay attention to the experience of his predecessors, Chen Chun's flowers, Liang Kai's ink and watercolor brushwork, Lin Liang's thick brushwork, and Ni Zan's simplicity, etc., are studied and understood, integrated, and set the strengths of many, but not confined to tradition, to form their own family.

Xu Wei, under the influence of the social trend of self-expression and personality liberation in the Ming Dynasty, set the strengths of his predecessors, changed the orthodox painting style of the ancients, and with his comprehensive and profound knowledge and training and extraordinary artistic talent, coupled with his difficult life experience and cynicism, loneliness and arrogance of the heart, and ultimately fused into his wild and unrestrained, unrestrained and unrestrained style of large-capitalization flower and bird paintings.

Second, the combination of poetry, calligraphy and painting painting

Xu Wei has a wealth of knowledge, versatility, poetry, calligraphy and painting are all good. Xu Wei's literary skills were very deep, with high attainments in poetry and drama, and his poetry was characterized by seven rhymes and seven ancient poems. Yuan Hongdao, the leader of the "Public Security Sect" in the Ming Dynasty, praised Xu Wei's poetry and called him "the first poet of the Ming Dynasty". In terms of theater, Xu Wei was the most influential writer of miscellaneous dramas in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, creating the miscellaneous drama "The Four Monkeys", which was regarded as "a kind of strange and wonderful writing between heaven and earth". He also wrote a study of the Song and Yuan southern theater, "Southern Words Record", which is the earliest monograph on Song and Yuan southern theater in China.

Xu Wei in calligraphy attainments, his 'calligraphy became famous earlier than painting, self-assessment of its calligraphy for the first, there is "my book first, poetry two, three, painting four," the words, in the "title of the self-scripted Yizhi Hall stickers" trek, said: "high book does not enter the eyes of the common people into the eye of the common people into the eyes of the people is not a high book, the same can be said! This can be said with the knower, difficult to say with the ordinary people." He studied calligraphy from Zhang Xu, Huaisu, Su Shi, Mi Fu, etc., collecting the strengths of all the schools, and was most influenced by Mi Fu, especially the best cursive, with the most individual characteristics. Xu Wei's cursive brushwork, wild and unrestrained, the size of the word shape of the difference, natural, unrestrained ink and ink, chapter of the law of the vertical and horizontal dash, cursive is also the vent of his inner feelings.

Because Xu Wei has a wealth of profound knowledge and cultivation, in the creation of paintings, poetry, calligraphy and painting penetrate into each other, complementing each other, and will be the lyricism of literati paintings and pen and ink interest to play to the fullest extent, the formation of the artistic personality of its paintings.

First, the combination of poetry and painting, the expression of emotion, to vent the anger of the chest. Xu Wei's paintings are often inscribed with poems, thus deepening the painting's mood and ideological connotations, and integrating poetry and painting into one. The most familiar "Ink Grapes" uses ink as the color, thick ink and light ink are interwoven randomly, the ink line outlines the grape branches are strewn down, dry and wet, thick and thin, different sizes of ink blocks show the leaves, between which a few bunches of sparsely dyed, thick and thinly dyed grapes are dotted randomly, crystal clear, fresh and wanting to dripping. The top of the picture is inscribed with a poem in cursive script: "Half a lifetime of despondency has become a man, independent study whistling in the evening wind; the pearl under the brush is nowhere to sell, idle throwing in the wild vines." Poetry and paintings are blended, the jewel is a perfect match, reflecting each other, expressing the sadness of a half-life of despondency, the fate is difficult, and venting the lonely anger of unrecognized talent and no door to support the foot. Pomegranate Picture" is a painting of a full and cracked pomegranate in a capitalist style, with a poem inscribed in cursive script: "The pomegranate is ripe deep in the mountains and opens its mouth to the sun; few people collect it deep in the mountains, and it is a bright pearl that is gone." The poem also enhances the meaning of the picture, giving play to the theme and expressing the depression of having no appreciation for one's talent. Not only does it complete the composition of the picture, but it also sends a deep meaning with the poem. By combining poetry and painting, Xu Wei not only expresses his resentment towards the unfairness of fate, but also satirizes the dark regime at the end of the Ming Dynasty and sympathizes with the people. The poem "Yellow A Figure" is entitled "The fish in the ripe rice village are getting fat, and the two oars are like halberds standing on the green mud; if I were to turn over and look at the paper, I should see the umbilical cord of Dong Zhuo." Alluding to the world is exactly like the Eastern Han Dynasty traitor Dong Zhuo. In the Ink and Flowers Scroll, the poem "The old man's game is dripping with ink, flowers and plants will be mixed with the four seasons; I don't blame the painting for the two strokes of the brush, but the way of heaven has been bad enough lately." Boldly accuse the Ming regime.

Secondly, breaking through the traditional literati painting subject limitations. Miscellaneous Flowers Scroll" is his long scroll ink and watercolor capitalization flower masterpiece, which peony, pomegranate, chrysanthemum, lotus, sycamore, banana, wisteria, plum blossom, daffodil, pumpkin, bean curd, grapes, bamboo branches, etc., the four seasons of the flowers and fruits and trees of 13 kinds. The subject matter of flower and bird paintings is greatly expanded, no matter the light and elegant plum, orchid, bamboo and stone, or plain and ordinary flowers and fruits of the four seasons, all of them have become the materialization of his personality and his turbulent feelings.

Thirdly, the use of cursive brushwork into the capitalization of brushwork, the momentum of unrestrained, bold and unrestrained. Incorporating cursive brushwork into bird and flower painting is one of the characteristics of Xu Wei's wild and strange painting style. Yuan dynasty painter Zhao Meng vigorously advocated the "book into the painting", accepted by literati painters, before the Ming dynasty, mainly in regular script, clerical script, cursive into the painting, to the late Ming dynasty even more advocate cursive into the painting, that cursive style of calligraphy is more varied, more ideograms, and more literati painters favored. His "Miscellaneous Flowers Scroll" was painted in cursive brushwork, with dashing brushwork and ink, forming a rhythmic rhythm of ups and downs with sparse and dense, thick and light, fast and slow, and rising and falling compositions and brushwork. Xu Wei is well aware of the truth that painting and calligraphy are intertwined, and believes that the development of the writing of the painting is due to the cursive script, he once said: "cover the Jin Dynasty Gu, Lu generation of pen fine, even round, strong and clean, the ancient seal script family phase shape, followed by Zhang Shengqiao, Yan Liben, and finally there is Wu Daozi, Li Boshi, that is, a slight change, but still know that Zongzhi. Until the prevalence of cursive script, there was the beginning of the ideographic painting, another change." He also thought that his calligraphy of birds and flowers painting from their own calligraphy training, cursive writing and capitals complement each other, so that his calligraphy of birds and flowers painting has a bold, horizontal and vertical free, calm and robust characteristics, calligraphy and painting, ink and water painting of birds and flowers in capitals pushed to an unprecedented height.

Zhang Dai in the Qing Dynasty, "Trekking Xu Qingteng sketch painting", said: "Now I see Qingteng paintings, bizarre and transcendent. Cold and strong in the posture of Mei jumped out, and its calligraphy is slightly the same as the strange. In the past, it was said that 'Mochizuki's poems have paintings in them, and Mochizuki's paintings have poems in them. I say that the book of Qingteng has a painting in the book, and the painting of Qingteng has a book in the painting." Told Xu Wei calligraphy and painting of the **** commonality.

Three, "do not look for similarity and seek raw rhyme" aesthetics

Xu Wei did not specialize in theoretical works on painting, his aesthetic ideas are scattered in his poems and various commentaries, but also embodied in his creative practice. Xu Wei's artistic creation emphasizes the expression of emotions, and his images are full of his pain and vicissitudes, and his paintings, poems, and calligraphy all reveal his inner loneliness and emotional honesty.

Xu Wei emphasized the originality of art. In the late Ming Dynasty, the printing and publishing industry began to develop, a variety of paintings have appeared, such as plum spectrum, bamboo spectrum, plume spectrum, stone spectrum, etc., Xu Wei does not want to be bound by creativity, the "title of the painting plum" poem reflects the importance he attaches to originality: "never look at the plum blossom spectrum, the hand of the God has its own God. If you don't believe me, look at the millions of trees, the east wind blows them into spring." "Never look at the plum blossom spectrum" is not to completely exclude the excellent tradition of the previous generation, and "in the palm of my hand has its own God" and Xu Wei's "do not look for similarity and seek to be born rhyme" is the same.

Xu Wei pursues the aesthetics of "not seeking resemblance, seeking rhyme", "giving up form and pleasing to the shadow", "not seeking resemblance, seeking rhyme" reflects his view of artistic modeling, which also emphasizes the spontaneous nature of painting. He also emphasized the spontaneity of painting. "There is nothing in the world that I do not know, but in my old age, I playfully paint flowers, and I have been drying up my arms for a few years, and I am not drunk with the firewood I use. The gourd is not as good as the model, it can be arranged as the creation of the world, I do not ask for similarity in shape and rhyme, the roots and plucking are all planted by my five fingers. What's the point of having fewer branches and fewer leaves? Don't guess, the ink color is dripping with rain and pulling away." (Painting Hundred Flowers Scroll and nephews of history) from which Xu Wei's creative ideas and creative techniques. Writing painting is not "branches and leaves cut", and can not "gourd according to the same", but to "can be like the creation of the absolute arrangement", Xu Wei to the nature of the creation as the basis, do not want to look like, but to get the rhyme. His grapes, pomegranates, flowers and fruits, fruits and beans, fish and crabs, etc., are not the pursuit of similarity, but lifelike, vibrant, simple and generalized image, vivid, letter writing, dripping sound, horizontal and vertical erase, natural. "The pen has not yet arrived but the intention is already sufficient, the form is not ready but the spirit is already complete". Instead of focusing only on the external image of natural objects, Xu Wei pays more attention to the inner nature and spiritual connotation of the objects, as well as the inner world of the creative subject and the expression of his personality and interest. He not only conveys the charm of the objects, but also achieves the highest state of literati painting, which is the pursuit of "free brushwork, not seeking resemblance".

Xu Wei's poems and calligraphy and painting preface, there are his views on the aesthetics of the artistic image, such as the "shadow" of the understanding of his bamboo painting poem "writing bamboo to Li Changgong song": "The mountain man wrote bamboo slightly similar to the shape, but only to take the bottom of the leaf dashing meaning. For example, if you look at the tops of the clumps in the shadow, you can see that they are clearly a character." Visible in the painting is good at showing "shadow"; there are also in the view of the painting to appreciate the "shadow", in the "Xia Gui mountain forest map volume" in the title trek, evaluating Xia Gui "Cangjie Kuangwai very, people give up the shape and happy shadow." Praise Xia Gui's mountain and forest drawings can make the viewer forget the shape of the mountains and forests and get the beauty of the shadow of the mountains and forests to enjoy. Xu Wei also emphasized the "true color", the creation of the "true nature", to express their feelings, which also achieved his style of painting in capitals.

Xu Wei combined the Song and Yuan literati painting theories that emphasized the tradition of writing subjective interest with the characteristics of the late Ming Dynasty era of individuality and liberation, and drew on the strengths of Song and Yuan literati paintings, as well as Liang Kai, Lin Liang, Chen Chun and others, to incorporate the wild cursive brush into the large capitalist, to the form of wild and strange, breaking through the limitations of the subject matter, and painting is often spontaneous, easy, tumbling and jumping, and skipping the resemblance, and to the ink drenched with moist splashes of ink, as much as possible. With his moist ink splashes, he expressed his strong inner feelings of repressed grief and anger to the fullest. He created a bird and flower painting style of capitalization painting, completed the change in the technique of bird and flower painting, so that the subsequent bird and flower painters worship, such as Shi Tao said "Qingteng ink and brush on earth treasure", Zheng Xie said "wondrous, the creation of no painter only out of the hand of Qingteng. Qingteng painting can pass God ......" and said he would like to "qingteng door under the cattle and horses go". Later generations of painters Zhu Da, Shi Tao, Yangzhou eight monsters of home and sea painters, until the modern Qi Baishi, Li Kuchan, etc., all by his influence, from which can be seen in Xu Wei's creativity and style of large-capitalization bird and flower painting to the inspiration and motivation of future generations.

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