Ask Xu Beihong for information about pumping water.

0276 Ba people painted water painting vertical axis colored paper

Author Xu Beihong

China Painting and Calligraphy > Painting

The year of creation is 1938.

Feet in 300×62 cm

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Zhong Yin: Xu, Wang Donghai, Sun, was born in sorrow.

Tip: endure to see that Pakistanis are used to carrying heavy burdens and carrying them all the way. Every grain on the plate is hard, hard work and sweat. In the late autumn of 27 years, I went to Shu with Central University and wrote what Shaping saw. Sadness.

Title: (Title of Yan Jiyuan) Xu Beihong's original painting of water by Ba people. Seal of Pingyuan Department: Jiyuan Private Seal

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Description: Yan Jiyuan's inscription.

Appreciation of Ba People's Painting Water

Mr. Xu Beihong's life has made great contributions to China's artistic career. Throughout his life, he took the revival of Chinese painting as his responsibility, worked tirelessly and assiduously, and became a great artist with unique achievements, integrating Chinese and Western cultures, ancient and modern times. His outstanding contribution to art education has had a great and far-reaching impact on the development of modern painting circles in China.

In particular, Mr. Xu Beihong moved to Chongqing with Central University from August 1937 and continued to teach at Central University. In July of 1946, he took the "People's Trade Union Wheel" from Chongqing to Nanjing, arrived in Beiping via Shanghai, and became the president of Beiping Art College. He spent 10 years in Chongqing. It can be said that this 10 year is the most important 10 year in his artistic career, which has completed the double sublimation of his personality and art and made great contributions to the innovation of figures, animals and landscape paintings in China. Especially in figure painting, Mr. Xu Beihong, with his inspiring voice, advocates the painter to take the figure as the center, describe real life, and change the backward state of figure activities in Qianshan. He practiced, picked up a giant pen and drew many masterpieces determined to innovate. Such as Ba People Painting Water, Ba Poor Girl, Gong Yu Moving Mountains, Zhang Caiqin Statue, Laundry, etc.

"Ba People Pumping Water" is an artistic treasure that truly records the hard work of Chongqing people, and is regarded as one of Mr. Xu Beihong's four masterpieces with the most people-oriented and spirit of the times. The success of Ba people's painting water caused great repercussions in the society at that time. When the work was exhibited at 1938, it was praised as "a rare work in 500 years". According to Mr. Liao's recollection, "After seeing the exhibition, the Indian Minister in China was also infected by the work and proposed to buy this work. Because Beihong's life was also very poor at that time, he agreed to redraw the picture of Ba people drawing water for him. "

Mr. Xu Beihong lived in Chongqing from 65438 to 0937 because of the national disaster. It was in the hard years of Chongqing that this progressive painter, who was full of humanitarian thoughts, realized the sufferings of the people more deeply and even integrated himself into the working people. Water is the first element of human existence, but it is hard to get in mountain cities. When Mr. Xu came to Chongqing, the first thing that caught people's eyes was rows of men carrying water. Their hard steps and the pole bent by the bucket made the painter deeply feel the hardships of that life and the spirit of struggle handed down from generation to generation by Chongqing people living in this land. To this end, the creative inspiration of the triggered artist has constructed a real and vivid blueprint for Ba people to draw water in Mr. Xu's mind.

The composition of this painting "Ba People Painting Water" is ingenious, which makes the painter's modelling technique shine brilliantly. The whole picture is very strange, 300 cm high and 62 cm wide, quite slim. However, its suspension is indeed consistent with the cliff of Jialing River, making its scene more dangerous and thrilling. The Ba people who carry water up and down the Baizhang stone steps are shining with the touching spirit of China. In a perfect and harmonious environment, they give people the feeling of being vividly portrayed.

In a highly generalized way, the painting breaks down the grand scene of Ba people's traditional water drawing into three paragraphs: scooping water, giving way and climbing forward, and carefully draws several drafts, depicting seven figures with different movements, men, women and children. Ladle Water depicts a strong man wearing only a pair of black shorts. Although his hair is bald, he is strong, crawling forward, holding a huge wooden barrel in his right hand to hold up the beam, and quickly and skillfully scooping water from the rushing Jialing River. Next to another ragged barefoot woman, she bowed her head hard and was struggling to appreciate the painting of Ba people.

Mr. Xu Beihong's life has made great contributions to China's artistic career. Throughout his life, he took the revival of Chinese painting as his responsibility, worked tirelessly and assiduously, and became a great artist with unique achievements, integrating Chinese and Western cultures, ancient and modern times. His outstanding contribution to art education has had a great and far-reaching impact on the development of modern painting circles in China.

In particular, Mr. Xu Beihong moved to Chongqing with Central University from August 1937 and continued to teach at Central University. In July of 1946, he took the "People's Trade Union Wheel" from Chongqing to Nanjing, arrived in Beiping via Shanghai, and became the president of Beiping Art College. He spent 10 years in Chongqing. It can be said that this 10 year is the most important 10 year in his artistic career, which has completed the double sublimation of his personality and art and made great contributions to the innovation of figures, animals and landscape paintings in China. Especially in figure painting, Mr. Xu Beihong, with his inspiring voice, advocates the painter to take the figure as the center, describe real life, and change the backward state of figure activities in Qianshan. He practiced, picked up a giant pen and drew many masterpieces determined to innovate. Such as Ba People Painting Water, Ba Poor Girl, Gong Yu Moving Mountains, Zhang Caiqin Statue, Laundry, etc.

"Ba People Pumping Water" is an artistic treasure that truly records the hard work of Chongqing people, and is regarded as one of Mr. Xu Beihong's four masterpieces with the most people-oriented and spirit of the times. The success of Ba people's painting water caused great repercussions in the society at that time. When the work was exhibited at 1938, it was praised as "a rare work in 500 years". According to Mr. Liao's recollection, "After seeing the exhibition, the Indian Minister in China was also infected by the work and proposed to buy this work. Because Beihong's life was also very poor at that time, he agreed to redraw the picture of Ba people drawing water for him. "

Mr. Xu Beihong lived in Chongqing from 65438 to 0937 because of the national disaster. It was in the hard years of Chongqing that this progressive painter, who was full of humanitarian thoughts, realized the sufferings of the people more deeply and even integrated himself into the working people. Water is the first element of human existence, but it is hard to get in mountain cities. When Mr. Xu came to Chongqing, the first thing that caught people's eyes was rows of men carrying water. Their hard steps and the pole bent by the bucket made the painter deeply feel the hardships of that life and the spirit of struggle handed down from generation to generation by Chongqing people living in this land. To this end, the creative inspiration of the triggered artist has constructed a real and vivid blueprint for Ba people to draw water in Mr. Xu's mind.

The composition of this painting "Ba People Painting Water" is ingenious, which makes the painter's modelling technique shine brilliantly. The whole picture is very strange, 300 cm high and 62 cm wide, quite slim. However, its suspension is indeed consistent with the cliff of Jialing River, making its scene more dangerous and thrilling. The Ba people who carry water up and down the Baizhang stone steps are shining with the touching spirit of China. In a perfect and harmonious environment, they give people the feeling of being vividly portrayed.

In a highly generalized way, the painting breaks down the grand scene of Ba people's traditional water drawing into three paragraphs: scooping water, giving way and climbing forward, and carefully draws several drafts, depicting seven figures with different movements, men, women and children. Ladle Water depicts a strong man wearing only a pair of black shorts. Although his hair is bald, he is strong, crawling forward, holding a huge wooden barrel in his right hand to hold up the beam, and quickly and skillfully scooping water from the rushing Jialing River. Next to her, another barefoot and ragged woman, with her head down, tried to lift the full bucket to the shore. Out of the way, it depicts a man climbing steep and long stone steps with sweaty towels, bare arms and legs, hunched over and carrying heavy loads. Beside the stone, a young man in a gown stood humbly, with his front at his waist and his shoulders empty. He leaned slightly and stared at the struggling porter with sympathy and pity. At the top of the picture, there are three porters climbing to the top of the river bank. After climbing the dangerous steep slope, they began to take big steps and travel more easily.

Between the paragraphs of the picture, the rocks on the river bank blend with the stone steps at different levels. Stone steps and rock ridges are first colored with ink, giving people a decent relationship, and then outlined with ink lines, showing the neatly arranged stone steps at different levels in a zigzag shape. In order to highlight the height and steepness of the river bank, the painter widened the distance between the second painting and the third painting. The painting method of the background is more prominent, and the blank space in the middle of the picture shows the twists and turns of the stone steps. The upper part is painted with a bunch of bamboo and several blooming plum blossoms. Bamboo is painted with a wave of green, while plum blossoms are painted on rice paper with thick ink, and then the petals are pointed out with white powder. It is beautiful, elegant and spotless, which not only reflects the preciseness of the river bank, but also makes the picture more colorful.

People are the main body of Ba people's painting water, and the whole painting highlights the charm of objects and images, with profound themes and far-reaching significance. In terms of techniques, the expressive ability of Chinese painting is enriched by western painting techniques, and the muscles are slightly dyed, which appropriately strengthens the sense of muscle volume of porters, highlights the strength and intensity of human body, shows heavy workload, and makes the picture techniques have more changes, and the ideas, creativity and techniques are full of new ideas.

China has a poetic and vivid saying since ancient times. After this painting, the painter thought a little, and added a seven-character poem to the letter: "Endure to see the Ba people used to carry heavy burdens and climb a hundred miles;" Every grain on the plate is hard, hard work and sweat. "Mr. Xu Beihong's satisfaction with this painting is also reflected in his self-integration. When he drew the head of a young man standing on a kerb in a robe, he even drew a self-portrait. After writing the poem, he wrote: "In the late autumn of twenty-seven years, I went to Sichuan with Central University and wrote down what I saw and heard in Shapingba. "Painters closely combine individuals, nationalities, times and art, and even melt themselves into the people, which is particularly attractive. This meaningful implication is gratifying and thought-provoking.

The first painting, Ba People Painting Water, was later supplemented by Mr. Xu Beihong, and is now in the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall. This painting "Ba People Painting Water" has really stayed in Chongqing since then, so I won't go into details here. 1June 2, 998 1998 was published in chongqing morning post and Panxi Xu Beihong to commemorate the centenary of Xu Beihong's birth.

Xu Beihong realized the great wish of Chinese and western integration with "Ba people pumping water". He led thousands of years of traditional painting in China to realism with modern spirit, and Ba People Painting Water is also a milestone of modern painting in China.

"Ba People Painting Water" is a colorful stroke in the art history of China, and it is an indispensable work in any China art textbook. If the works that can rank among the "the world famous paintings" are selected from modern paintings, "Ba People Painting Water" undoubtedly stands out among them. With the increasing prosperity of China's economy, oriental culture is becoming more and more prominent. A masterpiece like Ba People Painting Water is bound to keep pace with western masterpieces in the world art market.

The best example of realistic Chinese painting

-Talking about Ba people's painting of water and Xu Beihong's famous works.

British title

There is no need to repeat the legendary story about Ba people pumping water. With the accumulation of years, the only thing that these legends and backgrounds can bring to this work is its novel charm and increase its legendary mystery, rather than its original artistic charm and practical value. In fact, this iconic work, which has been and will continue to be written in Xu Beihong's personal artistic life and China's modern art history, is not only the pinnacle of Xu Beihong's artistic life, but also the best example of modern art sketch creation.

The most prominent significance of Ba painting art history is its reality. Although the necessity or persistence of realism, as well as the degree of realism, was once a long-term topic in the field of modern painting in China, and was once vilified by artists who advocated "art for art's sake" at that time, no one can deny that realism had unparalleled social influence and appeal in extraordinary times, especially in the reality of frequent wars in China at that time. Regarding this proposition, Xu Beihong's oil painting "Put Down Your Whip" created the following year has proved that: in terms of material, the funds raised at that time may be calculable, but in terms of spirit, the enthusiasm for patriotism, patriotism and family protection aroused by it cannot be overestimated.

Undoubtedly, "Ba People Draw Water" and "Put Down Your Whip" are obviously Xu Beihong's representative works of realism, which have always advocated adhering to reality. But the problem is that in the general understanding, the social influence and appeal of "Ba people draw water" and "put down your whip" are different. This point needs special explanation. In fact, there are two reasons for this situation: one is the time node and place of creation. Put down your whip is 1939+00. In June, Xu Beihong improvised on the way to organize an art exhibition in Singapore in order to help the national disaster. At that time, fascist Germany had just launched the Second World War, and international attention was focused on the war. In this way, the anti-war theme of Put Down Your Whip has naturally received special, extra and serious attention, just like Picasso's famous painting guernica. Ba People Draw Water was written in the late autumn of 1938. The international situation at that time was not conducive to China's anti-Japanese war. Although Germany's domestic actions are frequent and it is eyeing neighboring countries, the war has not started. Britain and France still pursue the policy of appeasement, and the United States has made no further statement. Therefore, although the domestic situation was in full swing at that time, because of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in China, some international attention did focus on China.

The other is the expression adopted. Put Down Your Whip adopts an oil painting expression that is more easily recognized and accepted by the western world. It is reasonable to speculate that this is obviously decided by Xu Beihong after careful consideration. However, influenced by the pre-objective conditions, "Ba people painting water" adopts China traditional painting. Let's make an interesting hypothesis. Let's replace "put down your whip" with Chinese painting and "Ba people paint water" with oil painting. Or put the former in Chongqing and the latter in Singapore, and their own energy and stirring energy can actually be inferred. But what is certain is that when that particular historical era has gone away, with the passage of time, the historical weight projected, carried and condensed on these two masterpieces, including social responsibility and reality, has gradually balanced.

We can define it this way: "Ba people painting water" is the highest peak of Xu Beihong's realistic works in his Chinese painting creation. In fact, we only need to make a simple comparison with Xu Beihong's other Chinese painting classics. At present, the classic representative works of Xu's traditional Chinese painting are: 500 Scholars in Tian Heng (1928- 1930), the Nine-sided Draft (193 1) and the Queen of Xi (1938). There is no doubt that the first four paintings with the theme of ancient poems and legends are not realistic, but more romantic and neoclassical, more similar to the works of his French teacher Dayang. However, Kyushu Island, which was created after the founding of the People's Republic of China, is a realistic creation, but it actually reflects more romantic feelings than a realistic creation in a strict sense. As for Xu Beihong's works with lions, horses, eagles and other animals as the objects of expression, although they have realistic feelings, they basically follow the tradition of "Fu Bi" in China culture, and pay more attention to their figurative symbolic significance than practical significance. In this regard, if Xu Beihong's works, such as Tian Heng 500 Scholars, Yugong Yishan and There are Horses and Lions, are many chapters in the Book of Songs, then obviously, Ba people's water-drawing is the only Spring and Autumn Annals.

Before and after Ba people painted water, many works of great practical significance were produced in China art circles at that time, such as Jiang's Map of Refugees (194 1 year, Chinese painting), Si Tuleideng Joe's Put Down Your Whip (1940, oil painting) and Catch Lice (. Even Jiang Feng's Dock Worker (193 1 year), Chen Yanqiao's La (1933) and Luo Qingzhen's Sailing Against the Current (1933) all appeared in the new woodcut movement initiated by Lu Xun, among which the most However, if measured by the standard of perfect combination of artistry and reality, these works, except "Put Down Your Whip" can be comparable to "Ba People Draw Water", others' creations have not reached a considerable height; There are even some absolutely realistic creations, the reality is really full, but the artistry is very scarce, and they have all become puppets of reality, and even basically disappeared. Therefore, their role is at best to incite, not to infect and move. This situation was even more serious in the base areas at that time. Strictly speaking, this is no longer the category of art.

Interestingly, the 300×62cm figure of Ba painting, which can be regarded as the best model of modern realistic Chinese painting in China, seems to be unique not only in Xu Beihong's works, but also in Chinese paintings at that time.

The spirit of "Ba people pumping water" has been passed down from generation to generation.

1937 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out, the government moved westward, and Chongqing Jinjiang Beiling became the wartime capital. With the transfer of the national political, economic and cultural center, many military and political dignitaries, such as Guo Moruo, Bing Xin, Ba Jin, Lao She, Cang Kejia, Ma Yinchu, Xu Beihong, Fu Baoshi, Feng Zikai, and celebrities in many fields such as literature, science, art and education have gathered in Shapingba District, and Shapingba has become a famous cultural area, enjoying a high reputation at home and abroad.

1938, my late master Hong Bei entered Shu with Central University, lived in Panxi on the Jialing River, and crossed the river to give lectures to students at Shapingba Central University on the other side every day. He witnessed the sufferings of the people of Shu, and out of deep sympathy for the hard life of the working people, he created a Chinese painting "Ba People Painting Water". In the painting, he wrote a poem himself: "I can't bear to see that Pakistanis are used to carrying heavy burdens and have to climb a hundred yards." Every grain on the plate is hard, hard or painful. "Poetry is full of the painter's sympathy and indignation for the tragic life of the people at that time, and it also reflects his historical mission of depicting the people with the brush in his hand.

During the eight-year Anti-Japanese War, the artistic creation of the late Emperor Bei was in its heyday. He painted on the principle of "appealing for mankind" and left many masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, such as Ba People Painting Water, Yu Gong Yi Shan, Himalaya and a series of his most representative works, among which the oil painting "Put Down Your Whip" sold for more than 70 million yuan in 2007.

Ba people pumping water depicts a very ordinary life scene of Chongqing people at that time-pumping water. At that time, people had to draw water from the river every day, so both men and women had to draw water from the river every day to make a living. They carried heavy wooden barrels and filled them with water, and walked home along the rugged and steep mountain road, sometimes even going back and forth many times. It is such an ordinary picture of life that touches the artist's sensitive heart. In the painting, bamboo forests are lush and plum blossoms are in full bloom. This scene not only played a good role in embellishing the picture, but also praised the unyielding national integrity of the Chinese nation in the harsh historical environment.

This work is now well displayed in front of us, which has also led to a tortuous collection experience. 1949, Liang Zhu, a cadre of the New Fourth Army, went to Chongqing with the troops. After arriving in Chongqing, I happened to meet the housekeeper of the owner of Juxingcheng Bank, who was dealing with a batch of old paintings and calligraphy. Among a large volume of ancient and modern paintings and calligraphy, Liang Zhu only took a fancy to this painting "Ba People Painting Water". At that time, the housekeeper bid 6.5438+0.6 million yuan. Finally, after some bargaining, she negotiated 6.5438+0.2 million yuan. Liang Zhu left a deposit of 654.38 million yuan and agreed to take the painting three days later. At that time, Liang Zhu didn't have much cash, so he quickly found the logistics minister. At that time, the army was about to send a Soviet wool coat to the cadres above the divisional level, and Zhu Liang deserved one according to the level, but the number of these coats was not enough, so Liang Zhu offered not to wear coats, hoping to get 6.5438+0.2 million yuan in cash. The logistics minister agreed to his suggestion, and with this 6,543.8+200,000 yuan, Liang Zhu got this picture of Ba people drawing water as he wished.

After the Cultural Revolution, many old people in the collection and calligraphy circles in Chongqing, including painters such as Yan Jiyuan and Su Baozhen, friends of my late father, often went to Zhu Liang's home to enjoy his Ba People Painting Water.

On July 2nd, 1999, my mother Liao was invited to see this painting. She was very excited after reading it and clearly described the creation process of this painting. During my stay in Chongqing, my late monarch, Bei Gong Hong, created "Ba people painting water" and held an exhibition. At that time, the Indian ambassador to China took a fancy to this painting and hoped to spend a lot of money to buy it. At that time, the late father was in a tight financial situation, and he wanted to help students and hold an art exhibition, so he drew another one. One of them is now on display in Xu Beihong Memorial Hall, and it was sold to the Indian minister by Liang Zhu's collection.

In 2004, at the Hanhai auction in Beijing, the "Water Map of Bashan" started at 8 million, and many buyers competed for it. Finally, after dozens of rotations, it was finally sold for 6.5438+0.65 million yuan, creating a world record for Xu Beihong's personal painting and calligraphy auction at that time.

According to the staff of Hanhai Company, the company has devoted great efforts to the collection of this work. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Beijing Cultural Relics Company, and it is precisely because of the deep affection between collectors and Hanhai Company for many years that this work, which should have been permanently preserved by future generations, can be presented to the world again.

This painting, devoted to the painstaking efforts of painters and collectors, is presented to the world again after 72 years. It is not only the artist's artistic achievement, but also the epitome of an era and the transmission of the national spirit of several generations of China people. It is by using this seemingly primitive spirit of "taking water from Ba people" that the Chinese nation has passed on culture from generation to generation.

2010 165438+1October16

Xu Qingping: Son of Mr. Xu Beihong.

Dean of Xu Beihong College of Art, Renmin University of China

doctoral supervisor

Deputy director of Xu Beihong memorial hall

I remember in the 1990s, I went to Hong Kong to take part in some activities. There was a self-portrait of my father (Xu Beihong). The villain was painted under a Cooper tree. He is small but real. His head is smaller than his nails. At that time, this painting was auctioned for 990,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the handling fee was more than10 million RMB. This was the first work in China at that time that exceeded1000000 yuan. People's Daily Weekly published a special article on this matter. In 2004, my father's "Ba People Draw Water" was auctioned for16.5 million yuan, which was really considered astronomical at that time. Today/kloc-more than 0/000 million is not a great thing. It seems that many paintings can sell at this price.

This situation tells us a question: China's works of art, its value, its due value, is there room for development? I have lived in the West for a long time and feel that China's artworks, calligraphy and paintings are unique in the world. Although there are many differences between China and the West, they all have many aesthetic concepts. At the same time, China's painting is completely different from the western historical thought and spirit. Although it has been 1000 years, its vitality is still very strong, which can't be achieved by other arts and paintings. Chinese painting is even better than western oil painting. Now it seems that easel oil painting has lost its independent position abroad, but Chinese painting is still developing vigorously, which shows the huge development space of Chinese painting. On the one hand, it shows the wisdom of China people, on the other hand, it also shows that China's painting is far from reaching its due value. Compared with the value of western painting and oil painting, China's painting has not reached its due price, which is my own view formed in years of artistic research and exploration in the East and the West.

-Excerpt from an interview with Mr. Xu Qingping on March 23rd, 2005.