Differences between Contemporary Landscape and Traditional Landscape

After nearly two years' development, China's landscape painting has formed its own unique form of pen and ink expression, and the ancient people's aesthetic thoughts, creative theories, creative methods, methods of observing and expressing life and pen and ink techniques have formed a complete system.

In every historical dynasty, outstanding landscape painters made indelible contributions to the development of landscape painting. They reflect the aesthetic ideals of their contemporaries by expressing natural beauty. Different times and different aesthetic requirements have formed different styles and characteristics of landscape paintings in ancient China. ?

Then, as the world enters the 2 1 century, how will China's modern landscape painting be created and innovated? This is a hot topic in the field of landscape painting at present, and it is also a difficult problem that puzzles many landscape painters. Here, I want to talk about my views on this issue. ?

First of all, the creation of modern landscape painting should dare to break the shackles of thousands of years of tradition. For thousands of years, there are countless landscape paintings, famous artists come forth in large numbers, with different styles and schools, which are dizzying. Faced with such a profound historical accumulation, many painters are bound by tradition, dare not cross the line, and have been spinning in traditional pen and ink; Move mountains in the works of predecessors; Put forward an idea in form; Some also pursue that all pens and pens have their origins, imitating the tradition intact, and their works are always familiar. On the Qianshan side, this same landscape is full of "artisan spirit" and "tacky". This old-fashioned imitation habit seriously fetters people's thoughts and is a huge obstacle to the creation of modern landscape painting. ?

Constable, a famous British landscape painter, once said, "There are two ways to make artists stand out in art and literature. One way is to study the perfect works of other artists, imitate them, choose and reorganize the beauty they create; Another way is to look for perfection in nature, the original source of beauty. In the first case, the artist is an imitator, a cannibal and a compromise. In the second case, the artist has embarked on a much broader road, and he can get a steady stream of research topics and unexplored sources of beauty. Because he is the first person to discover them, he can create his own unique style, which can bring art a new feeling about nature that has never been seen before.

Are we imitators, seeking or reorganizing the beauty created by predecessors in tradition, or are we exploring the origin of beauty that predecessors have not explored? These are two different artistic paths. We should choose the path of explorers, dare to take the path that no one has taken before, and dare to explore the source of beauty that no one has explored before. Therefore, we must emancipate our minds and treat tradition with a correct attitude. On the basis of in-depth study and inheritance of tradition, find out what our predecessors explored and what we didn't explore, and make clear the goal we want to explore today. In this way, our thoughts will not be bound by tradition, and our creation will not become "passive water, trees without roots." ?

It is undeniable that many painters now believe that to break the shackles of tradition, we must completely abandon tradition. Some young painters are unwilling to practice traditional pen and ink skills hard, or even cut off the tradition and create entirely by their own imagination. This idea is just an unrealistic fantasy. This kind of creation shows the artist's subjective initiative, but it is not subjective and random. It is not only the reflection of the artist's "kind inner life", but also the restriction on the characteristics of objective things and the discovery of the artist's originality. This kind of creation is the crystallization of the artist's integration of things and me, and it is the expression of the artist's inner life through the characteristics of things. However, the "good inner life" is formed in the practice of social life and various opportunities. Without the practice of modern life, it is impossible to create modern landscape paintings. ?