What are the masterpieces of Zhang Xuan, a painter of the Tang Dynasty?

1, The Pounding and Practicing Picture

This is a famous painting of the Tang Dynasty in China, which is a heavy colorful painting with brushwork, showing the working scene of noble women pounding and practicing sewing clothes. It is an important custom painting of the Tang Dynasty, which has a great influence on the painting style of the later generations, and it is one of the more chic works of the Tang Dynasty in the painting of ladies, which is the work of Zhang Xuan, a painter of the Tang Dynasty.

This picture depicts the scene of urban women in the Tang Dynasty during the labor operation of pounding, weaving, ironing and sewing. Twelve figures are depicted in the long-scroll painting*** and divided into three groups of scenes according to the labor process: pounding, weaving and ironing.

The movements of the characters in the painting are natural and vividly detailed, showing the author's observation of the slight backward and backward leaning of the force when pulling the silk. The lines are fine and strong, the colors are rich and beautiful, and the "plump and fat body" of the figures shows the typical style of the Tang Dynasty's paintings of ladies.

2, "Lady Guo Guo spring tour"

This picture depicts the eleventh year of Tianbao (752), reproducing the Tang Xuanzong's favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan's third sister, Lady Guo Guo, and their dependents from the full dress tour, "the road for the (the) shame and horror," the typical environment. Mrs. Guo Guo's Spring Tour" focuses on the inner delineation of the characters, and through the strong and fine line drawings and the layering of colors, the painting is rich and colorful without losing its elegance, and it is refined without being stagnant. The composition of the painting is sparse and natural.

The movement of people and horses is soothing and relaxed, which is exactly the theme of spring tour. The artist does not write the background, only with wet brush dotted grass color to highlight the characters, the mood of empty eddy fresh. The lines used in the picture are slim and rounded, which is charming in its strength. The colors are elegant and rich, with decorative meaning and a lively and bright tone. The picture is full of the graceful, confident and optimistic style of the Tang Dynasty.

Expanded Information:

1, the background of the creation of "pounding practice"

The Tang Dynasty was a time when the cultural and artistic development of ancient China reached a high level of prosperity. The Tang Dynasty was a time of prosperity for ancient Chinese culture and art. At that time, painting flourished, producing nearly four hundred historically documented outstanding painters, leaving behind many colorful masterpieces of art. In the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an was the center of silk production in the country, and there were institutions such as Shaofu Supervision, Weaving and Dyeing Department, and Yaiting Bureau in the capital city, under which there were official silk workshops.

The late Xuanzong, the palace for Yang Guifei made Jinxiu Jinyu workers up to 1,000 people. There were also a number of slave girls in the government workshops, and some of those with outstanding skills were assigned to work in the Yaiting Bureau, where they were paid only for their daily food and clothing. The scene of labor depicted in the "Pounding and Practicing Picture" is a true reproduction of their lives.

In the early period of the development of the painting of ladies - the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, most of the ladies in the paintings of the artists were beautiful and clear-looking, with thin clothes and wide sleeves. In this period of painting theory writings called female painters "Qing Gong Qi Luo". In the middle of the development of the painting of ladies in the Tang and Five Dynasties period, Zhu Jingxuan in the "Tang Dynasty famous painting book" began to have "ladies'".

The images of ladies created by painters also evolved into those depicted in Zhang Xuan's paintings, in an effort to be more in line with the aesthetic tastes of the rulers of the dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, the painters who were good at painting ladies included Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang, who was Zhou Fang's teacher. Zhang Xuan's fine and elegant paintings represented the typical style of the Tang Dynasty's ladies' paintings. However, due to the long period of time, most of Zhang Xuan's paintings have been scattered and disappeared.

The surviving scrolls of "The Painting", "Mrs. Guo Guo's Spring Journey", and "Queen Wu's Journey" may be copies of later generations, but they still give a glimpse of his painting skills. Sheng Tang, from the court down to the folk are advocating fat and beautiful. Zhang Xuan's women's faces are round and full, and their bodies are plump and robust, showing the gorgeous beauty of women in the Tang Dynasty. These women, who lived a good life, have a melancholy and bitter demeanor, and their lethargy is obvious.

The women's clothing in the picture is representative of the half-breasted shirt and skirt of the Tang Dynasty. The adult women in the picture all wear short jackets, with a poncho on their shoulders. Clothing soft colors, colorful but not vulgar, vermilion, scarlet, orange, grass green and so on. The skirts are as thin as a cicada's wing, and the patterns woven and printed on the bodice are outlined in very fine brushstrokes with rich variations.

Macao scholar Chen Jichun, PhD in art history, believes that this pattern is very similar to the coloring of Tang Dynasty brocade in the collection of Horyuji Temple in Shokurain, Japan. The women in the painting all wear high buns, which were popular in the Middle and Late Tang dynasties, echoing Bai Juyi's style of "high buns in the times".

2. Background of Lady Guo Guo's Spring Journey

The ruling class of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the social function of painting, and they recruited painters and collected famous paintings, which gave a direct impetus to the development of fine arts. During the reigns of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, after nearly a century of development, the Tang Dynasty became more stable and economically affluent, and the whole feudal society was at its peak.

Among the nobles, hedonism was also growing, so the political creation of figure paintings to honor meritorious ministers, good generals and warhorses as in the early Tang Dynasty, which "existed in the context of borrowing", was not so important. At this time, the art of the Sheng Tang Dynasty showed another weather, it is "not purely external things, the exaggerated depiction of the activities of the characters, nor is it just the inner mind, discernment, philosophical pursuit.

Rather, it is the affirmation and feeling of the flesh and blood reality of life, vision and persistence. A kind of full-bodied, youthful enthusiasm and imagination permeated the literature and art of the Sheng Tang Dynasty. Even if it is hedonistic, decadent, melancholic and sad, it is still glittering with youth, freedom and joy.

Figure painting at this time is no longer based on meritorious ministers, good generals, filial sons, and columns of women as the subject of creation, but to turn the vision of the real life, so the noble women as the subject, with the rich and noble spirit of the figure painting of the ladies came into being. In his "Continuation of Paintings", Chen Yao Wei of the Southern Dynasty called the female figure paintings of this period "Qiluo Figure Paintings". The Spring Tour of Mrs. Guo Guo is one of the typical works of Zhang Xuan's "Cherry Blossom Figure Paintings".

The Sheng Tang Dynasty was the climax of figure painting in the Tang Dynasty, with painters, muralists and folk artists from the court, Beijing and Luo showing their talents and influencing each other. Zhang Xuan's painting subject matter was dominated by representations of court life, as dictated by his court life, which also included imperial destiny.?

Touring in spring was an open social custom of the Tang Dynasty, which flourished on the third day of March every year. In order to allow people to have a good place to swim in spring, Tang Xuanzong will be made by Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, "Qujiang Pond" renovation, so that it has become a flourishing flowers and plants, the smoke and water of the beautiful tourist attractions. Every March 3, women, especially noble women, came here to enjoy. Mrs. Guo Guo, who loved to have a good time, naturally did not miss this opportunity and came here with her sisters.

Mrs. Guo Guo was the third sister of Yang Yuhuan, the favorite concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and she lived an extravagant and luxurious life. The artist's performance in this regard is extremely refined: red skirt, green jacket, white scarf, green saddle, riding saddle with fine embroidery of gold strands and silver silk, all look very rich. Lady's physical appearance, graceful and luxurious, face is very rich, with a 'state of thick meaning far Shu and true, fine texture and flesh and bone' characteristics.

These are enough to see the author's extraordinary talent and superior artistic skills, but also shows the author's close observation of life and the rigor of creation. In the early years of Tang Xuanzong, Li Longji was diligent in politics and tried his best to rule the country, creating the rare "Kaiyuan Sheng Shi" in Chinese history, but in the latter part of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, due to the favor of Yang Guifei, he ignored the imperial government and lived a life of extravagance and luxury.

And the three sisters of Yang Guifei were appointed as Mrs. Korea, Mrs. Guo and Mrs. Qin. Tianbao years is the Tang dynasty from the period of prosperity to decline, for the "Anshi Rebellion" in the first few years, Tang Xuanzong and the dynasty up and down are living a life of wantonness, this picture depicts the Spring Festival is Mrs. Guo Guo and Mrs. Qin two sisters March 3 spring scene.

Corresponding to Du Fu's "Lillian's Journey", it reflects from one side the extravagant life of Yang's family at that time, and to a certain extent exposes the extravagance and lechery of the ruling class.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhang Xuan