Wu Shanming Paintings Collection

Author: Wu Shanming
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1999-12-01
Features: However, how difficult it is! I once sighed: The tradition of Chinese painting is vast and profound, and to glimpse its essence and inherit a little of it is extremely challenging! Only those with great intelligence, great willpower, and great perseverance can enter its realm. These heartfelt words may have been exaggerated. But I truly believe that a painter must be honed by tradition to become truly brilliant. In the current atmosphere where tradition is often disregarded, Mr. Wu could see through the obstacles and rise above them, which I cannot help but praise as "upright in body and mind." Therefore, when discussing the second aspect of his art, I must first explain that his works are not only modern but also classical. He can make the uniquely creative and the conventionally composed complement each other, which reflects his multifaceted talent.
However, here, I can only summarize his works in three key aspects to discuss his "long-lasting spirit."
1. Enhancing the vitality of landscapes with dotting techniques. The Whisperings of Painting says, "Without dotting, mountains lack vitality. The ancients said: 'Moss marks are like flowers in a beauty's hair.'" Though small, dotting techniques are crucial to the overall composition. In Mr. Wu's works, the images may not be perfect, but the dotting adds life to the paintings. His New Dress (1995) and Portrait of a Shepherd (1989) are full of landscape techniques, making the viewer feel as if they are witnessing the subtleties of peaks and ridges, winds, streams, valleys, and rains. This truly demonstrates the ingenious use of landscape scraping techniques. But even more remarkable is that he uses dotting to highlight the spirit of the painting. His overall approach may seem simple, but it is actually a grand technique. In Old Temple and Elder Monk (1996), the dotting is even more refined and masterful, with a deliberate arrangement of density and spacing that seems almost divinely inspired. It reminds one of Shitao's final words: "There are dots that strike like thunder from the heavens, and there are clear mountains and valleys with not a single dot. Alas, there is no fixed form to the law—only the spirit becomes the masterpiece."
2. Establishing the backbone of the painting with the lines of Northern Stele and Southern Manuscripts. The characteristic of Northern Stele is strict grids and profound calligraphy, known as the "flavor of metal and stone." Kang Youwei once analyzed it into ten virtues, such as "strong vigor" and "magnificent atmosphere." Southern Manuscripts, on the other hand, are elegant and unrestrained, like pearls and jade, as Zhou Xinglian once compared them: "Tang calligraphy is like jade, and Song calligraphy is like crystal." In short, Northern Stele has a strong, lean, penetrating, and rugged spirit, while Southern Manuscripts have a gentle, mysterious, refined, and flowing spirit. Mr. Wu's desire to embrace both extremes is a bold act of pursuing the extreme and returning to the ordinary, as well as an intriguing exploration in his use of lines. He devoted over a decade to painting freehand line drawings of figures, and I suspect his intention lies entirely in this. His works such as Children of Kurgan and Between Teacher and Student primarily use the techniques of Southern Manuscripts, particularly excelling in the use of pecking and sweeping strokes. Sometimes, he presses the brush down, subtly hunches to the right, and swiftly releases it with force; other times, he curves the brush slightly downward, with the momentum turning to the left, creating a sense of resistance yet movement. The spirit is elegant, as if flying or in motion. In Pilgrims and Weaving Canopy, Northern Stele techniques dominate, with sharp and ancient bones, vigorous and forceful brushwork that carries the energy forward as if reluctant to return. As I hinted earlier, his figures even borrow scraping techniques from landscapes, and these two paintings perfectly reflect this characteristic. His nudes often combine both types of lines to achieve a balance between weight and lightness, a truly unique approach in the history of nude painting.