Pan Xiaogao: Taicang lacquer painting, a wonder of Jiangnan

Pan Xiaogao: Taicang lacquer painting, a wonder of Jiangnan Taicang lacquer painting, a wonder of Jiangnan Pan Xiaogao An afternoon with refreshing golden breeze and fragrant osmanthus. I called the painter Zhang Zhiqiang...

Pan Xiaogao: Taicang lacquer painting, a wonder of the south of the Yangtze River Taicang lacquer painting, a wonder of the south of the Yangtze River Pan Xiaogao An afternoon with refreshing golden breeze and fragrant osmanthus. I called the painter Zhang Zhiqiang: "Master Zhang, you are a famous master of lacquer painting at home and abroad. There are many readers here who admire you. I would like to write an interview with you." I made my request straight to the point. "No problem! Just come." Painter Zhang's words are as concise and bright as the style of his works. After agreeing on a time, I went straight to the studio of the Lacquer Painting Exhibition Hall of Taicang Tonggu Company founded by Zhang Zhiqiang. The painter's studio is located in an elegant "Zhenhe Family" in Taicang, Jiangsu Province. The area is not large, and the indoor furnishings are rich but not cluttered. Many works completed over the years are hung on the walls. There are some paintings in progress piled on the easel and desk. Even the trash cans for discarded paintings are full. This shows the artist's tireless and striving for excellence. Wandering in the lacquer painting exhibition hall of Taicang Tonggu Company founded by Zhang Zhiqiang, one after another of unique Jiangnan creative lacquer paintings is presented in front of you, as if you have walked into a tunnel of thousands of years. In front of the reporter's eyes is a lacquer painting called "Tonggu" (which won the highest award at the "Shanghai World Expo Chinese Art Exhibition"). The heavy snow flying all over the sky fell on the ancient stone bridge, on the green tiles of the houses in Zhenhe, and on the small river under the bridge. Different from ordinary paintings, the textures and outlines of small bridges, flowing water, houses, etc. in the paintings are very textured, distinct and profound. Touching it gently with your hand, you can feel that the painting board is very smooth, but the stone bridges, green tiles, and even each snowflake have a concave and convex feel. Some places seem to be stacked up due to repeated coloring, and these delicate parts are actually made of countless small white fragments. Seeing the confused look on the reporter's face, Master Zhang smiled and said, "You wouldn't guess it if I didn't tell you. Let me tell you, these small white fragments are broken eggshells!" The reporter took a look and found that it was indeed the case, but no one could have imagined that the cracked eggshells could actually "come into the painting" and occupy the main part of the picture. For this piece of "Tonggu" alone, the artist first drew the base map with paint, then glued hundreds of thousands of eggshell fragments on the base piece by piece, and then polished it through complicated subsequent processes. It took more than three months to complete, which shows the hardship of creating each work. The reporter then looked at several other lacquer paintings and found that all the paintings were very textured, and eggshells could be found on each one. From a distance, the objects in the painting, whether they are people, utensils, animals or houses, are very three-dimensional, as if you can reach out and touch the real objects, which is a superb painting skill; but when you look up close, it doesn't look like a painting, but rather like a handicraft made of paint and eggshells. Zhang Zhiqiang was born into a cultural family and has been fond of painting since he was a child. He has been immersed in the atmosphere of Jiangnan water towns since he was a child and has a special liking for the culture of Jiangnan water towns. After years of painstaking study, research, and integration of Western cultural elements, he created his own style. His works combine ancient and modern Chinese and foreign techniques, showing extremely high artistic skills and extensive artistic accomplishment. It is an example of how the past can be used for the present and foreign things can be used for China. He is good at sketching and Chinese painting. He also integrated Western artistic techniques into Chinese paintings to create a novel and unique style. In particular, his lacquer paintings are imbued with the charm of Chinese painting. His creations cover a wide range of subjects, including landscapes, flowers and birds, animals, characters, history, and mythology, all of which are vivid and lifelike in his writing. Those masonry and tiles with a sense of historical vicissitudes and Jiangnan ancient charm inspired the artist's creative inspiration, and they were naturally integrated into the painting. For more than 20 years, Zhang Zhiqiang has taken root in the water towns of the south of the Yangtze River and used ancient lacquer painting elements to convey a rich oriental charm. Most of his award-winning works such as "Symphony of Time" and "Deep Water Alley" are based on ancient water towns as backgrounds, using ancient bridges, old streets, waterfronts, characters, etc. as elements to vividly reproduce the simplicity, dignity and profundity of Jiangnan culture. my country's lacquer culture has a long, rich and glorious history. It has been continuously developed and updated over thousands of years. Modern lacquer painting is a wonderful flower that breeds and blooms on the basis of this excellent traditional Chinese lacquer painting technology. Lacquer painting is not only confident due to its seven thousand years of lacquer art history, but more importantly, its deep and implicit painting effect. The gentle and quiet style is in line with the aesthetic orientation of the Chinese nation. As a member of the Chinese Artists Association, a member of the Chinese Folk Literature and Artists Association, a celebrity in arts and crafts in Jiangsu Province, and a senior arts and crafts artist, Zhang Zhiqiang has devoted himself to the art of lacquer painting for several years. He has worked tirelessly in the field of traditional lacquer painting, has the courage to explore and innovate, and has made outstanding achievements. In recent years, painter Zhang Zhiqiang is good at thinking and diligent in creation, and has frequently produced excellent works. His lacquer painting "Time" was selected into the Second National Lacquer Painting Exhibition, "Water Alley Deep" was selected into the 11th National Art Exhibition, "Tonggu" was selected into the Shanghai World Expo Chinese Art Exhibition and won the Excellence Award, and "Bloodline" was selected into the comprehensive art exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution?#12290; At the end of the interview, the painter said to me: "The road to lacquer painting is long. The traditional craftsmanship of lacquer painting contains the profound cultural heritage of the Chinese nation and is also a witness to the history of Chinese civilization." Seeing that I agreed with his point of view, he continued: "We must make the cultural value of 'Taicang Lacquer Painting' There is still a long way to go to pass the fire; in addition to having a solid foundation in painting, in this fast-paced era, you must also be able to endure the loneliness of "working slowly and carefully" and be persistent in this career," Zhang Zhiqiang said meaningfully when bidding farewell to reporters.