張荔英：新加坡畫壇先驅

被譽為新加坡六大先驅畫家之一的張荔英女士，是個富有獻身精神的畫家及美術教育家，在新加坡現代美術早期發展階段發揮了卓越的影響。她以獨特的美術天賦，深刻體悟西方美術技法與審美精髓，西為中用，開創出清雅宜人、華而不艷的畫風。

張荔英1906年出生于中國浙江省一個書香世家里。父親張靜江(1877—1950年)早年留學法國，不但學問淵博，在商場也長袖善舞。他曾在經濟上資助孫中山及同盟會，因此深得孫中山的器重。張靜江十分重視對子女的教育，他早期聘請了一位蘇聯油畫家到上海家中教授張荔英繪畫，讓她接受最早的美術啟蒙教育。家境富裕的張荔英年幼時就立志要當畫家，她后到巴黎、紐約留學，在完成高中教育后，于1926年進入美國紐約的藝術學生聯盟(Art Students' League)進修一年，繼而遠赴巴黎的克拉洛西美術專科學校(Académie Co1arossi)與比婁學院(Académie Biloul)接受私人美術訓練，入學四年成績斐然。

1930年年僅24歲的張荔英第一次參加了巴黎秋季沙龍(Sa1on d' Automne)，后來她的作品多次入選獨立沙龍(Salon des Indépendents)及杜勒利沙龍(Salon des Tuileries)，受到藝評家的高度贊賞，巴黎的第如迭坡美術館(Musee du Jeu de Paume)還收藏了一幅張荔英的作品。在20世紀30年代，亞洲女性畫家的作品能夠登上巴黎雄奇瑰麗的美術殿堂，無疑是一種得來不易的肯定與驕傲。

繪畫事業如日中天的張荔英在同個時期結識了比她年長31歲的陳友仁(1875—1944年)，兩人在1930年共結連理。陳友仁是當時國民政府的外交部長，張荔英曾這么形容夫婿：“從一開始，在巴黎的時候，友仁一直都喜歡繪畫，所以當我告訴他我要學美術，他不驚訝，只說那是好事，他幫得上忙……而且他隨時都愿意為我擺姿勢。這對畫家是有幫助的。”張荔英常按照肖像畫法的傳統，利用暗淡陰沉的色調，逼真寫實地刻畫愛閱讀、沉思的陳友仁在現實負擔壓力下的不安情緒和頑強心靈，陳友仁在后期的肖像里神情更顯無奈又惆然，這或許可反映戰爭對他造成的打擊與痛苦，他最終在中國抗戰即將勝利之際，于1944年病逝于上海。

除了為陳友仁畫肖像，張荔英也以自畫像記錄人生的欣喜悲歡以及更深層的風雅獨自。創作于1946年的《自畫像》，讓我們一窺畫家的內心世界：張荔英運用簡單的線條、粉色、灰色和褐色系的顏料，勾勒出一張柔和的臉龐，畫面中的她凝神注目，呈現出莊嚴高貴的印象，也突出一種內省的氛圍。

以油畫為主要創作媒介的張荔英也經常描繪靜物，并且反復加以鉆研。她的技法常被稱為法國式的，也被說是中國式的，據說她一開始就想以西方人看得懂的方式描繪中國以及中國人的生活。那時法國流派紛呈，后印象主義、野獸主義及立體主義等大行其道，大師如塞尚(Paul C巣anne，1839—1906)、凡·高(Van Gogh，1853—1890)、高更(Gauguin，1848—1903)、畢加索(Picasso，1881—1973)等人的作品普遍展示于美術館、畫廊及沙龍，受到一般年輕人的群起效法及推崇，但根據與她一同參加秋季沙龍開幕禮的另一位新加坡先驅畫家劉抗的觀察，張荔英不盲目附會時潮，迷失自我，她選擇循入后印象派道路。

受到“現代繪畫之父”塞尚的影響，張荔英特別注重畫面中形體和色彩之間的布局，力求達到一種和諧感。無論是蔬果、用具或花卉等靜物擺設，她總是精心布置，以確保前景、中景和背景的空間界限分明。在色調的應用和筆觸運行方面，張荔英帶有些許凡·高的痕跡，凡·高常從錫管里擠出最明亮、最原始的色彩，未曾調試就抹在他的畫布上，試圖展現他那騷動、狂放的技法。有別于凡·高烈焰般的激情，個性穩健冷謐的張荔英用色則較為含蓄、溫馨。新加坡著名藝術史學者T·K·薩巴帕迪曾作出如此精辟的分析：“藝術史讓藝術家能認祖歸宗；藝術家必然自有‘藝統’，張荔英也不例外。塞尚和凡·高是她繪畫的兩大源頭，前者影響了她對形體和圖像結構的處理方式，而她從凡·高那里則學會一股沖勁，著力探索色彩和筆觸的表現特性。”

《蘋果及柳橙切片》是張荔英早期的靜物作品，完成于1928年至1930年。她將背景處理為深灰及褐色調，以襯托蘋果及柳橙切片。這個時期她的筆觸較粗放，好用多層次的厚彩凸顯瓜果的觸感及渾厚的立體感。而她1969年后期的靜物作品《熱帶水果》，手法則細膩許多，籃子里有紅毛丹、鳳梨、木瓜等，物象豐富、色彩飽滿。由于張荔英是“目之所見，志之以筆”的畫家，這些靜物畫遂構成重要的物證，在一定程度上反映了她創作時所處的東南亞文化環境及熱帶風情。

1930年后張荔英在各個旅居之地舉辦展覽，1949年1月18日她在美國紐約亞洲學院開個展，畫作得到“彩色明亮，畫面開朗，調子溫和，人物肖像繪畫上的靈敏性高，所以生動富趣味”之正面評價。她在1953年到新加坡于中華總商會展出油畫及自制陶瓷作品，已故畫家張丹農還撰文評論她的油畫，贊賞她作畫工夫踏實，落筆講究，風格高逸。當時南洋美專校長林學大欲請張荔英在美專任教，但因她隨后要到吉隆坡、檳城而無結果，1954年她再度回到新加坡開第二次畫展后，決定定居新加坡，才答應林學大到美專教授素描與油畫，并兼任英文秘書。

此后，張荔英就居住在位于實乞納坪(Siglap Plain)的房子里。她在南洋美專執教了長達27年之久，又擔任國慶美展與新加坡藝術協會的藝展作品評選委員，可說是對新加坡的繪畫藝術作出了巨大的貢獻。

居住在新加坡的這段期間，張荔英憑著對生命和人的熱愛及敏銳的觀察力，生動逼真地捕捉本地景象的特征與人物的神韻，嘗試創造一種能充分描述東南亞個人生活及工作環境的圖像語言。

張荔英畫過肖像、靜物畫和風景畫，作品均受各方人士的喜愛。被收藏于法國、美國、中國、澳大利亞、新加坡、馬來西亞等國，據說馬來西亞第一任首相東姑阿都拉曼對張荔英的純熟油彩駕馭功力十分贊賞，收藏了她三幅作品。

張荔英為了開拓個人藝術天地和栽培后起之秀，付出了極大的心血。她于1982年被新加坡政府授予文化藝術獎章，這是國家對張荔英一生在新加坡視覺藝術界的卓越成就與巨大貢獻的表揚。張荔英于1993年逝世后，新加坡美術館獲贈畫家大量作品，得以擁有當今規模最大的張荔英作品收藏。同時，其余作品經拍賣后所籌得的款項，用于成立張荔英美術獎學金，以資助在新加坡南洋藝術學院和拉薩爾——新航藝術學院上美術課程的學生。無疑的是張荔英的奉獻精神和非凡造詣，奠定了她杰出畫家、美術教育者的地位。

（本文作者為新加坡美術館典藏部副研究員）

Zhang Liying， Pioneer Artist of Singapore

Zhang Liying (1906-1993) (a.k.a. Georgette Chen in Singapore) was a dedicated painter and art teacher. One of the six major pioneer artists in Singapore， she played an excellent part in the early development of art in the island country. With a unique aptitude and a profound knowledge of western techniques and aesthetics， she applied western techniques to Chinese-styled painting. Her style was elegant and luxuriant， but never showy.

Zhang Liying was born in a literary family in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province. With a background of French education， her father Zhang Jingjiang (1877-1950)， a wealthy businessman， donated generously to the revolutionary cause headed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Extremely concerned with the education of his children， the father engaged a Soviet art teacher to give painting lessons to them. Even as a kid， Zhang resolved to become an artist. Upon graduation from high school， she first took preliminary courses for a year at Art Students League in New York before receiving private art training for four years respectively at Academie Colarossi and Academie Biloul in Paris.

In 1930， the 24-year-old Zhang debuted at Salon d誂utomne in Paris. Later， her paintings appeared at Salon des Independents and Salon des Tuileries and received critical acclamation. One of her painting was in the collection of Musee de Jeu de Paume of Paris. In the 1930s， the presence of an Asian woman artist in Paris?best salons meant hard-earned recognition.

It was in Paris that Zhang Liying met Chen Youren (1875-1944)， China’s foreign minister of that time. They got married in 1930. Chen was willing to pose for the young artist any time she wanted him to. The earlier portraits Zhang painted well depicted her husband’s concerned emotion and resolute spirit and the later ones captured his hopelessness and confusion caused by the war. He died in Shanghai in 1944. In addition to painting Chen’s portraits， Zhang also painted self portraits， which were her elegant soliloquies and truthful records of her vicissitudes in life. Self Portrait， painted in 1946， invites us to peep into her personality behind the face. The minimum lines and meager use of colors delineate the soft contours of the face. Her eyes reflect her dignity and self-examination.

Zhang Liying preferred creating still life paintings on oil and she spent time polishing her techniques. Some people say that her techniques were redolent of a French flavor but some others point out that her style reminds people of China. It is said that in the earlier days of her career she wanted to delineate China and the Chinese lifestyle in a way understandable to the western people. At that time， post-impressionism， fauvism and cubism were all the go in Paris. Paul Cezanne， Van Gogh， Gauguin， Picasso were widely imitated by young artists in Paris. However， Zhang Liying was cautious in choosing where to go. The sophisticated spatial relationship in her still life paintings reveals traces of the influence of Paul Cezanne and her use of dynamic brush strokes and tones suggest the impact of Van Gogh.

After 1930， Zhang Liying held solo exhibitions wherever she resided. In January， 1949， she held an individual exhibition in Asian Academy， New York and her paintings were critically acclaimed. In 1953， she held a solo exhibition of oils and porcelains in Singapore. Her artworks were favorably reviewed in local media. She failed to accept the invitation to teach at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore because she had planned to visit Kuala Lumpur and Penang. In 1954 she came back to hold another solo exhibition in Singapore and decided to settle down in Singapore. It was not until then that she accepted the invitation and became an art teacher and English secretary at the academy.

She resided in a house in Siglap Plain and taught at the academy for 27 years. Meanwhile she served as juror for selecting candidate paintings for exhibitions sponsored by Singapore Art Association. Zhang made tremendous contributions to the art development in Singapore.

During her life in Singapore， Zhang tried to create a graphic vocabulary to fully portray life and work environment of Southeast Asia. With passion and sharp perception， she captured features and spirit of the local landscape and people.

Her portraiture， landscape， and still life creations are popular with people from all walks of life and many of her masterpieces are in overseas collections.

Zhang Liying was awarded Cultural Medal by the Singaporean Government in 1982 for her achievement in and contribution to the visual arts of Singapore. After her demise in 1993， a large quantity of her paintings and drawings were bequeathed to Singapore Art Museum， thus the largest collection of Zhang Liying in the world. The proceeds from the auction of the rest of her artworks are now in an art scholarship named after her to assist students at both Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts.

(Translated by David)