謝楚余的油畫世界

編者按 每當本刊新一期雜志問世，總有許多讀者稱贊封面畫作，屢屢問及：這是油畫還是攝影？哪位油畫家把女性畫得這么美？就在本刊封面連續兩年刊登這位畫家的作品之后，我們約廣州作者陳穗友撰寫了這篇訪問記，以讓讀者一識這位畫家的“廬山真面目”，并借此機會向為本刊帶來美好聲譽的謝楚余先生祝福、致謝！

謝楚余，你不一定知道這個名字，但你絕對見過他的畫作！他的作品知名度遠遠大于他本人，他被人們稱為“盜版與美女簇擁的畫家”，他的大多數油畫作品都會在面世后被人無數次地以臨摹、翻印的方式盜版。油畫作品《陶》完成于1997年，這是謝楚余最為成功的作品之一，但此畫在全世界有不下1000萬次的被盜版記錄，據說它在倫敦舉行的拍賣會上，第一次標價就被定為80萬英鎊；他在1998年創作的《沐風》，居然出現在中央電視臺熱播的電視劇《金粉世家》中的白秀珠小姐臥室的墻上，該劇是根據民國時期張恨水同名小說改編的。在近期的油畫創作中，他使用當今西方最新的材料無味稀釋油、丙烯塑形膏和裂油等，并吸收了中國傳統水墨潑撒法，讓水和油在沖撞中形成偶然的、生動的朦朧效果，奇妙地融合在一起，相信此技法將是對世界美術的一種新的奉獻。一直以來，畫家謝楚余甚少在媒體上公開露面。在他看來，畫作就如同他的另一張臉，大家熟悉他的畫就已經足夠了。

抱陶少女的“足跡”

在國內，只要你稍加留意，從格調高雅的西餐廳墻上裝點的油畫復制品，到地攤小販出售的一元梳妝鏡的背面，都會頻繁地出現一個半裸少女楚楚動人地抱著一只陶罐的靚麗身影，她那黑柔的秀發，嬌美的面容，如脂的皮膚，唯美的身材被定格在風起云涌的天地間，性感而不失純真，令人倍感賞心悅目，這就是謝楚余早年的作品《陶》。《陶》(抱陶少女)是謝楚余1997年初完成的一幅油畫，它一經問世便以一種中西合璧的美打動世人，在海內外引起了不小的轟動。正由于此，它也成為中國油畫史上被翻版盜印最多的一幅油畫，不少于1000萬次的盜版數實在令人不可思議!從莫斯科到巴黎，從非洲到美洲，《陶》被不同的材質表現著，從皮革到石頭，從蠟染到銅像……同時它也被無限地使用在各種商業途徑中，不同的只是少女手中的陶罐有時被替換成酒罐、電器、易拉罐，甚至有時被替換上西瓜。面對這樣的情形，謝楚余只能報以“無可奈何的寬容”。他說：“盜版作品往往由于色彩失真，層次欠佳，致使其中人物失去藝術生命，那真是可悲又可嘆!”

曾有人將謝楚余的《陶》與法國新古典主義畫派最杰出的代表安格爾的《泉》作比較：安格爾筆下少女自然“洋氣”，而謝楚余卻勝在“秀氣”。現在《陶》這幅原作已被香港人收藏，他幾次想回購，收藏者都不愿意，這一直成了謝楚余的心病。

讓男人心動，讓女人心醉

謝楚余畫的最大特點就在于將中國題材與人物用西方古典繪畫手法表達出來，顯得既典雅高貴又為大眾喜聞樂見。中國美協副主席林墉是這樣評價謝楚余的：“他耿耿于完美，孜孜于完整。有時，甚至不惜把自己對美的憧憬也都一一帶上畫面。這種傾向使他的畫面顯得十分飽和，十分充實，也自然更充滿視覺上的愉悅。楚余的畫是一種圓潤的華麗所組成的，雖沒有撕心裂腑的震撼，但更散發著溫暖的輻射。他的細膩就在流暢中顯現。”

謝楚余的家坐落在廣州美術學院一處幽靜的老式樓房里，家中最多的裝飾品就是主人的原作。筆者發現，畫家的創作大都與女性有關，他那筆下絕妙風韻的女性毫無半點做作之處，并特別富有肢體語言的東方韻致，讓人們感受到畫家那種與生俱來的唯美情懷。謝楚余說，女子神秘的氣息是最讓人難以捉摸的，而神秘的東西也最讓人著迷，讓人可望不可即。還在青少年時代，他在一本雜志上看到好萊塢女王葛麗泰·嘉寶的劇照，就讓他深為震撼：“她艷若桃李，又冷若冰霜，她那深不可測的眸子，閃爍著夢一般的美!她那拒人千里之外的冰冷與高傲，美到了極致。我想一個人的審美不是一朝一夕形成的，我早期的作品就很大程度上受到這種氣息的感染。”謝楚余說。據說楚余每年都會邀請10個模特作畫，至今起碼有上百位美女的形象被糅合進入他的畫中。他告訴筆者：“每一幅作品中都有一個原型，我是在這個基礎上根據畫面的需要進行提煉、夸張、概括的。《陶》的創作就緣于三個模特，一個青島人，一個汕頭人，一個混血兒。”在謝楚余的作品中，女性的美已經超出了塵世所見，幾近完美無暇，令人嘆為觀止。有人說他的作品讓男人心動，也讓女人心醉。

1989年，26歲的謝楚余成功地舉辦了人生第一次個人畫展，1999年福建美術出版社將謝楚余的主要作品編印為《相約花季》的掛歷，在全國創下了一個至今無人能及的銷售紀錄，月銷售65萬本!第二年有13個出版社登門約稿，給出的稿酬一個比一個高，破了當年單頁掛歷稿酬的中國之最。

2002年他出版了人生的第一本畫冊《中國當代實力派油畫精品叢書——謝楚余》天津楊柳青畫社第一版就印刷了10000冊，此后這本畫冊再版6次，依然供不應求。中國著名的文學刊物《作品》從2001年至今，一直使用他的作品為封面，除此以外北京的《文化月刊》、浙江的《文化交流》、東北的《新蕾》等6家期刊每年向他約稿，各種畫冊和書籍封面使用他的作品的就更數不勝數了。2003年謝楚余與美國一著名畫廊簽約，每年提供6幅油畫，這些油畫已成為各國收藏家追逐的藏品。

才情飛揚卻又嚴謹落筆

謝楚余筆下的女子多為現代女性，背景為室外自然風景，女子神態平靜、空靈，纖塵不染。很多人評價謝楚余的畫“唯美、典雅、高貴、細致”。有人說漫步在謝楚余的油畫世界，滿目芳華，飄逝的風云，流逝的水，萋萋芳草，絕代佳人，仿佛是昨宵玲瓏的夢，是人類對美永恒的追溯。在謝楚余的作品中，處處才情飛揚處處嚴格有序地被規范著，他那多年的探索和實踐，形成了精致而嚴謹、典雅而洗練的繪畫風格。

談到與之齊名的陳逸飛，他說：“我們都追求盡善盡美，追求極致，對自己近乎苛刻，是很累，但累中帶有快樂與幸福，所不同的是我不相信自己無所不能，覺得一輩子能做好一件事，在某一個點上、某一個題材、某一種技法上發揮到極致，就非常偉大了。別人說我運氣好，但我知道，身為潮汕人，在自己的個性中，那種源自父母的執著耕耘、刻苦耐勞、堅忍不拔的個性是自己人生成功的一大法寶。”謝楚余上高中期間，曾師從當時汕頭最著名的油畫家曾松齡老師，“我每周把自己的作品送到他那里，請他指導。他的每一次點評我都作了大量的筆記并用心去修改，比如：色彩太臟，明度對比不夠，整體感不強等等。我下一次再送作業時，以前的毛病我一定會全改掉。我絕對不會也不允許自己在同一問題上犯同樣的錯誤”。

外人有所不知的是，對于背景這一人們不注意的地方，謝楚余花的功夫并不比主體人物少。他說，“藝術家只有時刻懷著不滿足的心理，才能有永不停步的動力，才能向人類呈現最精最美的作品。我絕不允許自己的作品有自己能看到的、感受到的缺陷與不足。2003年創作的《清流》背景，就讓我痛苦思索了4年，至今已四易其景，直到2007年的5月底才真正定稿”。在畫室里，筆者看到他以前畫冊上的《清流》與如今畫布上的《清流》畫面：前者背景是瑣碎的枝葉；后者經過大刀闊斧的修改，節奏感增強了，有橫空而出遒勁的枝干、有蜿蜒的樹杈，清流中的巖石也清晰可數。隨即他又不無擔心地說：“在行家的眼里，定稿后的作品與從前發表在畫冊上的作品有所不同，會讓人誤解我在同一題材上創作了兩幅成品，這有違我一直以來堅持的創作信念：從不創作兩幅相同的作品。我認為藝術品就應該是獨一無二的，不該去復制。雖然藝術品有其顯見的商品屬性，但藝術家的創作與工廠的批量生產的‘行畫’是截然不同的。與其臨摹同一作品，不如創作全新的作品。”

在謝楚余的作品里，一個個美麗動人的形象已不再是一個孤立的美女符號。他所要表達的是存活于歷史時空的大美。通過對中外服裝、發飾、道具的巧妙增刪、提煉、重組，使形象成為一種能穿梭于古今的具有時代氣息的生命體，每每給人以驚艷之奇。

外間一直傳說畫家的《南國少女》這幅畫就是以她妻子原型而作。筆者有幸觀看了畫家妻子的日常照片，正如傳說的一樣，活脫脫一個從古典詩詞中走出來的美人。如今，有賢妻嬌女的謝楚余對生活沒有太多的奢望，“我童年的夢想已經實現，至今還成為大學教授，那已經是一種額外的收獲。我的人生與藝術已密不可分，在藝術上追求盡善盡美，源自人類不竭的探索精神。我從不懷疑自己，總相信自己一年會比一年好，對此，我有足夠的理由自信。”

鏈接：謝楚余，1962年出生于廣東汕頭市，現為廣州美術學院油畫系副教授，碩士研究生導師，廣東美術創作院畫家。

1988年以全優成績畢業于廣州美術學院油畫系，1988－2000年就讀中央美術學院油畫系同等學歷研究生班，曾參加法國專家依維爾古典油畫技法材料研究班和西方當代藝術新材料研習班。1993年和2001年分別赴美國、法國進行學術交流和專業考察。1989年起先后在美國、新加坡和中國臺灣舉辦7次個人畫展。代表作有《南國少女》《陶》《仙蹤》《旅人》《木板上的拳套》等，作品曾參加“第八屆全國美展優秀作品展”，“中國油畫精英邀請展”、“中國油畫藝術展”等，并多次獲獎，已出版4部個人油畫專集，影響深遠。

Master's World of Oil Paintings

By Chen Shuiyou

Editor's Note: the Cultural Dialogue is honored to have been utilizing Xie Chuyu's oil paintings for our magazine's cover for the second consecutive year. Many readers wonder how a master can paint women in such an admirable way. Chen Shuiyou in Guangzhou has filed this report about the artist and here is what he finds.

You may not have heard of Xie Chuyu， but you must have seen one of his paintings somewhere. The popularity of Xie's artworks outreaches the popularity of his name.

His sensational success \"Porcelain\"， a representative artwork created in 1997 that made the fame of Xie， drove some collectors crazy. The starting auction price for the painting at a London auction house was a hefty amount of 800，000 pounds. \"Bathed in Wind\"， an oil painting Xie created in 1998， found its anachronistic way onto a wall of the bedroom of Miss White Pearl in a 2003 CCTV blockbuster teleplay， an adaptation of a novel entitled \"A Family of Gold and Rouge\" serialized from 1927 to 1932 by Zhang Henshui (1895-1967).

\"Porcelain\" depicts a young woman in a style that integrates the west and the east elements. Some critics remark that Xie's \"Porcelain\" reminds one of a masterpiece by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)， a French Neoclassic artist， pointing out that Xie's artwork emphasizes the peerless female elegance. Now the original piece is in the collection of a Hong Kong collector. Xie has offered on several occasions to buy it back in vain.

The painting is so beautiful that other artists cannot resist the sheer temptation to translate it onto such media as stone， leather， bronze， etc. The people most enthusiastic about it are probably the copycats who have counterfeited more than 10 million copies of the painting. Some commercial artists have vied each other to replace the porcelain jar held by the heartthrob with anything their clients wished to sell: a beer can， an electric appliance， or even a watermelon. Xie cannot help but sigh heavily at the mania. The only thing the tolerant artist regrets deeply about the pirated copies is the color distortion which， according to Xie， tragically destroys the original beauty of the artwork.

The most salient feature of Xie's oil paintings is the quintessential Chinese theme perfectly depicted in a western classical style. This special treatment makes his masterpieces both noble and popular. A perfectionist， Xie relentlessly pursues beauty in its perfect form. His paintings radiate elegance， warmth， fluency and fullness. They are not meant to create an overwhelming impression. They are meant to touch one's heart tenderly.

Xie Chuyu now lives in an old-styled many-storied building on the campus of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. The apartment is richly decorated with Xie's own artworks. Almost all his paintings deal with female beauty. The young women look wonderful and natural， the way they pose in the painting emits and defines an oriental mysticism， and the artist's esthete passion is simply irresistible and overwhelming.

Xie's sensitivity for female beauty may have probably been kindled in his teenage years. One day， he saw a photograph of Greta Garbo. The photograph made him speechless. Years later， he can still feel the irresistible power of the woman's beauty. He admits that his own aesthetic view does not result from a sudden inspiration. His early works were considerably influenced by the beauty he saw in the photograph. He recalls， \"The Hollywood star looks more than beautiful. Yet she is aloof and cool， basking in a dreamlike splendor. Her aloofness and gorgeous beauty testify to the very essence of beauty.\"

Xie Chuyu works with ten models a year. So far， he has cooperated with more than 100 models. Each of his paintings depicts one model as an archetype. Then he summarizes， polishes， and sublimates.He worked with three models in creating \"Porcelain\". The women in Xie's works are more than mortals. They are almost perfect. Some people remark that the women in his artworks not only touch a man's heart but also move a woman's heart. No wonder that Xie's wife was a model who worked for him once upon a time.

Xie's first solo exhibition took place in 1989 when he was 26. His \"Porcelain\" in 1997 caught the attention of publishers across the country. In 1999， a publishing house in Fujian Province put out a wall calendar using Xie's paintings as the principal attraction. That year， the best-seller wall calendar created a national sales record of 650，000 copies， which stands unbeaten even today. In the following year， 13 wall calendar publishers came to Xie and offered handsome royalties for his paintings.

In 2002， Xie published his first individual album. Since the first edition of 10，000 copies， the album has been reprinted six times. \"Opuses\"， a high-profile national literary periodical， has been using Xie's works for its cover since 2001. Six other periodicals across the country， including Cultural Dialogue， also use Xie's works for their covers. In compliance with a deal signed in 2003， Xie provides a US gallery with six oil paintings per year. These paintings are huge attractions to art collectors.

The women under Xie's brush are modern females set in an outdoor background of gorgeous beauty. They look tranquil， pure and unworldly. Some critics describe Xie's style with such adjectives as esthetic， elegant， noble and meticulous. They agree that the world he creates in his paintings is a dream， reflecting humanity's everlasting yearning for beauty.

Xie Chuyu has defined his overwhelming talent in a refined style. As the result of diligent explorations over years， he now spares no efforts to perfect all the details in his creations. Many people focus on the exquisite women in Xie's paintings， but Xie himself devotes at least an equal amount of creative energy to the background. A stickler for details， he takes pains to create the impeccable. He never allows defects to contaminate his creations. It took Xie four years to perfect the background of his 2003 \"Limpid Stream\".

(Translated by David)