Tradition Sustained in Painting Brushes—Birds and Flowers in Tan Shengqiang’s Paintings

By Han Xiaoling & Sun Qiaoyan

In his studio in Wuhan on June 11, 2019, the 65-yearold Tan Shengqiang indulged himself in painting. With a few strokes of his brush, two giant bamboos and a brood of chickens appeared on the paper, adding a sense of coolness to the hot summer.

He has dedicated his life to his beloved art of traditional Chinese painting. Most of his works are brush paintings of birds and flowers, and occasionally portraits.

Tan Shengqiang was born in a well-educated family and learned to paint under the influence of his uncle Zhou Tianlin. Tutored by Mr. Xu Song’an, a prominent Chinese painter, Zhou Tianlin pursues the art of implanting tradition into daily life. Both Zhou Tianlin’s hard work and the innovation of “depicting the view in your mind by drawing inspiration from nature and tradition” have been engraved on the heart of Tan Shengqiang. In 2014, Zhou Tianlin and Tan Shengqiang had a joint painting exhibition, a valuable memory for the two artists.

Another important person who influenced Tan Shengqiang was his aunt, a famous Han Opera performer. Consequently, Tan Shengqiang loves traditional opera and has been a loyal opera fan for many years. He believes that there is some connection between Chinese painting and traditional opera, and thus often integrates operatic elements into his paintings.

Tan Shengqiang shared one of his anecdotes with us during the interview. He once attended an activity organized by Beijing Opera Club. He completed an ink painting of peony while the opera fans were performing on the stage. The fans praised his painting, and he replied in a humorous way, “It’s the wind not me that draws the painting. A painter’s heart should be dancing with the wind while drawing; otherwise the painting would be a lifeless item.”

在筆墨之間接續(xù)傳統(tǒng)——談盛強(qiáng)的中國(guó)畫(huà)藝術(shù)

文/韓曉玲 孫巧巖

6月11日，在中國(guó)武漢市的一間畫(huà)室里，65歲的談盛強(qiáng)揮毫潑墨。寥寥數(shù)筆，兩竿勁竹、一群小雞便躍然紙上，為夏日增添一抹清幽之意。

這位勤奮的畫(huà)家，將半生時(shí)光托付給了自己鐘愛(ài)的國(guó)畫(huà)藝術(shù)。他的作品，多為寫意花鳥(niǎo)，有時(shí)也畫(huà)人物。

談盛強(qiáng)幼承庭訓(xùn)，舅舅周天林對(duì)他的影響至為深刻。周天林是著名國(guó)畫(huà)家徐松安的弟子，在老師的言傳身教下，一直堅(jiān)持繼承傳統(tǒng)、深入生活的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作思想。周天林“以自然為師，以傳統(tǒng)為基因，寫胸中丘壑”的藝術(shù)追求，使談盛強(qiáng)從小受到潛移默化的影響；舅舅深夜在燈下勤奮作畫(huà)的背影，也令他一生難忘。2014年，周天林、談盛強(qiáng)還舉辦了水墨聯(lián)展，成為舅甥倆藝術(shù)生涯的珍貴記憶。

身為漢劇演員的一位姨母，對(duì)談盛強(qiáng)也影響頗深。他因此熱愛(ài)傳統(tǒng)戲曲，多年來(lái)不僅是一名忠實(shí)票友，藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作中也時(shí)常融入戲劇藝術(shù)的元素。在他看來(lái)，國(guó)畫(huà)和戲曲在藝術(shù)上有著相通之處。

談盛強(qiáng)為記者講述了一件趣事。2017年，在一家京劇社的活動(dòng)中，票友們吹拉彈唱，而他現(xiàn)場(chǎng)揮毫畫(huà)下一幅水墨牡丹。眾人稱贊牡丹畫(huà)得好，他風(fēng)趣地說(shuō)：“不，是風(fēng)畫(huà)得好。心要靈動(dòng)起來(lái)，否則畫(huà)的就是死物。”

講到得意處，這位花甲老人哈哈大笑，竟有幾分孩童般的純真。

正是這樣的純真，使他在幾十年的藝術(shù)生涯中，一直保持著年輕的心態(tài)，以及不為世俗所動(dòng)的堅(jiān)定。

A Childhood Memory by Tan Shengqiang 談盛強(qiáng)畫(huà)作《為君記取少年時(shí)》

The old artist laughed cheerfully as he recalled the scene.

It’s the pure-mindedness of his heart that sustains his young mind and his passionate pursuit of art over the decades.

Tan Shengqiang started his career at Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Institute of Wuhan and was responsible for drawing the Chinese paintings which were exported to the foreign market. His experience of copying famous traditional paintings enabled him to learn the masters’ skills in sketching, inking, coloring and framing. While copying the paintings, he was also mentored by several notable painters, such as Mr. Liu Zizhu in portrait, Mr. Xin Shi in landscape, and Mr. Tang Dakang in birds and flowers.

Blooming Chrysanthemum at the Double Ninth Festival by Tan Shengqiang談盛強(qiáng)畫(huà)作《花開(kāi)正重陽(yáng)》

Tan Shengqiang also followed Zhou Tianlin and his other teachers to do outdoor sketches in Three Gorges, Guilin, Huangshan Mountain, Lushan Mountain and other scenic locations. Where the nature became an open studio, he appreciated and depicted its beauty in a poetic manner.

For years, Tan Shengqang has been committed to the brush painting of birds and flowers. His works are clear and elegant. He is good at painting plum blossom, bamboo, lotus, chrysanthemum, peony and wisteria, as well as chicken. Under his brushes, even the simple chicken becomes vibrant and delightful; presenting a unique painting with the decoration of blooming peony and swaying bamboo leaves.

Professor Lou Yu from the School of Fine Arts, Central China Normal University, once commented on Tan’s paintings that, “In terms of tradition and artistic feature, Tan Shengqiang’s painting style is more like the literati painting of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1912), which places emphasis on personal expression and sketching skills. While the fellow painters try to innovate and modernize the landscape painting, he reserves the traditions and borrows techniques from past painters from the Five Dynasties (907-960) to Song (960-1279), Yuan (1271-1368), and later dynasties. He is good at drawing inspiration from nature and life, and has established a fresh and free personal style.”

Li Shoukun, a Chinese calligraphy and painting master, said that Tan Shengqiang constantly improves himself while staying true to tradition, untarnished by fame or material gains. He attributed Tan’s progress to his modest attitude in artistic learning and practice. Only by working hard and persevering can one truly benefit on the long and arduous path of art.

Despite of the old age, Tan Shengqiang is still passionate about his painting. He values traditional culture and is worried about the trend of panentertainment in society. He’s afraid that some people have confused entertainment with art, fearing such confusion will become a social problem which needs to be discussed. And he believes that real art makes people feel noble and pleasant.

(Translation: Li Li)

青年時(shí)代，談盛強(qiáng)進(jìn)入原武漢市中國(guó)書(shū)畫(huà)院，從事繪制中國(guó)畫(huà)出口工作，大量臨仿歷代名畫(huà)。這段特殊的工作經(jīng)歷，使他得以在反復(fù)臨摹中，向古人“學(xué)習(xí)”筆法、墨法、用色、構(gòu)圖等。其間，他還求教于名家，向劉子鑄學(xué)習(xí)人物畫(huà)，向辛石學(xué)習(xí)山水畫(huà)，向唐大康學(xué)習(xí)花鳥(niǎo)畫(huà)。

談盛強(qiáng)曾經(jīng)隨諸師和周天林，多次赴三峽、桂林、黃山、廬山等地寫生，在大自然的“畫(huà)室”里，感受和描繪自然詩(shī)意之美。

多年來(lái)，談盛強(qiáng)醉心于寫意花鳥(niǎo)，作品多清潤(rùn)雅致。他擅長(zhǎng)畫(huà)梅、竹、荷、菊、牡丹、紫藤等，以雞為主角的花鳥(niǎo)畫(huà)也不少。在他筆下，小雞筆墨雖簡(jiǎn)，形態(tài)卻富有靈動(dòng)感，憨態(tài)可掬，往往與怒放的牡丹、搖曳的墨竹等相映成趣。

華中師范大學(xué)美術(shù)學(xué)院婁宇教授曾這樣評(píng)價(jià)：“從傳承的角度和畫(huà)藝的特質(zhì)看，談盛強(qiáng)的畫(huà)風(fēng)接近于追求意趣、講究筆墨的明清文人畫(huà)。在水墨畫(huà)不斷求新求異的當(dāng)代實(shí)驗(yàn)格局中，他甘于守望傳統(tǒng)，廣泛汲取自五代至宋元以來(lái)的諸家之長(zhǎng)。他善于擷取豐富的自然生活，直通寫意的境界，建立了清新雋逸的個(gè)人風(fēng)格。”

A Peaceful Lotus Pond by Tan Shengqiang 談盛強(qiáng)畫(huà)作 《清氣滿乾坤》

書(shū)畫(huà)家李壽昆感慨地說(shuō)，談盛強(qiáng)在藝術(shù)追求上，不慕時(shí)利，不求虛名，堅(jiān)持在繼承傳統(tǒng)的基礎(chǔ)上穩(wěn)步前進(jìn)。他的虛心學(xué)習(xí)，使得他能夠不斷進(jìn)步，這是可喜的。藝術(shù)道路是漫長(zhǎng)的、無(wú)止境的，只有勤奮努力才能有所收獲。

談盛強(qiáng)年逾花甲仍充滿激情，孜孜不倦地創(chuàng)作。熱愛(ài)傳統(tǒng)文化的他，對(duì)近年的泛娛樂(lè)化現(xiàn)象表示憂慮。他說(shuō)，社會(huì)上有些人把娛樂(lè)和藝術(shù)混為一談，這值得討論。真正的藝術(shù)是能夠使人高尚、感到愉悅的。