The image of vastness - Zhang Tietao's oil painting appreciation notes
Pictures and texts丨Yang Senjun's oil paintings丨Zhang Tietao
The oil painting creations that Zhang Tietao has completed and is currently completing are the intellectual encounter between nature and humanity, as well as the perfection of a painter's personal talent and natural elements. blend. His paintings that show images of nature are not a stripping away of nature, but a full proof of his reverence for nature - this proof is not a mechanical copy of nature, but a philosophical closeness to nature. He painstakingly depicts his attachment to nature in lines and blocks with rich colors, making them appear most charming.
"Shore"
Looking at his paintings, what we can see is not depression, let alone pessimism, but the reappearance of a kind of power - the power of life and the power of death are entangled but not violent. He is good at using common natural elements in the West, and after personal re-examination, he creates a new look full of humanistic feelings. That strong visual impact vividly and clearly sets off the author's rough and desolate inner aesthetic. This kind of desolate beauty runs through almost all Zhang Tietao's paintings. Even the leaves of a tree shaking gently in the breeze can make people aware of its natural temperament between heaven and earth. It seems that it can be said that God has given The leaves of each tree are just to show its extraordinaryness.
"Ruins in the Daylight"
Zhang Tietao's paintings have a quiet beauty. This silence has weight and a voice - the voice of silence, the voice of eternity, the voice that drives away the vanity in people's hearts. This is a kind of great silence in awe of nature. It is so quiet that one can hear the sounds of all things. Whether it is ancient trees, ruined walls, or natural mounds with huge outlines, once he paints them, they stand out from time and space and become an alternative existence that cannot be ignored in the eyes of the viewer.
"Standing on the Wall"
For example, although a tree is a tree, through the artist's creation, the "tree" on the canvas has already carried human warmth, human aesthetics, human judgment, and human sustenance. At this time, trees and people have reached some kind of physical and spiritual communication and cooperation. Therefore, Tie Tao's paintings can also be said to be the representation of his tacit agreement with nature. The painter has found a place to express his talent because of nature, and nature has also found its profound humanistic value because of the painter. The traces left by his brush are no longer just colors, but the effective layout used to express inner aesthetics.
"When Everything Quiet"
In Zhang Tietao's paintings, you can hear the crackling sound of trees twisting and peeling, and you can also see the solidified silence around the cliff after the goshawk leaves. This silence was invited by the painter. This silence has been around for a long time and is often ignored by us. When a majestic tree rises from the ground and looks out over the surrounding fields, its masculine beauty, sudden and domineering, is a clear proof that the painter insists on the local nature of art in his creation. Zhang Tietao is true to his sense of the scene, and even the scenes he created appear lifelike.
"Holly flowers bloom in April every year"
Zhang Tietao expresses his embrace and caress of nature with a conflicting visual language. What is shown in the brush and ink, between the virtual and the real, is the compassion that a painter should have. He gave the silent natural image an expression and the confidence to look into the eyes of others. People who see them cannot help but feel awe and respect, and then have a yearning to enter the field and touch the concrete objects.
"Flying Snow"
In fact, only when he regards the self-existing objects on the earth as a gift from heaven, will he cherish it extremely. As a painter in the true sense, he will be full of admiration and pity for even a blade of grass or a bouquet of flowers, and he will firmly use artistic care to make objects have noble humanistic characteristics and gain from them. artistic character. This is also where a painter’s conscience is tested. Zhang Tietao is trying to become such a painter.
"The Fate of Trees in a Dry Canyon"
For Zhang Tietao, painting is not catharsis, but sustenance.He uses his brush to depict the shape of dusk, the flow of light and shadow, and the drifting sound of wind among the leaves, all with his personal aesthetic qualities that he has accumulated over many years. The locality in his paintings, such as desolation, eternity, and silence, all serve his aesthetic needs. He was true to his own feelings and used strong colors to enhance the presence of things in the place.
"Lake on the Plateau"
The artistic work is the artist himself. I have persisted in this view for many years. The consensus between Tie Tao and Tie Tao's paintings is that no matter what Tie Tao paints, he will implant masculine beauty in the painting. The kind of uprightness in struggle, power in silence, and domineering in vastness are taking shape. Tie Tao increasingly showed his independent style of painting. He didn't mean to belong to the vastness of the West, but he just couldn't help it. He couldn't avoid his own experiences and memories.
"Mother and Son on the Plateau"
Perhaps Zhang Tietao has long been tired of the noise of the world, so he indulged himself and realized his love for tranquility through images of dignified earth cliffs, majestic mountains, and waters filled with light and shadow. Of course, when we get involved in Tie Tao's life, we will be confused by his active figure, and thus we will ignore that as a painter, he actually has his own loneliness. After entering middle age, he was often afraid of being disturbed. This was because in the studio, even facing a blank canvas would excite him. There, he could pour out what he really needed - his works. .
《Poplar euphratica》
He has experienced and felt the secular life. After decades of ups and downs in the business world, he remained true to his understanding that only art could place his dreams and allow his spirit to gain true freedom and peace. It can be seen that Tie Tao's pursuit of painting is completely in line with his preferences. Through painting, he attempts to express the most artistic objects in a person's eyes - the vicissitudes of trees, the ancient stretch of the Great Wall, the barren desert... they are all reborn one by one through the artist's outline and coloring.
"The King of Populus euphratica"
Zhang Tietao's paintings are not just a whim. The desire to paint has always been nurtured in his spiritual core - only through his current painting practice can he continue to connect with the artistic sentiment that has been stranded for decades, and in this way can alleviate his inner anxiety and neglect of painting. Regret to him. When he faced the spread canvas again, he didn't feel unfamiliar. He knew where the power lay. He was surprised that the artistic talent acquired through professional training in his early years had not deserted him and that he could still paint. He was tightly held in a quiet corner by his secretly surging artistic ambition. He was about to settle down. Years of life insights, with the help of earth objects, give responses and interpretations.
"Time on Populus euphratica"
The image is the mental image. It is said that you can only draw bamboo when you are confident. Tie Tao's paintings all benefit from his long-lasting inner sedimentation. The heaviness and harmony of nature and humanities merging into one, either rising suddenly or spiraling, are exactly the artistic representation of the painter's inner image. He intentionally distances himself from the worldly glitz through canvas, so that he can be calm and content with his creation. This is very valuable for him who once was in the business world. He fully understands that the artistic dream that has been swirling in his bones is not finally extinguished, but is waiting for an opportunity to awaken. Now is the time for him to give an explanation for his original ambitions. His deep-rooted love for art and painting is in his blood.
"Collapsed Beacon Tower and Populus euphratica"
Zhang Tietao's paintings have a strong and rich original atmosphere. They are not only desolate, but also quiet. An old castle stands quietly on the top of the mountain, seeming to freeze time forever in a certain moment in the past. It and the world do not disturb or force each other, but accompany each other and are polite. All you have to do is watch quietly, and your heart will be occupied by the strong visual symbols of the picture. He looks at the forgotten things from a distance, not only to restore the original appearance of things, but to recapture those things that have disappeared and are disappearing from the sequence of time through the brush, so that we can see the past existence between heaven and earth.
"Light and Ruins at Eleven in the Morning"
Regarding color, I am also thinking about what gray means. Perhaps, that is the disappearing color, the color of the past, the color of memory. I have some suggestions for Tietao’s use of colors. Perhaps because of my extreme love for Van Gogh , I once suggested that Tie Tao could use brighter colors, like Van Gogh did - letting golden yellow dominate his paintings vigorously. Of course, there is only one Van Gogh in the world, and Van Gogh cannot be copied - but what I mean is that as a painter, Tie Tao should be as bright as possible in his use of colors. Perhaps, for Tie Tao, such use of color can better express calmness and desolation, and better express a certain sustenance deep in his heart - reality is too gorgeous, and he wants to avoid them, so Tie Tao chose rich colors. Even the darkness that covers the earth like dusk.
"The afternoon light shines on part of the canyon"
When looking at a painter, you should look at his expressiveness, not his skills. Skills can be trained, but expressiveness tests a painter's inner depth of thought and extraordinary artistic sensibility, just like the starry sky and sunflowers in Van Gogh's paintings - they are definitely not the product of skills, but The result of Van Gogh's ideas. In reality, no sunflower or starry sky is the same as the one painted by Van Gogh. However, when we see Van Gogh's paintings, no one does not think that what Van Gogh painted is the sunflower and the starry sky. Therefore, in the history of art, there is a saying that realism tests the painter's skills, and impressionism tests the painter's thinking.
"The Populus euphratica Family"
For Tie Tao, he is not restricted by any doctrine. He just concentrates on painting. He wants to express what is in his heart, and he wants to complete the presentation of the earth as a son of the earth. But as far as I know, I think that Tie Tao not only has strong realistic skills, but also he is in thought. In particular, he is good at expressing the unique posture of things after aesthetic appreciation through light and shadow, light and dark, roughness and delicacy, such as abruptness. The aloof ancient castle; such as the thick and unyielding Populus euphratica, which are entangled in strength, etc., fully demonstrate that Tie Tao not only has the ability to restore the true appearance of things, but more importantly, he gives artistic life to things and makes them look beautiful. They seem more vivid, more mesmerizing than they really are.
"Spring of Haba Lake in Salt Lake"
Perspective is the design of space, but in Tie Tao's paintings, we can also taste the nature of time. The existence of an object acquires more dimensions due to perspective. Far and near occupy different positions and echo in the same frame. Light and shadow flow, fold, and are rich and changeable. The sense of passage from the past to the future is the experience of a painter who is faithful to the true nature of the world. For the painter, the past is not just an empty shell, but contains subtle inheritance of objects and images. Nature is mixed with civilization, and civilization finally remains in nature. The vicissitudes, mottled, ancient, mysterious... This series is brought to us by the picture. , are not only the original wishes expressed by the painter, they have formed an interrelated artistic style of the oil paintings created by Tie Tao.
"Group Portraits of Tuya"
gives natural objects a humanistic flavor, and gives humanistic objects a natural image, allowing the two to complement each other and convey the age and pigment of time. This can almost be regarded as a very clear consciousness of Zhang Tietao's creation of oil paintings.
"Tu Ruins"
Perhaps it is a personal preference. In terms of the use and layout of colors, I still have expectations for Tie Tao - that is, I hope that the appearance of the oil paintings created by Tie Tao can try to change from rich gray to dark. The brilliant and bright visual experience is excessive. Of course, as a painter, his use of color is to match his expression. Just like Tie Tao is good at using rough and sticky brush and ink, it is because he is trying to strengthen the visual sense of the picture and complete his painting. The quiet beauty of all things in nature is close to stubborn love. In fact, brilliance and brightness can still put the soul at ease, and can still complete a painter's rejection of the noise of the world.
"Looking into the Eternity"
Compared with traditional Chinese painting, oil painting can better express a painter's strong feelings about everything in the world. Even if the painter is restrained, the artist's inner rhythm can be detected from the abrupt colors. A thick Populus euphratica tree rises from the ground, a field of decaying green grass tilts in the autumn wind, and an ancient beacon tower is silent under the sun... This series of completed paintings all reveal the painter Tie Tao without exception. The rich inner calmness and restrained enthusiasm. The masculine beauty of Tie Tao's paintings stems from his inner spaciousness and his faithful presentation of memories. Therefore, among the works that Tie Tao has completed, it is difficult for me to see the delicate and delicate Xiaojiabiyu-style works.
"Quiet Summer"
When we keep our eyes at a certain distance from Tie Tao's oil paintings, that is, at a proper visual distance, we will find that the hazy beauty of Tie Tao's paintings is originally hidden in the works. Among the details, the effect cannot be seen from a close look, but it is full of effects from a distance. Such techniques are a godsend for Tie Tao, who is also good at expressing flowers and plants. It can express the implicit beauty of the rhythm of nature through a dense effect. This is Tie Tao's brilliance. Appreciating oil paintings requires a certain distance between the appreciator and the work. That is to say, when appreciating a work, one cannot be too close or too far away. One must adjust oneself to one's vision when facing a work. Only in the most comfortable state can you see the most charming face of a painting. Similarly, such a visual distance also tests one's aesthetic talent.
Oil painter丨Zhang Tietao, entrepreneur, oil painter and calligrapher, was born in Tongwei County, Gansu Province, the hometown of Chinese calligraphy and painting art. Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Minzu University of China. In 2002, he studied in the Advanced Research Class of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 2016, he studied new oil painting techniques at the China Natural Sound Art Research Institute. He studied under the masters of oil painting Mr. Pang Jun, Mr. Li Tianxiang, Mr. Zhao Youping and others. He is currently the chairman of Ningxia Huanghe Construction Development and Decoration Design Co., Ltd. and the president of Ningxia Huanghe Art Research Institute. In May 2014, a personal exhibition was held at Shenzhen Longhua Art Museum. In 2015, he further studied calligraphy in the Advanced Research Class of Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Mr. Hu Kangmei. The work "Spring" is collected by the Hong Kong Art Museum, the work "Hope" is collected by the Guangdong Museum of Art, and the series "Old Western City" is collected by the Xi'an Yanta Museum. His works have participated in many national exhibitions. His works have been published in media publications such as "Art", "Chinese Oil Painting", "Art Focus", "China Collection", "Art News", "China Painting and Calligraphy News" and other media publications.
writer丨 Yang Senjun, a member of the Chinese Writers Association. He is the author of many collections of poems, "Dreams Are the Only Luggage", "Colored Sketches", "Tower of Sand" (in Chinese and English), "Mirror in the Afternoon", "Well-deserved" and "Parts". His work "My Father is Old" was adopted by the final Chinese examination paper of IB (international baccalaureate), an international educational institution under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural and Health Organization.
