刘宇一画展和他的油画创作

孙国维

首都博物馆里举办刘宇一从艺50年大型画作回顾展期间，几乎天天人头攒动，观者踊跃。在不到20天内，参观者已经超过4万人，观众仍表示“时间太短，意犹未尽”。

留住历史辉煌

半个世纪来，刘宇一在画坛默默耕耘，勤奋探索，力求做到洋为中用、古为今用，在创作上独辟蹊径，兼收并蓄东西方绘画艺术之精髓，逐渐形成了气势恢宏、构思巧妙、形象逼真和创意灵动的独特艺术风格。他用油画记载中国历史的发展历程，先后创作了《良宵》《良辰》《伟业千秋》《开国盛典》《初春》《八一颂》《共铸乾坤》《春回神州》《女娲之歌》《瑶池会仙图》《和平颂》等一系列史诗性的大型题材作品，热情讴歌中华民族的盛世辉煌和改革开放的时代精神。刘宇一认为，杏花春雨固然迷人，金戈铁马一样诗意盎然，但他偏爱史诗般的作品，因为辉煌的历史才最能激发他创作的灵感与激情。他认为泱泱大国必须要有与之相称的鸿篇巨制，只有这样才能留住历史的辉煌，不负时代的期望。正因为如此，在新旧世纪交替之际，他遵循联合国宪章原则创作出像《和平颂》那样的惊世之作，把截至2006年的世界190多个国家300余位中外各国元首和社会精英通列在同一幅画上共同欢庆这样伟大、欢乐场面。这一绘画史上旷古无闻的壮举，引动50多位国家元首的书信电文祝福与鸣谢。

刘宇一的巨作均以群像为主，在构图上注重整体性，既强调对称与对比，又注意肖像的传神，这是他获得成功的诀窍。他立意突破一般油画的传统模式，力求再现历史的真实场面，这样才能留住历史的辉煌，让我们的子孙有机会理解我们这个时代的甘苦和艰辛。

有道是天道酬勤。他长年累月呕心沥血所付出的辛勤劳动获得了国内外艺术界的广泛赏识和承认，深受国际艺术界的广泛欢迎。迄今已有15幅作品被珍藏在人民大会堂、天安门城楼、全国政协礼堂、毛主席纪念堂、钓鱼台国宾馆等国家殿堂和重要楼堂馆所，不少作品也为多个国家的博物馆或收藏机构收藏，有的还在国内外拍卖市场上以破纪录的价格售出。在香港就有为数不少的刘宇一作品的收藏家。1993年，《良宵》以836万港元成交；1994年，《女娲之歌》以888万港元成交；1995年，《瑶池会仙图》以1080万港元成交；1997年，《良辰》则以2300万港元成交。这位中华大地哺育的著名艺术家如今已跻身世界名画家行列，除了国内艺术殿堂之外，其作品早已跨进了比利时、卡塔尔和瑞典皇宫以及日本首相府、洪都拉斯总统府的门槛，在美国收藏界也有不少他的画作。

这位走向世界的画家1940年出生于四川，祖籍南京。由于在绘画艺术方面对社会文化所作出的杰出贡献，因此他当选为第十届、十一届全国政协委员。现任北京师范大学宇一艺术研究院院长、香港宇一画院名誉院长。

情动五洲绘群英

首博“刘宇一从艺50年回顾展”分为“国家殿堂，典藏鸿篇”、“情动五洲，大爱无疆”、“心系中华，力绘群英”、“姹紫嫣红，吟古咏今”、“水墨石韵，速写传情”、“山水无言，丹青寄语”、“炼艺铸魂，出品育人”、“父女画家，艺苑奇葩”等9个部分，共展出179幅精品。

《开国盛典》记载了毛泽东主席在天安门城楼上向全世界庄严宣告：“中华人民共和国中央人民政府成立了！”《良宵》《初春》《伟业千秋》和《共铸乾坤》等主题画则通过中秋夜月、春节团拜或国庆佳节的喜庆场面来着意表现中国共产党人与各民主党派、少数民族互贺新禧、和衷共济的热烈氛围。刘宇一认为，我们都是“地球人”，人类应和谐共处，同唱一首歌—爱与和平。在联合国成立50周年之际，他费时5年创作的《和平颂—人类千禧交响诗》，表现人类进入新千年之际，不同种族、不同国籍、不同肤色的人们共同奏响和谐的天籁之曲—和平颂。画作反映了刘宇一对世界和平的向往。2008年北京举办奥运会时，刘宇一又与女儿刘浩眉合作了《奥林匹克颂》。这幅耗时7年创作的百米油画长卷，通过穿越时空的独特构思和气势恢宏的创作手法，艺术地描绘了百年奥运的辉煌历史和英雄人物，歌颂了奥林匹克精神。刘宇一情动五洲，大爱无疆，多次游历美国、英国、法国、德国和日本、意大利等国家及中国的台湾、澳门等地，沿途创作和写生了无数佳作，用彩色和线条传播友谊与大爱。

从1981年到1984年，他身背画箱遍访北京、上海、天津、南京、广州、福州、郑州等地的学者名家—当面写生，为他们造像。他一口气画下了百余个人，其中活灵活现的要数巴金、冰心、齐白石、徐悲鸿、刘海粟、蒋兆和、艾青、凌子风、白淑湘、李谷一、贝聿铭、金庸、冯友兰、夏衍、陈龙、何鸿燊、李嘉诚、霍英东等。当他为叶圣陶先生所作肖像成像时，叶老连连满意地说：“这就是我，就是我呀！”为此，作家丁玲称刘宇一的神笔为“我国肖像画史上实属罕见的创举”，认为这批作品“具有可以传世的文献价值”。刘宇一崇尚“真、善、美”，他认为，人体美是美的极致；以美术之法去揭示人格之美，是画家的天职。因此他最喜欢画人，他不仅画了我国古代传说中的“沉鱼、落雁、闭月、羞花”四大美女西施、王昭君、貂蝉、杨贵妃，而且还为本世纪的各国元首画了肖像。

人们十分欣赏宇一大师寄寓于画作中的活泼诙谐意趣，最具代表性的当推《白石大师四季怡乐图》以及《一举三得》《知音》和《风止蝉静听呢喃》。这些是他为数不多的国画尝试；另一幅《和声—张大千与毕加索在一起》别具浪漫情趣，正如他的附诗所言：“丹青自古道东西，线面形神各玄机，毕调张音臻妙曲，达情言志九归一。”

中国油画要走向世界

有识之士认为，当代以史实为题材、有深度创作并获得认可的鸿篇巨作的画家非刘宇一莫属；用油画记载共和国发展的第一人也当推刘宇一。他所塑造的历史画作给予社会、美术界及市场一种推动力，因为他的作品既迎合了当代大众的欣赏品味，又具有当今市场的升值潜力。中国油画要走向世界，必须面对博大精深的西方油画传统，然后结合中国几千年的绘画传统，走出自己的路来。刘宇一所设计的“宇一经纬”创作规划便是一种开创自身品牌、走向世界的可贵实践。而《开国盛典》《良宵》《良辰》《伟业千秋》《初春》《女娲之歌》《人民万岁》《月明星亮歌儿甜》等作品正是刘宇一风格的体现。他在《瑶池会仙图》《耘天》和《歌日》等作品中则大胆将中国年画的表现手法融入了油画创作，使作品透出中国民俗画的底蕴。这正是一种油画民族化的尝试。

刘宇一的创作技巧采用“直接画法”，即“综合画法”，一笔或数笔下去，造型、色彩、明暗等同时解决。这要求画家具备敏锐的洞察能力和熟练的创作技巧。他的画传神、生动，线条流畅，色彩丰富，对比强烈，特别善于运用细致入微的中间色，这是一种既省料又省时的“薄涂法”，且立体感出奇的强；而在处理风景画时则采用散涂法，不仅准确而快捷，而且能产生雕塑感。画肖像时善于抓住最能反映人物性格特点的表情与神韵，纵笔挥洒，一气呵成，使之神形兼备。这一点连豪气如虹的海粟老人也不免赞佩说：“刘宇一真不简单，他做了许多我想做而做不到的好事；画了许多我想画而没有画的好画。”于是海粟老人激情勃发地当场挥毫一幅“大风起兮云飞扬”书法作品送给后生，这不但表明了前辈对刘宇一艺术成就的认可，同时也寄望他继往开来，再铸辉煌。

Oil Painter Holds Solo Exhibition in Capital Museum

By Sun Guowei， our special reporter in Beijing

Artist Liu Yuyi held his solo exhibition from July 10 through 29 at Capital Museum in Beijing in commemoration of his 50-year artist career. More than 40，000 people visited the exhibition in 19 days. Many said the exhibition should have lasted longer so that they could have had more time to go through the paintings there.

Born in 1940 in Sichuan Province， Liu Yuyi has his family roots in Nanjing， a historical city in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. The 72-year-old now serves as director of an art institute named after him with Beijing Normal University and an art academy in Hong Kong， which is also named after him.

The oil painter is celebrated for his figure paintings. Over the past five decades， he has created quite a few large-size artworks depicting real people and legendary figures. His “Ode to Peace” portrays more than 300 leaders and celebrities of the worlds 190 countries and regions. His historical oil paintings fetched mind-boggling awards at auctions in Hong Kong. “Fine Moment”， for example， auctioned off for 23 million Hong Kong dollars. Three other oil paintings previously auctioned off in Hong Kong brought him more than 25 million HK dollars. His paintings are now in the royal collections of Belgium and Qatar. Many are in private collections in USA.

At the exhibition were 179 artworks in nine sections， including epic paintings in memory of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949， portraits of celebrities， landscape， and ink-wash paintings. Some paintings at the exhibition were jointly created by Liu Yuyi and his daughter Liu Haomei.

From 1981 to 1984， Liu Yuyi spent about four years visiting prominent artists， authors， poets， and other social celebrities in Beijing， Shanghai， Tianjin， Nanjing， Guangzhou， Fuzhou and Zhengzhou. His complete series of portraits include such celebrities as Ba Jin， Bing Xin， Qi Baishi， Xu Beihong， Liu Haishu， Jiang Zhaohe， Ai Qing， Ling Zifeng， Bai Shuxiang， Li Guyi， Pei Leoh Ming， Louis Cha， Feng Youlan， Xia Yan， Chen Long， Ho Hung San， Li Ka Shing and Henry Fok Ying Tung. Ding Ling， an author of the 20th century， commented that Lius oil portraits of the celebrities were like a documentary of historical significance， a legacy to future generations for a peep into the spiritual worlds of these big names.

Liu Yuyi believes human bodies are the ultimate beauty and serve as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. For him， art is a means to the end of expressing the beauty of personality and temperament. That explains why his preference is painting people. He has painted hundreds of the heads of states in the 20th century and he has created portraits of four ancient beauties of China. He also dabbles in the traditional Chinese painting. A few artworks at the exhibition showcase his achievement in this oriental art genre.

Liu Yuyi is critically acclaimed for having recreated history in oil painting in China by capturing moments of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. His historical paintings are appreciated by both the public and artists， as testified by the auction results.

His career achievement seems to suggest that oil painting in China needs to absorb the best of western traditional and integrate it with Chinese art tradition that is several thousands of years.

Liu Yuyi is more than an artist who creates historical paintings. He is an accomplished artist. Technically， he is celebrated for what he calls direct painting： he often paints directly and his brushstrokes create form， color， light and shadow all together in harmony. While doing portraits， he can easily capture the expression that best describes a person. Liu Haisu （1896-1994）， a master of traditional Chinese painting， commented that Liu Yuyi was extraordinary. Liu said， “He creates paintings I want to do but fail to create and he does great things I want to do but cannot achieve”.