阳春水影，盛世花开——记“花开盛世——中国美术馆藏花鸟画精品展”

文吴为山WU Weishan

中国文化对于万物分科具有高度的概括性，譬如将中国画分为三科：山水、人物、花鸟。与山水、人物相比，花鸟是最能反映人与动植物鲜活关系的画科。无论是花鸟草虫蔬果，还是翎毛鳞介禽兽，皆被归入这一科，并体现其和谐自然、平衡发展的关联性与生态性，堪称花草王国、动物天堂，显示出一派生机勃勃景象。

自宋代以来，中国花鸟画获得了高度发展。无论是采取工笔或写意的手法，花鸟画皆求真，不仅要画出常形，更要画出常理，因此宋代院体工笔花鸟画与文人写意花鸟画均获得了崇高的艺术史地位，为后世顶礼膜拜。尤其是其绘物之精、状物之妙、体物之情、写物之神，得到了全方位的表现，展现了中国人观察自然的特色视角与抒情写意的独特方式。其间的花团锦簇，活色生香，开拓了这类绘画题材的新境界与新意趣。苏轼等文人画思想的融入，更为“四君子”一类的花鸟画注入新的气象。艺术家不但将人们的审美观念与动植物的自然特征巧妙相连，而且将它们的个性特征与人类的象征、比拟手法相结合，以物喻人，以物写情，以物抒怀，以物壮志，极大地开拓了花鸟画的意象与内涵。这一时期，以梅、兰、竹、菊、松、柏等为代表的植物题材，以鹤、雁、马、牛、猿、鱼等为代表的动物题材得到了集中而深入的表现，并使中国人自古以来就有的托物言志的艺术与文教形式，呈现出熠熠生辉、光彩照人的繁荣景象。那些笔墨与色彩的绽放，呈现得意之妙，犹如自然与精灵的吟唱，不论是花间絮语，抑或是馨香一瓣，均可颤动人心，沁人心脾。

由于宋代官方的引领与民间的需要，构成了花鸟画在皇室、文人与民间之间的互动，形成了早期的花鸟画市场，将吉祥喜庆、寓教于乐的艺术题材与表现方式形成了新的传统。无间的花语，欢畅的思绪，烂漫的情怀，诗趣的观照，这些均对后世影响深远。

元代，随着统治阶段文化政策的改变，文人士大夫将花鸟画的象征功能进一步光大，将写意、小写意的艺术表现与文化作用发展到新的层面，突出文人士气，甚至一朵花、一片叶、一块石、一抔土，均使人油然生起家国之思，气节之扬。

明清时代，随着市民阶层的壮大与工商业的繁荣，艺术与市场，文化与生活高度接轨，职业画家队伍倍增。以花鸟画谋生的艺术家不断以生动鲜活的内容，雅俗共赏的语言，喜闻乐见的情景，花容月貌的效果，讨得口彩的形式，使文人艺术与贵族艺术、市民艺术相互借鉴、彼此影响，产生了诸多花鸟画名家以及创一代风气而光照千秋的花鸟画大师。其中尤为突出的是以徐渭、朱耷为代表的写意花鸟画家，他们以书入画，将家国情思融入画中，求新求变，使花鸟画的影响力突破了绘画领域，成为那个时代最为突出的文化现象之一。无论是潇洒挥就的杂花，还是冷眼示人的水鸟，无论是中锋写就的残荷怪石，还是墨笔纷飞的写意面块，它们均借助于花鸟画这种适于抒情的特殊载体，将中国画的写意方式发展到史无前例的境地，并影响了人物画、山水画的写意方式与语言构建，使得写意性成为中国画的最大特征之一。

近现代以来，花鸟画得到了长足发展，以任颐、吴昌硕、齐白石、陈师曾、于非闇、徐悲鸿、陈之佛、刘海粟、潘天寿、林风眠等为代表的艺术家不断推陈出新，或立足传统，或以西润中，或中西结合，或依中而变，致广大，尽精微，将花鸟画的构图、色彩、笔墨、内涵不断拓变革进，也使花鸟画的抒情性、表现性、象征性、文化性得到新的发展与深化。正是在这些基础上，当代画家们还向民间艺术学习，向传统艺术取经，向西方现当代艺术巡礼。他们深入到花鸟画科的方方面面，细化内容，开发题材，揣摩章法，探索色彩，研究特技，混沌边界，引发新境，大胆推动不同画种、画材、画法、画境的交叉结合。新一代花鸟画家的不懈探索，使得当代花鸟画百花齐放、争奇斗艳。

花开太平世，美在新时代。由中国美术馆主办的“花开盛世——中国美术馆藏花鸟画精品展”于1月25日至3月4日在北京展出，展览不但汇集了中国美术馆藏花鸟画精品100余件，而且将中国宋元以来的花鸟画发展脉络通过具体作品得到了集中展现与有效梳理，共分为三部分：第一部分展出宋、元、明、清时期的花鸟画；第二部分展出近现代花鸟画；第三部分展出当代花鸟画。花草葱茏，树木苍翠；水之潺潺，石之珞珞；禽之翱翔，兽之奔走；鱼之悠游，虫之鸣唱。这些画作中呈现的中国传统经典审美内容与当代生态和谐理论是切合的，彰显出自然之道。

The Chinese culture has a high degree of generalization for all things, for example, dividing Chinese painting into three categories: landscapes,figures, flowers and birds. Comparing with landscapes and figures, the flowers and birds are the best category reflecting the vivid relationship between human being, animals and plants. No matter flowers, birds, insects, fruits or fishes, they are all included in this section, reflecting the harmonious nature and development balance of relevance and ecology, namely the kingdom of flowers,paradise of animals, showcasing a vibrant scene.

The Chinese flower and bird paintings have witnessed a high degree of development since the Song Dynasty. Whether it is to take the artful or freehand brushwork,both birds and flowers paintings seek the truth, not only to draw a regular pattern,but also the common sense. Therefore, the academy-oriented flower and bird artful paintings and literati freehand flower and bird painting of the Song Dynasty have both received a lofty position in the history of art, worshiped by the later generations. The essence in painting, the wonder in status, feelings in experience and the charm in depiction, in particular, are comprehensively showcased,demonstrating the unique perspective of nature and special way of expressing emotions of the Chinese people. The flowers and lively fragrances in the meantime open up a brand-new realm and interest in such paintings. The integration of thinking of literati paintings, including that of SU Shi, has injected new charms into Four Great Figures flower and bird paintings. The artists not only link people's aesthetic concepts with the natural characteristics of animals and plants wisely,but also combine their individual characteristics with the symbolic and comparative approaches of human beings, borrowing issues to compare an individual, expressing emotion, showing up their hearts and inspirations and greatly opening up the image and meaning of flowers and birds painting.During this period, the themes of plants represented by plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, pine and cypress and those themes of animals represented by crane, wild goose, horse, cattle, ape, fish and others have been deeply showcased in a concentrated manner, allowing the arts and cultural forms depicting ambitions from different categories of the Chinese people from ancient time to show a glittering and brilliant prosperity. The blossom of ink and color shows the wonderful pride, as if it were singing of nature and elves, whether the flutter flowers or a sweet aroma, refreshing people’s heart.

Due to the government's guidance and civil needs in the Song Dynasty, it has established the interaction between the royal family, literati and the ordinary people concerning birds and flowers paintings and formed the early flower and bird painting markets, creating a brand-new tradition of a new artistic theme and expression of auspicious festivities and entertainments.Indescribable languages of flowers, joyous thoughts, brilliant feelings and poetic expressions… They have all cast far-reaching impact on the future generations.

In the Yuan Dynasty, with the change of cultural policies during the reign, the literati and scholars carried the symbolic functions of flower and bird paintings further, pushing the development of freehand and small freehand art performance and cultural functions to a new level, highlighting literati morale, even a flower, a leaf, a stone ora handful of soil arouses people’s contemplation and noble stance.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the growth of the public class and the prosperity of business and industry, the art and market, culture and life were highly integrated, teams of occupational painters grew dramatically. Artists living by flower and bird paintings constantly made literati arts, aristocratic arts and civil arts to learn and impact each other with vivid content, popular and refined languages, favorable scenes, charming effect and lovely forms, creating a number of great masters of flower and bird painting. Among them, the most notable are the flower and bird painters represented by XU Wei and ZHU Da, integrating their national belief and thoughts into paintings with much innovation, making the influence of such paintings break through the field of painting and making it one of the most prominent cultural phenomenon. Whether the miscellaneous flowers, cold waterfowl, ruins of lotus, a residual rock, or chic and easy freehand brushwork, they all borrowed the flower and bird painting, a special carrier suitable for lyricism to develop the freehand way of Chinese painting into an unprecedented situation, influencing the freehand way and language structure of portrait painting and landscape painting and making the freehandness one of the most outstanding features of Chinese painting.

Since the modern times, the flower and bird painting has witnessed marvelous strides. The artists represented by REN Yi, WU Changshuo, QI Baishi, CHEN Shizeng, YU Feian, XU Beihong, CHEN Zhifo, LIU Haisu, PAN Tianshou, LIN Fengmian and others have improved with great innovation, following the tradition, combining the Chinese and Western styles or adhering to the tradition with changes, constantly leading the subtle transformation of the composition,color, brush and ink, and connotations of flower and bird painting and realizing new development and deepening of its lyricism, expressiveness, symbolism and culture. It is on these bases that the contemporary artists also learn from the folk art, prehistoric art and salute to the Western contemporary art. Refining the content, developing the themes, exploring the rules, search for colors, studying special technique, blurring the boundaries, triggering new situations and boldly promoting the cross-cutting combination of diverse category, material, rules and artistic conception of paintings, they have delved into all aspects of subject of flower and bird painting. The unremitting exploration of a new generation of flower and bird painters makes such painting of modern times blossom in full bloom and contests.

Blossoming in the new flourishing age, the "Exhibition of Flower and Bird Paintings Collected by NAMOC "hosted by National Art Museum of China" has been held from 25, January to 4, March in Beijing. The exhibition, not only bringing together more than 100 pieces of bird and flower paintings collected by the NMOC, but also focusing on the development of bird and flower paintings since the Song and Yuan Dynasties in China through specific artworks, is divided into three parts: the first part displays the flower and bird paintings in Song,Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties; the second part displays the modern flower and bird paintings; the third part displays the contemporary bird and flower paintings.Green flower and grass, verdant trees, gurgling water, hard stones, soaring birds, running animals, touring fish and singing insects, the aesthetic content of traditional Chinese traditions presented in these paintings is in line with contemporary ecological harmony theory, highlighting the path of nature.