谢楚余：生活中散发的艺术魅力

铭文

作为著名油画家，他擅长将中国题材与人物用西方古典绘画手法表达出来，显得既典雅高贵又为大众喜闻乐见。他不仅在艺术上追求完美，对生活也倾注着独特的艺术追求

著名油画家谢楚余最近应邀到广东汕头参加海内外名贤艺术聚会，与海外归来的华侨同胞、艺术大师们欢聚纵论艺界盛事，共同探讨丹青艺术和收藏文化。作为油画大家，谢楚余不仅在艺术上造诣颇深，对生活也倾注着独特的艺术追求。

每一个为家庭所构筑的世界中，美丽永远是源于我们内心那份对幸福生活的向往，艺术家谢楚余更不例外，但他更擅长于为空间的任何一处角落营造一份惬意的景致，让艺术的意象在生活中蔓延。

在谢楚余的家居中，面对主人对艺术与生活全景的把握，我们无法去衡量生活与艺术的轻重，因为，那里没有谁是主角、谁是配角，艺术地栖居使人赏心悦目、流连忘返之余，更获得一种诗性的智慧。

让艺术意象在生活中蔓延

谢楚余对建筑艺术有自己的见解，他说，我十分喜欢具有大都市气息的地方，特别是欧洲城市。法国与德国的城市多是艺术和文化之都，历史遗迹、博物馆、名人故居和歌剧院等人文景观数不胜数。在那些城市，现代建筑与古老建筑混合在一起，展现着深厚的人文积淀，却也充满活力，具有非常鲜明的城市个性，生活在其中的人们在想象与憧憬中不自觉地放松心情，这样的城市与建筑营造的是一种具有高生活品味的城市生活。

家居的布置，只要是情之所引，也必然会有一种永恒的魅力。谢楚余位于广州美院的家居空间，尽管快要搬离这个住了将近20年的地方，但光洁的地板与错落有致的空间布局，仍然能让人感受到生活的自然怡适。

进门入眼，光亮的木地板与暖白色的墙面粉饰了老房子的陈旧，收获一份热爱生活的感动；用鲜花锦簇的美丽形象来增添空间的活力，收获的是坐拥四季的美景；毫无隔断的客厅、雅致的拱门与日式榻榻米化解了空间局促的尴尬，收获的是丰富的空间意象。

在每一个为家庭所构筑的世界中，美丽永远是源于我们内心那份对幸福生活的向往，艺术家谢楚余更不例外，但他更擅长于为空间的任何一处地方营造一份惬意的景致，让艺术的意象在生活中蔓延……无论大门边上摆满艺术品的边柜、客厅墙面装饰的油画原作、电视柜上的木雕与鲜花，还是画室中的陶陶罐罐、画架和干花，都可以就着自己的空间角落，自成一景。在拍摄空间图片的过程中，忙里忙外的谢楚余显得特别的“可爱”与“较真”，摆弄着不同颜色的花束、道具，或是撤离大堆大堆的书本，甚至为摄影师找好构图角度，而这仅仅为了那定格的一瞬间，突然明白，追求极致唯美不仅是其作品的风格，已然成为一种习惯……

艺术藏品的另类诠释

居住，有时和人的想象有关。每一种事物，如何在一个空间中，吟咏出属于它们各自纯粹的美，如何交汇诞生出和谐的神韵，这都需要想象。在谢楚余的家中，便有足够多的事物去激发人的想象，这种想象，可以是未来，也可以是过去。许多来自不同地方、风格不同的艺术藏品与自己的画作，在这个空间中，若即若离，收藏着生活中的一切可能。

这个空间中还有圣母玛利亚木雕像、脸谱木雕挂件、云南的毛毯以及陶陶罐罐等来自不同地方、新旧程度不同的艺术品被“任意”地组合，让空间呈现出丰富的视觉享受。谢楚余说，他喜欢旅游，喜欢每到一处就去艺术品市场“淘宝”，也许不是最贵的，但一定是最合他眼缘的。对许多自己画作中的“配角”的实物，有铁壶，也有陶罐，还有干花，谢楚余也津津乐道：“我的这些物件都在我的画作中出现过，许多人都反映感觉不错，但其实这些都是很普通的事物，但现在看来，它们既是道具，也能为家居增添别样的味道，一举两得。”欣喜之情，溢于言表。

许多人热衷于收藏“旧物”，大多是因为它们有升值的空间。但在谢楚余这里，可以得到了另类的诠释。谢楚余也喜欢收藏“旧物”，在电视柜旁边的潮州木通雕就是他费了好大的劲才弄到手的心爱藏品，岁月的洗礼让这几板具有百年历史的金漆木通雕散发出悠远绵长的历史感，在居室角落静享一份远离喧嚣的本真。而位于画室与小书房隔断的推拉墙上，两条从贵州带回的长约两米的原始图腾木雕与木色的空间主调呼应，在柔美空间氛围与原始张力的矛盾中寻求着统一。在谢楚余看来，现代事物往往给人以距离感，“旧物”盛放出一种岁月流光的华美与丰满，不仅能让人回味，还带有更多的包容，似乎隔着数代的时光遥相对望，人的心境也会特别地开阔……

艺术之美为大众喜闻乐见

谢楚余从1989年起，先后在中国广州、台湾，并在新加坡、美国等地举办9次个人画展。1993年和2001年分别赴美国、法国进行学术交流及专业考察。至今已游历了五十余国。代表作有《和辑百越》《唐人街》《英雄团长刘放吾》《春音》《南国少女》《陶》《木板上的拳套》《旅人》《炫》《荔鄉女》等。

谢楚余的画最大特点就在于将中国题材与人物用西方古典绘画手法表达出来，显得既典雅高贵又为大众喜闻乐见。当近距离去感受画面内容、造型、色彩与作者的技法，体会到的是画册远远无法给予的细腻与感染。谢楚余笔下的女子多为现代女性，背景为室外自然风景，女子神态平静、空灵，纤尘不染。很多人评价谢楚余的画“唯美、典雅、高贵、细致”。也许之前，总会认为谢楚余的油画只是意在刻画美女，如今细细体味却会发觉艺术家的意图并没有这么简单。谢楚余说，他笔下的“美女”并非现实中的个体，找模特、找角度，画作展现的形象是集合众多个体之美的结果，或平和、宁静、恬淡、宠辱不动，或纯真、灵动、洁净、不沾染一尘世俗，但呈现给这个世界的一定是最美的姿态。

画室中，谢楚余毫不吝啬地将画作一一摆放出来，其中，《春音》这幅新作让众多参观者驻足不前。与谢楚余之前的任何作品都不同，该画虽然延续了写实唯美、追求极致的风貌，但在颜料应用和色彩处理上有大胆与全新的实验，并体现出一种梦幻华丽的时代感，使观者备感奢华富贵。“画中少女可以在朦朦胧胧、仿佛花影摇曳的背景烘托下，眼神迷离，如沐春风。那斑斓绚丽的衣服和自然飘逸的发丝似乎在朝霞或晚烟中晃动”。这些艺术效果的出现都要归功于富有现代元素和实验性技法的应用，谢楚余说：“《春音》的创作中，首次采用了金色和祖母绿等颜料，画中的中国红则是纯粹的朱砂，此外还使用了三种用贝壳做成的珍珠色，这样就可看出透明的质地，而在不同角度还折射出红、紫、绿等幻化的色彩。”endprint

其實，一直以来，谢楚余都坚持在颜料运用和色彩方面做各种各样的实验，他不愿意重复自己，更不愿意复制过去。在谢楚余的油画世界，他在用一种唯美的意象表达着自己的追求，他总在极力追求一种“理想美”。正如他所说的那样，艺术终究是用来创造美的；而美，终究是用来给人以愉悦和享受的。

Xie Chuyu：

Prominent Oil Painter

By Ming Wen

An associate professor and supervisor to graduate students with Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts， Xie Chuyu is a famed oil painting master specialized in portraiture. He has held nine solo exhibitions at home and abroad since 1989. In 1993 and 2001， he visited USA and France respectively for academic exchanges and studies. His works have appeared at many national and provincial exhibitions. He has published six books of oil paintings.

Recently， we visited him at his home and took some photos there. The following is an incomplete summary of the impressions we got from the photo-shot visit.

Xie loves traveling. So far he has traveled in over 50 countries and regions across the world. He has long since been in love with European cities and he likes the architectural beauty and cultural traditions there. He can count the historical sites， museums， celebrities homes， and opera houses in the cities he has visited in France and Germany， thinking these cities are time-honored and have unique personalities and charismas. He says he feels relaxed in these cities.

The taste Professor Xie has acquired from visits to European cities can be seen at his home on the campus of the academy. He has lived there for nearly 20 years and is about to move to a new home. The apartment looked graceful： the shiny floorboards and white walls concealed the tear and wear of the old building. The artists love for colors presented itself everywhere： flowers in an open space and paintings. Some valuable collectors items and tourist souvenirs were everywhere： wood sculptures， facial masks， tapestries， dehydrated flowers， and pottery pieces. They were displayed artistically and they could be regrouped willfully to morph into new presentations. In fact， Xie moved things around so as to create new backgrounds for photos to be taken.

Xie mentioned that he likes to visit art and souvenir markets wherever he travels. He doesnt buy the most expensive things. He buys what appeals to him at the first sight. Some objects he bought from his treasure hunts have appeared in his paintings： an iron kettle， a pottery jar， dehydrated flowers. “Some people have commented that these objects feel right in my paintings. In fact， they are ordinary things. In retrospect， they not only are props in paintings but also add an artistic touch to my home，” the artist commented joyfully.endprint

Unlike some collectors who wait for their collections to become more valuable， Xie Chuyu enjoys the beauty of his treasures. A few woodcarving pieces on display beside the television set are his favorites. He took trouble to put his hands on them. The woodcarving pieces， all several hundred years old and gilded， quietly featured serenity and innocence in the corner of the sitting room. On the wooden wall between his studio and library were two primitive totem woodcarvings he brought back from his trip to Guizhou in southwestern China. Each totem thing measured about 2 meters long， presenting a harmony between the ancient ferocity of the totems and the spatial softness of the wall.

We came into Xies studio. The artist brought out his latest works and allowed us to take a look. The paintings were impressive. Xie Chuyu stands out as an oil painter who features the Chinese subject matter in the classic western approach. His paintings present grace and nobleness， which Chinese people find no difficulty appreciating. Most of the portraits he paints are young women. They look ethereal. Some critics say that Xies paintings are aesthetic， graceful， immaculate， and noble and that Xie spares no efforts to get the infinitesimal details perfect. “The heartthrobs in my paintings are not real ones in everyday life，” explained Xie. “A young woman in a painting combines elements from various sources. Some look serene， peaceful as if nothing in the world can disturb them and some look pure and innocent.” We were under the impression that all the girls looked perfect in a perfect world.

The visit to the studio gave us an opportunity to take a closer look at the originals. The originals presented touches on the canvases that are often lost in photos and print publications. Xie explained his latest experiment on colors to us in one painting. In the painting， he applied some tints which he had never used before. In fact， Xie keeps trying to break new grounds in his painting of beautiful women. He hates to repeat himself. His is in a pursuit of idealism and perfectionism. In his world， art is ultimately about beauty that breeds joy and appreciation.endprint