张玫
傅益瑶,中国画坛巨匠傅抱石之女,改革开放后被选派到日本学习艺术,致力于弘扬中国水墨画,获奖无数。障壁画、民间祭组画和诗意画是她的主要创作门类。在继承父亲创作手法的同时,她又能把传统的水墨技法与时代感有机地糅合在一起,创作了一系列富于变幻又充满情感的作品,成为当下中日两国文化交流领域富有盛名的画家。
2016年,她与金庸等文化名家入选中国第五届“中华之光——传播中华文化年度人物”时,获得的颁奖词是:“传巨匠衣钵,笔走金陵一脉;渡东海学艺,技惊扶桑画坛。撷唐宋文采,集俳句精华。巨幅壮阔,气贯长虹,酣畅演绎中国山水;悬腕挥毫,诗意深沉,倾情贯注浓郁和风。弘扬水墨传统,促进民间交流,文化使者,一代佳人。”
8月东京开个展,百幅巨作尽显中国风
3月,东京都立川市。今年的春天仿佛来得特别晚,尽管东风解冻,但樱花树的枝干还是光秃秃的。天空中飘着小雨,在通往傅益瑶画室的路上,她问我:“需要打伞吗?”我回答:“不,我喜欢在小雨中漫步的感觉。”她说:“我也是。”
72岁的傅益瑶笑着挽起我的手,我们就这样穿行在立川的小巷,这让我想起戴望舒《雨巷》里的那句诗:“撑着油纸伞,独自彷徨在悠长,悠长又寂寥的雨巷,我希望逢着,一个丁香一样地结着愁怨的姑娘。”
然而,傅益瑶并不是柔弱的丁香,也不像素雅的樱花,喜欢画巨幅作品的她,身上有着一种中国文人“当勇则死”的风骨与侠气。她更像是雍容华贵的牡丹,盛开时便狠狠绽放,不给百花留半点余地。这位“画坛泰斗”傅抱石先生的第五个孩子,有着精致美丽的外表、“红拂”式的侠肝义胆,更在诗书绘画上继承了父亲的文脉与衣钵。
继去年9月在上海工艺美术博物馆成功举办了“傅益瑶成扇紫砂壶册页作品特展”后,今年8月8日,汇集傅益瑶百幅巨作的个人大展,也将以最高规格的礼遇,在最负盛名的东京艺术剧场盛大开幕。在此之前,傅益瑶接受了笔者在东京的独家专访。
出身画家家庭,在别人看来,女承父业似乎是顺理成章的事,但是傅益瑶最初的理想却是电影与戏剧。
少女时代的她常常一大清早站在阳台上背诵台词,想象自己将来登上舞台的情景。事实上,傅益瑶确实有着当电影演员的资本——从小就是美人胚子,即便到了古稀之年,你依然会被她的美貌与气场所征服。甚至,从她的眼波流转间,你能捕捉到那种对艺术执着的爱,那样热烈、单纯,初心不改。
出生南京,傅益瑶却与杭州缘分不浅。“父亲特别喜欢盖叫天的武戏,经常在家里自己扮上。他还带我们去看浙江昆剧团的《十五贯》,哇,周传瑛先生扮演的况钟,那叫一个英气,我和姐姐都迷得不行。”
而傅益瑶学画的种子,是57年前在杭州被周恩来总理悄悄种下。
1963年,高中二年级的傅益瑶跟随父亲来杭州休养。一天,全家去看浙昆的《西园记》。进了小礼堂,才知道是招待外宾的演出,周恩来总理正陪同锡兰(现斯里兰卡)总统班达拉奈克夫人到访杭州。“在见到周总理时,总理问我和姐姐是不是也画画,爸爸说姐姐正在音乐学院学钢琴,又指着我说:‘我这个女儿呢,就喜欢演戏,不喜欢画画。”
傅益瑶至今依然清晰地记得,当时周总理摸着她的头问:“多大了?”“十五。”这是她唯一一次见到总理。周总理说:“为什么不学画画呢?音乐、戏剧固然好,但你学画更有利。如果你是别人的女儿,我就不说了,可是你看你爸爸,走的地方比我还多,笔下出来的都是好东西。像你爸爸一样画祖国山河,多有意义!”
那次经历给她留下了非常深刻的印象,但之后,父亲傅抱石并没有特意提起叫她再学画的事。不过,傅益瑶还是听从父亲意见,考进南京师范学院中文系古典文学专业。“父亲说要打好一个中文底子,才能画好画。现在是给你一把种子和一把铲子,打下一个中文基础,将来做什么都行。只要你肚子里装着书,画画才是最好的。”那时,傅益瑶突然想到,父亲可能还是希望她可以画画,他和周总理的叮咛不谋而合。
1965年夏天,傅益瑶顺利考入南京师范学院中文系没多久后,父亲傅抱石就因为劳累过度脑溢血去世。之后,傅益瑶下乡到江苏睢宁。正是这段在乡下的经历,让她感受到了泥土为何物,天空为何物。“现在毛笔一落下去,泥土的感觉就出来了。是山上结实的泥土,还是田里松软的泥土,都能区别出。”
也是在下乡的日子里,傅益瑶真正拿起了画笔。在孤独的油灯下,她拿出偷偷带在身边的父亲画作印刷品,呆呆地端详,父亲那睿智儒雅的笑容总是从画里浮现。“我清楚地记得父亲作画时的情景。父亲的手和笔,動起来似有一种韵律,像舞蹈一样,洋溢着愉悦的情绪。父亲说要学一个人,不能学他的果,要学他的因。即使你临摹一个人的画可以乱真,那都不行。绘画一定要发展,要有生命跟着它。”
1977年,接手父亲衣钵的傅益瑶被调往江苏省国画院从事专业绘画。但工作了一段时间之后,她发现自己并不适应。此时,她大哥又病倒了,让她中断了跟着大哥学画的念头。就在这时,她在报纸上看到了关于自费留学的介绍,萌生了去日本留学的念头。其实,傅抱石先生生前也曾提过让孩子留学的事。“父亲曾说,中国有的文化在日本保存得很好,去日本,就要把中国文化彻底搞通,而不是把中国文化丢掉。”
当时,傅益瑶的母亲给中央写了一封信,希望能够送傅益瑶去傅抱石当年就读的日本武藏野美术学校自费留学。没想到,这封恳切的求学信立刻得到了回复。于是,改革开放后傅益瑶被选派到日本学习艺术。
就这样,傅益瑶坐上了飞往东京的飞机。初到日本,语言不过关,有限的生活费更让她不敢乱花一分钱。还有一个需要攻克的难关是坐——日式房间是没有椅子的,只有坐垫,哪怕在自己家里,也只能伏在地上画画。
“初到日本,每天坐得浑身疼痛,站也不是,坐也不是。”为了练就“云动山不动,纸动人不动”的坐功,傅益瑶把脊梁挺直了,胸也挺了,心也静了。“现在我能正坐很久,一旦把人生的艰难转化成一种动力来做,就会有另外一种结果。”
时至今日,傅益瑶依然保持着朴素的创作——在她租来的三十平方米的画室里,除了书架上满满的书,就只剩下一块很局促的空间。没有桌子,她就跪着,用一种虔诚的姿势创作,“有人为了省力把宣纸挂在墙上画,但那样运笔,手腕的力量是不一样的,所以我还是坚持我的笨办法。”
在父亲当年就读的日本武藏野美术学校,傅益瑶学的是日本画专业。“日本画很难画,一幅静物图,往往要刷十一二遍颜色,很有磨洋工的味道。与水墨画落墨到纸上的迅速反应完全不同。”这样的创作方式,天性自由浪漫的傅益瑶骨子里并不接受。于是,她学习父亲的“两条腿走路”——一边学习日本画,一边抓住中国画不放。
在上世纪80年代的日本,水墨画并不受宠。有一次,苦闷的傅益瑶在学校图书馆看到一本叫《中国水墨画的精髓》的书,作者是一个叫吉村贞司的大学教授,里面的几句话一下子震动了她——“宋代山水畫是中国绘画的黄金时代”,因为每一笔都见精神。书中还说,大家不理解中国画的原因,是因为中国画是懂的人画给懂的人看的。很多人说中国画没有理论,实际上不对。中国画的理论只是没有一个跟外界交流的方式,就像是自己心情的记录,不是外国人能懂的。
这种对中国水墨的见解,让傅益瑶更加坚定了要回归水墨画的决心。
上世纪80年代的日本,泡沫经济下的绘画就像股票一样。傅益瑶亲眼见证了画家朋友原来40万日元一张的画,在两年时间变成400万日元。也有很多画商找到她,高价要她模仿她父亲的画,都被她拒绝了。“清贫是一个非常有效的屏障,在日本多年,我从来没通过画商卖过一次画。”
她最大的生活来源就是做文化事业,其中一项就是创作障壁画。
今年8月举行的东京大展,将主要展现傅益瑶在障壁画、民间祭组画和诗意画上的成就。
障壁画,其实就是中国的壁画。日本寺庙众多,她先是受日本邻居的邀请,为其家庙画了一张《户隐大昌寺山景》,正是这幅她刻意用水墨表现的画,让她开启障壁画的事业。这个外表看起来并不能吃苦修行的漂亮女画家,就此诞生了众多代表作,如《佛教东渐图》《比叡山延历寺图》《天台山国清寺图》等等。
“世间最怕认真二字。有时候,我在寺庙里闭门画画,僧人忘了给我送饭,我就饿着,坚持投入地画下去。后来,他们看到画都很感动,成为我最坚实的后援。”
比叡山延历寺是天台宗的总本山,为日本佛教圣地。当傅益瑶完成那幅巨幅镇馆之宝《佛教东渐图》后,比叡山滋贺院门遗迹大方丈小林隆彰表示:“比起必须束之高阁的宝物,我更希望殿内有能让人安心欣赏之物——那就是傅老师的《佛教东渐图》。因为傅老师的画,是会说话的。对延历寺来说,那幅画作比什么都重要。”
8月举行的这次东京展览的另一大主题,便是民间祭。这是傅益瑶在日本“捡”到的一个主题,并逐渐形成自己一个独特的绘画门类——“那些数百上千年的历史,如此鲜活地留存在这些民间祭中”。
2015年,她受原中国文化部的邀请,赴屈原故里湖北秭归采风,完成长达14米的大型国画长卷《非物质文化遗产·端午》。这是中国首次以长卷形式再现联合国教科文组织“人类非遗代表作名录”项目的活态传承现状。
采风中,傅益瑶一直苦恼于如何将众多民俗场景在一幅卷轴中呈现。终于,她想到了用民歌式的串联——给孩子洗澡以求“百病皆除”、包粽子、挂艾草、点雄黄、屈原诗会……“我画民间祭有一个原则,就是把自己的审美感受和笔墨与当地居民情感融在一起。”而这次,这幅收藏于中国艺术研究院的巨作也将亮相于8月的东京大展。
Fu Yiyao to Hold Solo Art Exhibition in Tokyo
By Zhang Mei
Fu Yiyao, at the age of 72, is a daughter of Fu Baoshi, a master of traditional Chinese painting in the 20th century. She was the first Chinese student sent to study art in Japan after the reform and opening up to the world drive started in China. Over years, she has promoted Chinese ink painting in Japan. Her solo art exhibition is scheduled to start on August 8, 2019 in Tokyo.
This past March, I visited her in Tachikawa, a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. We had a long talk about her life and career.
She didnt want to study art when she was a young girl even though her father was one of the most prominent landscape artists of China back then. She dreamed of becoming a theater actor. In these teenage years, she tried very hard. Her father often brought her to theaters to watch best Peking Opera plays and Kunqu Opera plays. In 1962, her father brought the family to Hangzhou for a vocation. One day, they went to watch a Kunqu Opera play. At the theater the family met Premier Zhou Enlai and had a chat. The premier asked the master about his two daughters. The father talked about his two daughters ambitions. Then the premier urged the 15-year-old Fu Yiyao to study art, saying “Why not give art a try? Music and theater are good, but you have an edge. If you were other peoples daughter, I wouldnt say a word. But you see your father has traveled and seen the world better than I have and has turned what he saw into beautiful paintings. It would be meaningful if you could create paintings like those of your fathers!”
Her father never talked with her about this meeting with the premier. Nor did he ever urge her to study art. But she followed her fathers advice and picked ancient Chinese literature as her college major. “My father said a solid knowledge of Chinese helps painting a great deal and helps a great deal no matter what career one chooses to pursue later. He said knowledge makes best artists,” Fu Yiyao recalls. It dawned upon her that her father really hoped that she would study art.
In September 1965, Fu Baoshi died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 61, shortly after she was admitted to Nanjing Normal College.
Her college study was soon interrupted by the political tumult and she was exiled to a remote rural county in northern Jiangsu. It was there that she began to learn how to paint by studying her fathers paintings in printed albums. In 1977 she was transferred to work as an artist at Jiangsu Academy of Traditional Chinese Painting. Pretty soon she found the job did not suit her very well. Then her elder brother fell ill and her wish to study art under his guidance went nowhere. It was then that she learned about studying art in Japan and remembered what her father once said about studying in Japan. “My father once commented that Chinese culture was well preserved in Japan. Studying in Japan helps understand Chinese culture thoroughly. It doesnt mean to get rid of Chinese culture,” she remembers.
Her mother wrote a letter to the central government in the hope that Fu Yiyao could be allowed to study art at her own expenses at Musashino Art University, a private university in Kodaira, western Tokyo, founded in 1962 and having roots going back to 1929. Fu Baoshi had studied art there. Deng Xiaoping personally approved the application and instructed the government to provide financial aids for her study.
In 1979, Fu Yiyao arrived in Japan and began her study. She spent time learning Japanese and adjusting herself to the Japanese life. The typical Japanese house doesnt have chairs. She had to sit on a cushion on the floor and lean forward to paint. Eventually she accustomed to sitting on the floor and painting. Nowadays, she still paints by kneeling on the floor. Her studio is full of bookshelves. She never likes painting on paper perpendicularly adhered to the wall because that inconveniences her wrist and gives the wrist wrong movements.
She majored Japanese painting at MAU, but she didnt like the style and the procedure. It takes too much time to finish just one detail whereas Chinese ink painting requires instant decision and receives instant feedback from brushstrokes on paper and gets fast gratification. So she practiced Chinese ink painting in her spare time.
In the 1980s, ink painting was not particularly appreciated in Japan. It was not until she read a book by Professor Yoshimura on the essence of Chinese painting that she came to understand why ink painting wasnt duly appreciated. The professor stated that landscape painting of the Song presented the gold age of Chinese painting. The professor went on to say that most people didnt understand Chinese painting essentially because Chinese paintings were created for the eyes of those who understood and that it was wrong to assume Chinese painting was never underpinned by theory. In his opinion, Chinese painting didnt care to build communication with outsiders. The professors insight made Fu Yiyao more determined to go back to ink painting.
Art market boomed in Japan in the 1980s as the island countrys economy flourished. Some gallery owners were willing to pay her a fortune for her to imitate her fathers paintings. She said no. “Poverty is an effective self-protection shield. I have never sold a painting through the hands of a gallery owner even though I have been in Japan for so many years,” she says.
She makes a living by engaging in cultural undertakings. Creating murals for religious temples accounts for a big part of her income. Her ink painting for a family shrine at the invitation of a neighbor opened up a huge market for her. She was invited to paint for temples. Many of her temple murals are considered masterpieces. The solo exhibition in upcoming August will display some of her best murals in huge sizes.
Another theme at the solo exhibition will be folk sacrificial ceremonies. She stumbled into this theme in Japan and has developed it into a unique subgenre of art. “These sacrificial ceremonies at grassroots level keep history and tradition of hundred years or even thousand years alive,” she observes.