The five cows painstakingly portrayed by Han Meng have their own characteristics and vivid images, which can be described as "perfect". The mystery is wonderful, and the gods are radiant. In static form, the whole picture is inspired by the intentional expression of personality, which vividly shows the artistic conception of cattle grazing in mountains and rivers. The whole painting does not draw the background, leaving a large blank, leaving the viewer with room for imagination.
The brushwork of Five Cattle Map is bold and old-fashioned, which summarizes the body structure of cattle with extremely simple lines. The lines are well-organized, the brushwork is calm, and there is no intention of seeking work with a weak pen. But at the turning point of the constitution, it is quite obvious mutation, turning around.
"Five Niu Tu [5]"? It is a jute paper book with a length of 20.8 cm and a width of 139.8 cm. The horizontal scroll is painted with five cows with different attitudes, personalities and ages. From right to left, the first one is an old brown cow, which is depicted as chewing something while tickling beside miscellaneous trees, with a leisurely posture; Followed by black and white cattle, the body is growing, the tail is swinging, and the pace is steady; The third horse is an old cow with dark ochre, skinny, muscular, vertical singing, white eyebrows and old age; The fourth horse is a scalper, tall and steep, looking back; The fifth cow, standing around his head, was plump and thoughtful, with stubborn eyes.
There is no author's name on the scroll of "Five Cattle Map", but there are inscriptions by Zhao Mengfu, Kong, Xiang,, et al. 14. On the last piece of paper. Qinghe Calligraphy and Painting Boat, Coral Net, Notes on Yu Calligraphy and Painting, Notes on Liuyanzhai, Grand View Record, and Continuation of Shiqu Baodi are all recorded. Wu Niutu's identity and family background are clear and definite. Gan Long's poem in the painting is "one cow is wrapped around four cows, which is a magnificent scene and lofty imagination;" You should only praise Xiao Qu, but you should know the people's difficulties, because you will ask questions. "
Creation background
Time background
In the early Tang Dynasty, there were more and more painters represented by cattle and horses, and reached a climax in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Many painters are famous for their cows and horses.
Creative process
It is said that Han Kun once talked with a friend about painting, and the friend asked, "Recently, painters talked about donkeys, cows and horses, and they all thought they were the most difficult common animals to describe and depict. What do you think of my brother? " After a little thinking, Han Hun replied: "This statement has some truth, because cows and horses are familiar domestic animals and are very common. People can find out whether the painter is a little careless or has made mistakes carelessly, so most painters don't deal with such topics. " At this point, he paused and said, "However, I thought farming has been the foundation of the world since ancient times, and raising cattle is the treasure of farmers." As long as the painter can observe carefully, he can still draw characteristics. "His friends admire his original ideas very much.
On a sunny day, Han Han led his entourage to the field path in the suburbs, where the spring breeze was warm and the trees were shaded, which was refreshing. Han Soul saw several cows bowing their heads to eat grass, two or three shepherds playing, and a shepherd boy riding on the back of the cows and playing the flute, enjoying himself. In the distance, I saw another cow running eagerly and other cows chirping vertically. Some turned to lick their tongues, while others looked down for grass. In the clearing, several farmers are using Niu Gengdi to turn over the soil. Korea mixed with ecstasy, hurriedly ordered his followers to take out paper and pen, and quickly wrote a picture of a cow with rapt attention. After more than a month of repeated revisions, five cows with different shapes were finally drawn. Han Yun was very satisfied with the creation of this painting, and named it "Five Cattle Map".
works appreciation
Theme of the work
According to some experts' research, Han Yun's "Five Cattle Map" is full of strong personal feelings. Wu Niu refers to five brothers, expressing their love and loyalty to the monarch with the character of a heavy-hearted, hardworking and docile cow. According to historical records, during his tenure as prime minister, Han Yun attached great importance to the development of agriculture. His painting of cattle probably meant encouraging farming.
Artistic feature
The five cows in the picture of the five cows are full of movements, walking, standing, bowing or holding their heads high. What is valuable is that there is no background on the screen, and the cow is the object of performance. If you don't observe the cow carefully, you can't fully grasp the description of the cow's shape, and you will never dare to set foot in this painting risk. Although the outline of the cow's lines is simple, the drawn bones and muscles rotate in place, the fluff on the nose and mouth of the cow is meticulous, and the bright eyes reflect the gentle and stubborn character of the cow. In the era of encouraging farming, painting with cattle is of great significance.
The five cows in the painting are lined up from left to right, and each cow has a different appearance and posture. One is eating grass with his head down, the other is looking forward, the other is licking his tongue, the other is walking slowly, and the other is tickling on the Jing tree. The whole picture has no background except a small tree on the last right, so each cow can stand alone.
In the application of skills, the painter outlined the outline of the cow with thick and powerful ink lines, showing its strength, calmness and slowness. In particular, the intentional rendering of the eyes, nose, hooves, toes, beards and other parts of cattle highlights the strong bones and muscles and real fur of cattle. The picture is also very distinctive in color. Two dark brown heads and two or three yellow heads represent the most typical fur color of dairy cows, although only two colors are used.
"The finishing touch" is the key to the overall situation. The painter made a proper exaggeration and deliberate description of the bull's eye, which made the five bull's eyes bright and reached the artistic realm of both form and spirit. The five cows are all bright-eyed and profound, showing their docile and stubborn character to the fullest. The painter focuses on the wrinkles around the eyes of cows, and also depicts the eyelashes on the edge of five cows' eyes with sharp and vigorous brushstrokes. Through detailed description, emphasize the unique personality of each cow and let them clearly show their different expressions. The viewer can clearly feel that these five cows not only have life and emotion, but also have their own different inner worlds. This is the personalized five cows.
This painting, as a hand-painted group painting, takes cows as the performance object. Because there is no background, it is really difficult to consider the arrangement of composition, and it is not easy to be very distinctive. The painter handled this problem perfectly through the symmetrical form in composition processing. He drew a green cow in the middle as a positive image, which made the green cow directly face the audience, with a unique perspective and formed the center of the picture. Two cows are arranged on both sides, extending symmetrically from left to right, and five cows can also be closely connected. These five cows are a single individual, closely connected with each other, forming a very harmonious and unified whole. Although five cows are arranged in parallel on the picture, the picture is not dull through their dynamic characteristics of holding their heads high, bowing their heads and looking around, and subtle changes in composition can be seen in mutual echo, thus effectively solving the problem of dull composition and creating a perfect composition style of hand-rolled cattle painting.
"Five Cattle Map" broke the decorative pattern of painting only the side and plane of cattle in Han Dynasty, and vividly showed the various trends of cattle. Especially a cow in the middle is facing the viewer from a unique angle. Because the painter accurately draws the perspective relationship of cattle and has a strong three-dimensional sense, it is also a perfect tool.
Evaluation of works
Zhao Mengfu, a painter in the Yuan Dynasty, said: "Five cows are magnificent and rare in the world."
Collection exhibition
According to the poems and inscriptions on the scrolls, the spread and evolution of Han Yun's "Five Cattle Map" once flowed into the inner government of the Southern Song Dynasty, was collected by Zhao Boang, Zhao Mengfu, Prince Yuan and others in the Yuan Dynasty, and was collected by Xiangyuan Juice in the Ming Dynasty. He once hid in Wang Qiushi Zhai, Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province, and Jinnong read the Five Cattle Map twice, the last time in the eleventh year of Qianlong (10). Since then, "Five Cattle Map" has flowed into the Qing Palace.
In the late Qing Dynasty, these paintings were transferred to Yingtai, Zhongnanhai for preservation. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance ransacked the Forbidden City, and the "Five Cattle Map" was robbed abroad, and there was no news from then on.
After several twists and turns, the map of Wuniu was bought by Hong Kong entrepreneur Wu. In the early 1950s, Wu's enterprise was on the verge of bankruptcy. Knowing that this famous painting could no longer be well preserved, Wu reluctantly decided to sell the "Five Cattle Map".
After the news came out, Premier Zhou Enlai received a letter from a patriot, saying that Han Yun's "Five Cattle Map" had appeared in Hong Kong in the Tang Dynasty. The owner of the painting asked for HK$ 654.38 million, which he could not afford. He hopes that the central government will contribute money to recover the national treasure as soon as possible. Premier Zhou immediately gave instructions to ask the Ministry of Culture to identify the authenticity and buy it back at all costs, and instructed to send reliable personnel to escort and ensure the safety of cultural relics. After receiving the instructions, the Ministry of Culture immediately organized experts to go to Hong Kong to verify that the "Five Cattle Map" is indeed an original. After many negotiations, the transaction was finally made at HK$ 60,000. Although the famous paintings have returned to the motherland, they have been scattered all over the country, and the pictures are covered with dirt and scars, full of holes.
1977 65438+1October 28th, the picture of the five cows was sent to the cultural relics restoration factory of the Palace Museum, where it was restored by Mr. Sun Chengzhi, a painting expert. After washing dirty, painting the heart, uncovering the cover, scraping, mending, making strips, cutting squares, supporting the heart and other steps. , the hole color of the painting heart is completed, then inlaid, covered, glazed, etc. , with xuanhe collision mounted into a roll. Eight months later, the expert group who accepted the painting gave a high evaluation, thinking that the picture scroll was full of color at the supplementary painting, did not show any traces of pen, maintained unity with the original painting, and the mounting work was excellent, and the mounted pieces were flat and beautiful, reaching a high level of mounting and restoration. ?
Brief introduction of the author
Han Wei (723 ~ 787) was born in Chang 'an (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi) in the Tang Dynasty. After four generations from Xuanzong to Dezong, he was the son of Han Xiu, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. During Tang Dezong's time, he served as prime minister and minister in Zhejiang, and was named Duke Xiang of Jin. He is a politician of the landlord class, supporting unity and opposing separatism. He is good at drawing figures and animals, writing lifelike animals such as cows, sheep and donkeys, especially cows. The cows he painted are lifelike, and the style is rich and simple. It is famous for painting Tujia customs and cattle and sheep.