Hong Tong, (1March 29th, 920-1February 23rd, 987), Jiang Kun Village, Beimen Township, Tainan County, Taiwan Province Province (now Liaoliao, Kunjiang, Beimen District, Tainan City) [1], also known as Hong Zhudou. Once known as "Picasso of the East"
After living in seclusion, Hong Tong was soon forgotten by the public and died in poverty. His painting elements are diverse, and his mysterious writing style and colorful painting style have been praised so far. Because of the special style of his works, Hong Tong is also called a "supernatural painter".
Early life
Hong Tong was born in Beimenzhuang, Beimen County, Tainan County, Taiwan Province Province during the Japanese rule (changed to Beimen Township, Tainan County after the war, now known as Nankunli, Beimen District, Tainan City) 1920. Because his father died before he was born, his mother died when he was four years old. Hong Tong was raised by his grandmother and his fifth uncle, and his family was very poor.
When he was young, Hong Tong even went to Kaohsiung to do odd jobs to make a living. I have no chance to study since I was a child, so I can't read. 1945, 25-year-old Hong Tong married Liu Laiyu of Tainan City after returning home and had three sons and two daughters. His wife still does odd jobs to support her family. Before 1970, Hong Tong was a fisherman and a child molester, and the villagers called him "Zhu Doubo". The origin of the name "Zhu Dou" may be because its surname "red" is close to "red" ("Zhu" color) and it is very short [2].
catch sb's attention
On the birthday of 1970, 50-year-old Hong Tong suddenly became interested in painting, knelt down in front of his wife and asked him to concentrate on painting. His wife promised him 1000 yuan a month to buy painting tools and learn to paint behind closed doors. During this period, he often visited painters in Tainan City to learn painting and went to Zeng's studio to paint for a year and a half. When Hong Tong paints, he locks himself in a dark room and tries his best to paint. When his neighbors suddenly saw him, some people even thought he was crazy, or he was drawing ghosts [2]. After he became famous, it was said that Fan Li Chitose, worshipped by Nankun on behalf of Tianfu, was a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty, and he painted only because his birthday was in line with Hong Tong [1].
1972, Hong Tong hung his works on the wall of the temple for exhibition (under a tree). The seemingly mysterious freehand brushwork and colorful style of painting were accidentally reported by the reporter of Echo magazine (predecessor of han sheng magazine) [2]. In the next two or three years, it was widely reported by the media, which triggered a "Hong Tong frenzy" in the 1970s. 1973 The April issue of The Lion Art published "Hong Tong Special Issue", and the art circle began to discuss and study Hong Tong and his paintings [2].
1976 March 13, Hong Tong held his first solo exhibition at the Lincoln Center of the US Information Office in Taipei, exhibiting more than 100 works for 13 days. The endless stream of visitors shocked the art circles in Taiwan Province Province and pushed the Hong Tong fever to the highest point [2][ 1]. It is said that Mr. Chen, the chairman of South China Hotel, was willing to buy all the paintings on display for 7 million yuan, but refused [1]. On May 27th of the same year, more than 200 works were exhibited on the eighth floor of Kaohsiung Datong Department Store, which also caused a sensation [2]. It is said that after seeing his paintings, a star claimed that Hong Tong should finish his paintings with the pen of ghosts and gods, and his paintings were not "mortal". Hong Tongbian is often called a "supernatural painter".
return to one's hometown and seclude
Hong Tong completed 3 12 paintings in just a few years. He was unbearable for fame and wealth and was full of troubles. After the exhibition, Hong Tong returned to Nanxun, separated from his family, rented a house alone and could not close the door. He painted all day and tourists kept coming, but he refused to receive him. Hong Tong's failure to gain recognition from the mainstream of the art world in Taiwan Province Province, coupled with his insistence on not selling paintings, made him live in a dilapidated house and his life did not improve.
1986 The death of his wife, who sponsored his painting, severely hit his spirit, and the enthusiasm for Hong Tong reported by the media came to an end at about this time.
1987 On February 23rd, Hong Tong died in his sleep at his home in Nanxun [1], enjoying his old age at the age of 67, leaving behind about 300 paintings. On March 3 1 of the same year, a farewell ceremony was held in Huokeji, Tainan, with Tainan Mayor Changlin as the funeral director and buried with his wife Liu Lai in [1] in advance.
What happened behind him
Before his death, friends from all over the world tried to invite Hong Tong to an art exhibition, but he refused because he was afraid of losing it. 1In September, 1987, the Artists Magazine of the American Cultural Center held a retrospective exhibition of Hong Tong's works, with more than 70 works on display. Known as "Picasso of the East".
In June+10 of the same year, Tainan County Cultural Center affirmed that Hong Tong was an amateur painter and his position in local art, and collected 30 of his works, held special exhibitions and published picture books.
1February, 1997, Hong Shibao, the son of Hong Tong, held a solo exhibition in Tainan Cultural Center to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hong Tong's death in memory of his father's establishment of the Hong Tong Art Museum Foundation [2], which once again ignited the topic of amateur art. In June of the same year, in 5438+1October, Tainan Cultural Center was invited to exhibit Hong Tong's solo exhibition at China Cultural Center in new york [2].
In September 2007, Lao Zhangman Song Qing was arrested for imitating the works of the late Hong Tong. Until the 20th century, Hong Tong's works still have certain value in the market.
Painting characteristics
Hong Tong's paintings reveal spirituality, strong spiritual strength, thick brushwork, delicate texture, complex forms and self-taught painting skills. It is made of colored pigments, natural materials, self-grinding and self-mixing. The material is mainly base material, which is divided into cane board, paper and canvas. As we all know, Hong Tong painted mainly with his right hand, and sometimes with his left hand, feet, genitals and other body parts.
Hong Tong's painting elements are mainly figures, flowers, birds, trees, ships and airplanes, and his creative style is full of childlike interest. Sometimes, some expressions of daily life, such as religious front, temple architecture, puppet show and Taiwanese opera, as well as folk proverbs and poems, are the sources of his patchwork structure. Hong Tong's painting skills are changeable and vivid, and he doesn't stick to the proportion of entities. His creative style is detached from reality, free and imaginative. The picture is simple and simple, but it can present a balanced and symmetrical artistic beauty.
Because Hong Tong was a child molester in his early years, his natural thinking was influenced by his beliefs. At the age of 50, he began to concentrate on painting instead of working. The flowers, trees and symbols in his paintings are all influenced by his past life background, and his paintings are full of vivid, magical and religious images.
The overall structure of Hong Tong's early paintings is similar to that of Taoist paintings. Taoist paintings are divided into multiple layers, several layers of "heaven" and several layers of "earth". The whole painting is full of symbols, and the layered structure of Hong Tong's painting represents the order of his self-conscious world and his own standards for things. Therefore, Hong Tong painted the relationship between man, everything and heaven and earth, and because he couldn't read, he created his own pictures and characters, full of self-conscious pictures and characters, especially the signatures in the pictures.
Experts believe that Scottie Wilson, an English painter, always hides a peeping eye in his dense line drawings, which is similar to Hong Tong's doll face, and the doll-like hole or human image is the favorite theme of supernatural painters. Some paintings by British female painter Jill are full of dolls' faces, and the treatment methods are almost the same as those of Hong Tong.
Hong Tong used geometric patterns common in primitive decorative arts. Sawtooth thread and plaid weaving are almost his basic skills. In the rich colors and images, he is good at using mellow cohesion and becomes a clever synthesis of modern and original interests.
Hong Tong is regarded as a genius of line structure. In his sketches, there is a high sense of order and integration, but there is also a vitality of life. You can appreciate the texture and beauty of his line drawings, and you can also appreciate the free-form modeling of amoeba. His genius proves that what he pursues on the basic principles of art is indeed the innate order in the human mind.
Although almost all the bright colors he used can be traced back to folk colors, he used these colors in the mode of taking pictures because of his personal intuition. He not only admitted his latent feeling of color by using the rich skills of color, but also showed that the principle of chromatics had an exciting effect in his mind.
Lines and colors make up the best part of his works. So his best work is a kind of line drawing and coloring. Its sketch is composed of hard lines, which is far better than the composition that expresses the feeling of brush.
Hong Tong's works are not divorced from the prototype, complexity and standard skills of any amateur painter's works, showing the accumulation of time and labor. Secondly, due to the lack of logical and metaphysical thinking, the work itself is repeated in multiple layers, which is very similar to folk art; Finally, the mysterious shapes and rich colors in amateur painters' works basically reflect the complete self-nature and life of the painter's world, and the completion of this self-nature and life is precisely based on the simple cognition of amateur painters without any knowledge.
Era significance
In the society of Taiwan Province Province in the 1970s, due to the U.S. military assistance, American aid and a large number of technocrats and intellectuals who almost completed higher education in the United States, the society of Taiwan Province Province was basically permeated with all-round Westernism, which was reduced to Americanism to some extent, and Hong Tong was discovered from pop music, daily necessities, loanwords in life, academic thoughts to literary thoughts. In fact, society was subconsciously interested in comprehensive American culture that year. Affirming Hong Tong is naturally of certain significance in affirming the amateur culture, the vitality of native people and the ultimate dignity of national culture under the overall American culture. During the prosperity of Hong Tong, Lu Rongzhi, an art critic, wrote The Aesthetics of Simple Art in Taiwan Province Province. He said: "The understanding of the word' simple art' in Taiwan Province Province is probably due to the rise of Hong Tong." .
Unfortunately, after consuming Hong Tong, the media stopped reporting any news about Hong Tong, and no one actually helped Hong Tong in his later years. There is a passage in the textbook of Yu Tai Edition in senior high school: "The upsurge of media hype about amateur painter Hong Tong is also a flash in the pan."
evaluate
"... I miss the name Kundao as much as I miss my grandfather infinitely. Because these are the products of our ancestors, grandfathers and fathers ... Tainan, the ancient capital in my mind, is full of folk customs and legends ... The imaginary characters are all emaciated ... Why do I think so? The reason is unknown, but I think this kind of imagination is a typical figure of my grandfather's time. ... when I was a child, my family opened a grocery store ... When I was a child, I was afraid to go upstairs. The upstairs was full of cages made of gold, paper and silver ... There were also several men and women made of paper. When people died, they were supported at the coffin table ... When I arrived at Hong Tong's home, I accidentally saw the faces of these little people again in his paintings! -Lai Chuan wrote in Hong Tong Special-Interview with Hong Tong,1April, 973.
"We like Hong Tong's paintings and appreciate Hong Tong's paintings. We don't need any artistic accomplishment. Everyone can appreciate them. " -Roger, Cultural Section, US Information Service
"With my academic training, I used to appreciate my self-portrait from the perspective of western art history or China literati painting, but Hong Tong's paintings made me unable to appreciate either of the above two viewpoints. However, the most important question now is not whether Hong Tong's paintings are good or not, or whether this exhibition is worth holding, but what will attract such great attention at the Hong Tong Art Exhibition ... Our academic art education should have. Jiang Xun
Go ...
After reading the above, I think his paintings are priceless.