WU GUANZHONG 吳冠中 | LOTUS POND 是空是色入畫來

Important Wu Guanzhong Works from the Collection of Chu Teh-Chun 

The celebrated friendship between the two iconic artists, Wu Guanzhong and Chu Teh-Chun, began in 1936. At the age of seventeen, Wu met Chu, who was a year younger, at a military camp. After Chu invited him to his college, the National Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, Wu was mesmerised by what he saw, and decided to switch his studies from engineering to arts. This momentous encounter prompted Wu to embark on an artistic journey which spanned a lifetime.

After that, they studied and painted side by side. As history unfolded, the pair faced the challenges of wartime chaos while relocating from Hangzhou to Chongqing and later Nanjing. They shared the vivid merriment and bitterness of life, working towards the same goal to study in Paris. Shortly after Wu’s graduation in 1947, he was awarded a scholarship to study in Paris. Chu finally arrived in France eight years later, only to find his dear friend had already returned to China. For the next thirty years, they were separated from each other and lost touch.

The long-awaited reunion with Chu Teh-Chun was in the 1980s, which, according to Wu’s autobiography, was extraordinarily heartwarming. In his eyes, Chu’s paintings, albeit presented in an utterly different style, still reflected the same artistic notions since his school days. Rekindled by mutual appreciation and inspiration, their bond was stronger than ever, and they continued to support each other, often meeting in China and Europe. In 2010, Wu made his final appearance at Chu Teh-Chun’s exhibition opening in Beijing, where he paid tribute to his best friend with a poem, “Striving assiduously for 90 Years. Your heart, immersed in the sea of art; Your luminance, brightens up the entire universe.” Through the brightest days and darkest nights, their admiration and respect for each other lasted a lifetime.

The following paintings are from Chu Teh-Chun’s personal collection. They were gifts or works exchanged between the pair throughout the years. Chongqing, the Mountain City was the artist’s first panoramic depiction of his recurring theme of the city, Primitive Woods was the highlight of Wu’s first exhibition in Paris, while The Lion Grove Garden, and Lotus Pond are imbued with the cultural connection to their homeland. Emblematic of the enduring friendship they shared, they are also the epitome of Wu’s artistic achievement.

Lotus Pond

Since the early 1980s, Wu Guanzhong had always portrayed lotus ponds with interlocking dry stems and withered lotus leaves to create an ambience of winter bleakness. The present work, painted in 1989, was executed with a contrastive composition. The lotus leaves, some plump in green and yellow, while others show reddish brown, appear to depict the lotus pond in the days during the transition of late summer to early autumn. Although the plants would at such a time gradually wilt and dry, the artist tactfully portrayed a moment of seasonal change, when the pond was filled with both fresh and dried leaves, mixing both warm and cool colour palettes. Lines were used to depict the fresh leaves, while patches of brown abstractly represented the withered ones. The artist added red fish frolicking in the water, creating a dynamic still-life imagery. In the spring of 1989, Wu travelled to Paris on a commissioned sketching trip and spent much time with Chu Teh-Chun. The two artists, accompanied by their wives, went for a short trip to visit Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, a place Wu had longed to visit since his youth. Enthralled by the fascinating beauty of the lily pond, he later commented, “Monet was drawn to the flowers, the grasses, the duckweed, the daylight, the shimmering water, and the landscape, all in equal measure. He painted water lilies, but they are not necessarily the focal point; he could not feel the philosophical undertone of the flowers.” Perhaps inspired by this trip, Wu took on a more harmonious representation in Lotus Pond, moving toward a style more akin to the traditional Chinese aesthetic preference. He added a four-line verse, with the first line “A pond stretches out like a crystal-clear mirror” referencing a poem by Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi. The complementary manner of poem and painting imbues the work with a grace often found in classical Chinese paintings. This work could be considered a precursor to the vibrant tone and the addition of poetic lines in the artist’s lotus works in the years to come.

Reference:

Lotus Pond, 1987, 81 x 96 cm, illustrated in Wu Guanzhong - A Contemporary Chinese Artist, Chinese Culture Foundation, San Francisco, 1989, pl.29

Another Lotus Pond, 1983, illustrated in The Complete Works of Wu Guanzhong, vol. VI, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, August 2007, p.261

Rain or Shine: My Friendship with Chu Teh-Chun

-Wu Guanzhong

My friendship with Teh-Chun began in a military training camp. In the summer of 1935, Chiang Kai-shek imposed a three-month military training on all high school and university students. Teh-Chun, student of the National Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, and I, an engineering student of the Zhejiang Industrial School Affiliated to Zhejiang University, were assigned to the same squad at the camp in Hangzhou. With his basketball player-like height of a Northerner, Teh-Chun was made file leader to stand at the back, while I, as a short southern fellow, was picked to bring up the rear. Throughout the three months, we trained side by side.

One Sunday, Teh-Chun invited me to visit his school. As I set foot in an art school for the first time, I feasted my eyes on the dazzling sketches, watercolours and oil paintings. I fell in love instantly and forgot about everything else. At that time, I had never seen any art exhibition. The National Academy of Fine Arts had never organised exhibitions nor presented their artworks in the city. It was an ivory tower, which was ironic.

Impulsive as a wild horse, I devoted myself to my new love, ignoring my father’s disapproval, and regardless of career prospects, I abandoned my engineering studies and enrolled to study at National Academy of Art all over again. Only Teh-Chun was by my side to support me. He brushed up my drawing and prepared me for the entrance exam. He even asked Professor Liu Kaiqu (from his hometown) to take special note of my exam paper, but Professor Liu advised him not to encourage anyone to take up art study, especially at the time I was already studying in a prestigious high school.

Eventually, I was admitted to the National Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and was a year behind Teh-Chun. He became my little teacher, and we would always talk about school each day. Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu, Cai Weilian, and Pan Tianshou were the teachers we admired the most. The two of us were inseparable. Nearly every afternoon, we would paint watercolour landscapes on the bank of West Lake. Our drawing themes and styles were very similar, and this was when our earliest aesthetic taste was cultivated. At night, we would secretly practice Chinese traditional paintings by imitating works by Shitao and Bada Shanren, and by drawing plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums. Teh-Chun’s skills in painting and calligraphy were more accomplished than mine.

At that time, oil painting classes were only offered at degree level. Teh-Chun could not resist waiting and tried out oil painting on his own. The materials were expensive, and as white colour was often used, he created his own substitute by mixing zinc oxide and oil. One time, Teh-Chun offered me his paints. He told me that the white colour was in an old face cream jar and then left for the market. When he returned, he remarked on the strong fragrance in the room. It turned out that I had mixed up the jars, using actual face cream instead of the white oil acrylic. No wonder they were so difficult to work with! All because of my poor sense of smell - I often cannot tell scents apart.

In the autumn and winter of 1937, the advancement of the Japanese army forced the National Academy of Art to move inland. In the process of relocation, I unexpectedly lost all my money for the semester and was broke. Teh-Chun had to share his savings with me. From classmates, we became brothers in hardship. When we arrived in Guixi, Jiangxi, most students found shelter in a Catholic church. To save money, we did not join them. Instead, we would huddle by a doorway, and the two of us with Liu Baosen (Yan Han) would make thin rice porridge. We were poor, but we did not stop painting sketches. In 1941, Teh-Chun graduated in Qingmuguan, Sichuan, and he was invited to teach at our alma mater because of his excellent coursework.

After I graduated in 1942, I became a teaching assistant in the Architectural Department of Chongqing University. Separated by the Jialing River, we were no longer as physically close as before, but two things kept us together. Firstly, it was our continuous search for oil painting materials. It was a time of scarce resources and we had to seek other’s help to obtain painting supplies from Shanghai. Secondly, we studied French, both hoping to follow in the footsteps of our teachers who had studied in France. In 1946, I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to pursue my studies in Paris. Teh-Chun said that I would fulfill this dream for the both of us.

In 1947, I went to Paris, and he eventually left for Taiwan with his work unit, and from then on, we lost touch. In 1955, he finally moved from Taiwan to Paris. When he arrived in France, he tried to find me, but by that point I had already returned to China. It felt as if fate had ordained that we were never to meet again.

From the 1950s to 1980, communications between Beijing and Paris was practically impossible between individuals. In about 1979, Teh-Chun sent a catalogue of his artworks, which was passed to me indirectly. It was published under the pocket guidebook series of French museums, and all the works inside were abstract works completed after the 1960s. Once I opened the book and saw those paintings, I felt as if I were seeing my old friend again. We had never painted abstract works in China, nor had I in France. The early abstract works that Teh-Chun created after his arrival in France felt incredibly familiar. The paintings looked different, but the heart of the creator had not changed.

In 1981, Zhan Jianjun, Liu Huanzhang, and I visited West Africa as part of a delegation of Chinese artists. On our way home, we stopped by Paris. While in Mali, we notified the Chinese embassy in France of our arrival and asked them to inform Chu Teh-Chun. At midnight, our flight finally landed. By that time, Teh-Chun and Dong Ningchuan, an attaché at the embassy and a classmate of mine when I studied abroad, had already been waiting for us at the airport for two hours. Teh-Chun invited me to stay in his home, but a staff of the embassy did not welcome the idea. Fortunately, Dong Ningchuan allowed me to stay with Teh-Chun. I later learnt that, as a rule, members of such delegations were never permitted to stay in the homes of friends while abroad. Dong Ningchuan could have got into trouble as I did receive a warning when I returned.

That night, we agreed that Teh-Chun and I would meet Zhan Jianjun and the others at the hotel to go to the Louvre together the next day. In the morning, Teh-Chun and his family prepared lots of food and drinks, as we planned to spend the entire day there – it was a thoughtful gesture to save time and money. But when Teh-Chun and I arrived at the hotel, Zhan Jianjun and Liu Huanzhang were waiting impatiently at the entrance, and Liu had an agitated look on his face. But when they saw what Teh-Chun had prepared, their annoyance evaporated.

During our early years in Hangzhou, Teh-Chun and I used to peruse artbooks every day and rate artworks like armchair critics. Today, when we got to see the actual works of the masters at the Louvre we had known so well back then, our opinions are still largely in agreement. I had not been to Paris for 30 years, and Teh-Chun accompanied me to visit the museums and galleries. In my view, the artistic mainstream in the old Paris, even after three decades, had not undergone earth-shattering changes. However, I was unfamiliar with many of the new rising artists and their works, so I patiently listened to Teh-Chun’s explanations. It felt like he was my little teacher back in school again…

When I was in purgatory in China, I often thought of Teh-Chun and wondered if he had undergone any hardship in France. However, when we were finally able to see each other, we buried the past sufferings deep in our hearts and covered the heaviness with a thick layer of art.

In spring 1989, Seibu department store invited me to Paris to sketch the city. Accepting the offer, I stayed in Paris with my wife for a month, and spent much time with Teh-Chun. I will never forget visiting Vincent van Gogh’s grave with Xiong Bingming and his wife, or Teh-Chun and his wife taking us to see Claude Monet’s home in Giverny. These two places had not been open to the public when I was a student, and I had always regretted not being able to visit. Once I got there, I felt as if I were touching the hearts of these departed artists.

When Teh-Chun first visited Beijing, I had already moved out of Huixian Hall, and he could never see the narrow and modest Beijing alley I resided in for the past thirty years. I accompanied him and his friends to visit the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City and the Yungang Grottoes…

From 1993 to 1994, during my exhibition at Musée Cernuschi of Paris, I stayed in Paris for a while with my family and met Teh-Chun frequently. He told me that a few members of the French Academy would like to nominate him as a candidate to join the prestigious French Academy of Fine Arts. It would be a fierce competition with other notable painters, and it had always been particularly challenging for foreigners. I encouraged him to try as it would have been a huge honour if a Chinese artist was elected. In 1997, Teh-Chun initiated an illustrious new era in the history of Sino-French artistic exchange when he was inducted into the Academy.

At the opening ceremony of Teh-Chun’s exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in 1998, I mentioned the poetic scene when an old man returned to his hometown after so many years, with his native accent remaining the same. This accent refers not only to his speech but also his work, form, colour, rhythm, and affection, all particularly touching for those appreciating from his homeland. I have published numerous articles about his art, so I would not repeat here. Instead, I would like to listen what other art critics have to say. Sixty-five years have gone by, from young art fanatics by the West Lake to old friends in gray hair, we shall always cherish the moments we had. Through difficulties and hardship, through rain or snow, we would always keep each other close to our hearts.

(This is a slightly abridged version)

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朱德群珍藏吳冠中畫

蜚聲巴黎兩劍客，半生相逢仍少年。一九三六年，十七歲的吳冠中結識了年僅少一歲的朱德群，受啟發棄工投藝。歲月青蔥，兩人於西湖藝專並肩奮鬥，從杭州到重慶，再至南京，十餘年間，既同窗，亦兄弟，藝事之苦，生活之困，朱德群皆最親密之傾訴對象，劍指巴黎，亦兩人同訂之目標，惟世事無常，一別再聚，竟已卅餘年後，尤記得吳冠中於〈我負丹青〉述是次重逢，激動之情，讀之莫不動容！隔閡半生，朱德群之作仍親切如昔，面貌縱改，底蘊仍是西湖藝專奠下的美術觀，兩人藝途顛簸，甘苦異同，終登藝術頂峰，惟初衷無改。日後，如辦展事宜、或旅程安排，兩人皆不辭勞苦為對方張羅。二○一○年，吳冠中最後一次出席老友在北京的展覽開幕禮，帶來賀詞︰「苦耕耘，九十春秋。心，沉於藝海；光，照耀寰宇。」守望扶持之摯情，終生不渝。

本輯集吳冠中贈朱德群畫四幀，既有首幅全景構圖〈重慶山城〉與參加巴黎首展之〈原始林〉，亦有別具故園情思之〈獅子林〉及〈是空是色入畫來〉，皆獨當一面之彩墨傑構，並視之，恰好串連二人相交之軌跡。當今世上，得吳冠中出此以答「影響終生」之情誼者，除朱德群，焉有他人！

是空是色入畫來

八十年代，吳冠中以彩墨寫荷塘，筆下枯枝交錯、荷葉零落，枝幹僵直，略見置身冰雪之貌。本幅寫於一九八九年，雖未見荷花綻放，惟葉塊飽滿，迎風招展，赭紅之間，閃耀淡碧、嫩黃之色，游魚翔泳水中，豈非夏秋之際，荷塘自生機勃發漸次秋零之景，構圖與前作可謂大異其趣。是年春，畫家赴巴黎寫生，期間與朱德群夫婦同訪莫奈故園，瀏覽其蓮塘風光，並謂「莫奈畫睡蓮，著眼於花、草、浮萍、天光水色，一片風光，一視同仁，蓮花未必是聚焦視點，他完全沒有體會到蓮中禪意」，或受此啟發，筆下蓮塘遂改以諧協面貌出之，切合中國傳統文化之形象，並自題七絕句於上，首句源自朱熹〈活水亭觀書有感〉，頗得傳統丹青詩畫相輝之效，同年即見另幅構圖與用色相若之〈荷塘〉，日後再彈此調，亦多配詩文，故本幅可謂荷塘改調之嚆矢！

參考資料︰

一九八七年〈殘荷〉可參見〈吳冠中 — 一位中國畫當代巨匠〉（三藩巿，中華文化基金會，一九八九年），圖版29

同年另幅〈荷塘〉可參見〈吳冠中全集〉第六卷 （湖南美術出版社，二○○七年八月），頁261

雨雪霏霏總相憶—我與朱德群的故事

—吳冠中

我與德群相識於兵營。一九三五年，蔣介石下令全國大學一年級及高中一年級的男生都須利用暑假在各省集中軍訓三個月。因之，浙大高工的我和杭州藝專的德群便被集中到杭州南星橋的一個大兵營裹。打破校界混合編隊，我與德群被編在同一個連的同一個班，他那北方高個子籃球員是排頭，我這江南矮個兒屬排尾。接規定，排頭當副班長，必須站在排尾，於是他與我并肩受訓三個月，朝朝暮暮不分離，似有緣。某個星期天放假，他帶我去參觀了杭州藝專。我頭一次窺見西湖藝苑，立即忘乎一切地醉倒於琳琅滿目的油畫、素描及水彩的石榴裙下，說石榴裙，我確是懷了戀愛情懷，中了丘比得之箭了。杭州藝專確是象牙之塔，從不在杭州開美術展覽，我記得當年幾乎沒有見過任何畫展，白娘子被迫壓在雷峰塔裹，杭州藝專卻無由不展作品給市民看，犯了與法海和尚相似的過錯。

十七歲青年的心是野馬，願為愛而獻身了，我下決心放棄工程的學習，不聽父親的竭力勸阻，更不考慮日後的職業與生存問題，要轉到杭州藝專從頭學起。在這人生的歧途，只德群一人是支持我的，他幫我補習素描，準備入學考試。考試期間，他曾試圖請劉開渠教授（他的同鄉）注意我的考卷，劉老師說他主張不要勸人學藝，何況我正在浙江大學這樣好條件的附屬高中學習。

我考上了杭州藝專，比德群低一班了，他成了我的小先生，我們每天交談上課時老師的指導，林風眠、吳大羽、蔡威廉、潘天壽等是我們心中最崇敬的老師，仿佛他們都來自天堂，潘天壽當時名天授，我們覺得真是天授之才華。幾乎每天下午，我和德群一同在西湖岸邊用水彩寫生，形影不離，畫的題材和風格也都很近似，從此培養了我們最早的審美品位，像人們總愛吃童年家鄉的食品。夜晚，我們偷偷換用一個大電燈泡畫國畫，臨石濤、八大、梅、蘭、竹、菊，德群的畫和書法都比我強多了。

預科主要學素描，本科才學油畫，德群迫不及待，自己先試畫起油畫來。油畫材料貴，尤其白色用得多，他用鋅氧粉調油自己研製代用品。有一回他教我用他的顏料畫油畫試試，告訴我那代用白裝在舊雪花膏瓶裹。交代完他因事去杭州市裹了。傍晚回來，他一進房便說好香，原來我弄錯瓶子，將真雪花膏當油畫白使用了，難怪感到那油畫真難畫，怨我天生嗅覺不靈敏，往往不辨香臭。

一九三七年秋冬，由於日軍步步緊迫，杭州藝專奉命內遷，而我自己一學期的費用數十元不意全部丟失，身無分文，從此德群的錢要與我分用了，由同窗情誼進入流亡中的患難兄弟了。遷至江西貴溪時，學生們住在天主堂裏，我們為節省，不敢入伙，便在一個門洞口，加上劉寶森（彥函），三人一同煮稀飯餬口。一路貧窮，一路畫速寫，苦學不輟。苦學的同學不少，像董希文、李霖燦等等情況都相仿。一九四一年德群在四川青木關畢業後以優異成績留母校任助教，我於一九四二年畢業後任重慶大學建築系助教。相隔一條嘉陵江，我們往來不能密切了，但兩件事仍緊緊聯繫着我們。一是尋找油畫材料，因當時材料奇缺，得設法托人從上海用各種辦法轉帶。二是學習法文，想走前輩老師們的老路，到法國勤工儉學的夢始終未破滅。一九四六年我有幸考上了公費留法，我們將分手了，德群很感慨，說將他的夢由我一起實現吧。

世事滄桑，一九四七年我去了巴黎，他後來隨工作單位去了台灣，從此音信杳無。一九五五年他終於從台灣到了巴黎，一到巴黎他必然先找我，而我已於一九五○年秋返國，似乎命運安排我們永不能晤面了。五十年代到一九八○年之間，北京和巴黎斷了民間鴻雁。大約一九七九年，收到德群輾轉寄來他的一本畫集，係法國袖珍博物館叢書系列之一，作品都係六十年代後的抽象面貌了。雖是抽象作品，我一打開畫冊便感到是老友的音容風貌。我們在國內並未作抽象畫，我在法國亦未作抽象畫，第一次見到德群到法國後創作的抽象作品卻感到似曾相識或一見如故。抽象與具象容貌雖異，而作者心臟未改……

一九八一年我與詹建俊及劉煥章作為中國美術家代表團訪問西非三國，歸程路經巴黎。從馬里通知駐法使館接機，並請使館轉告朱德群先生。飛機晚點，抵巴黎已夜深。代表使館來接的是參贊董寧川，恰好是我當年留法時同學，而德群則已等了兩個小時。德群要我住到他家去，使館的一位工作人員面有難色，董寧川便作主同意了。我住到德群家，減少了我們住旅店的費用，我們的費用實在太有限了。但據說當時有規定出國人員一律不准住到人家去，為此事，董寧川可能會被批評，因我回國後便遭到警告。當晚約定翌晨我和德群到旅店找詹建俊等一同去羅浮宮。德群家早上準備了一大堆吃的和喝的，估計會在羅浮宮看一整天，這樣將節省時間和錢。當我和德群到達旅店時，詹建俊和劉煥章等早已迫不及待等在門口了，劉似有不耐煩的神情，當他們看到德群準備了些什麼，諒來心頭別是一般滋味了。

我和德群在杭州時幾乎每天一同看畫冊，品評作品，紙上談兵。今天一同細讀我們學生時代早就熟悉的大師們的原作，觀點仍然非常非常接近。我離巴黎已三十年，德群整天陪我看博物館、畫廊，三十年前舊巴黎，我並未感到藝術主流有翻天覆地的變化，許多新人新作不熟悉，都聽德群講解，他又像我入學時當了小先生……

當我在國內煉獄中經常想到德群時，懸念的也是他在另一類型的煉獄中煎熬，但今天見面，卻不談煉獄，刪去了抱頭痛哭，彼此將苦難藏在了心底，被藝術厚厚地覆蓋了……

一九八九年春，我應日本西武之邀去巴黎作畫，偕老伴在巴黎住了一個月，這期間與德群接觸甚多。最難忘的是熊秉明夫婦陪我們去憑吊了梵高墓，德群夫婦陪我們去參觀了吉凡尼莫奈故居，這兩處在我學生時代尚未開放，而不去是終生的遺憾，去了，如觸摸到了亡靈的心臟。

德群初次來北京時，我已搬出前海會賢堂大雜院，他沒有見到我三十年來居住的陋巷本色。我陪他及他同來的法國畫家吉諾夫婦參觀故宮、天壇及雲崗……

一九九三至一九九四年間，我去巴黎塞紐齊博物館展畫時，又偕兒孫在巴黎住了一時期，與德群交談頻繁，期間他透露了一個保密的信息。有幾位法蘭西學院的院士推荐他申請進入法蘭西學院，因之他想聽聽我的看法。法蘭西學院是法國最高權威學府，這毋需解釋，當年美術學院的教授必須是院士。外國人不易獲此榮譽地位，更何況中國人。院士人數固定不變，逝世一名增補一名。這增補之人選由全體院士不記名投票產生。推荐不等於能通過，需經審查資料、展示作品等等的競選途徑。我想高水平的畫家如此多，競選諒來不易，德群說當然，正因如此，競選者都是名畫家，選不上便有面子問題，故他亦在猶豫中。我勸他試試，我的想法是如選上，不只是他個人的問題，中國人進入法蘭西學院任院士是一種民族的榮譽，如選不上不過是個人的得失而已。一九九七年德群終於正式當選為法蘭西學院院士，這是中法文化交流史上一個閃光的亮點，應該讓祖國的人民，尤其文化界都感受到這份得來不易的驕傲……

一九九八年德群在中國美術館畫展的開幕式上，我發言曾引少小離家老大回而鄉音未改的舊詩情，這鄉音不僅指他的口音，而是指他作品中的鄉音，他的形、色、韻、情 ……當撥動故國知音者的心弦。我曾發表過「燕歸來」、「佳釀」、「海外遇故知」等文談過他的藝術，這裏不贅述，願聽評論家們的分析。從西湖畔兩個對藝術的痴情青年到今天白髮相對的老友，六十五年的歲月流逝了，我們間永遠惦念的，都是彼此的苦難時刻，雨雪霏霏總相憶。

（本文略有刪節）