First of all, he saw that more than two thousand years ago, the two cultures of the East and the West were parallel, but they had different interests: one was China culture, and the other was Greek culture. They represent the culture of China. He clearly saw two major artistic systems, each of which experienced "several changes from birth, maturity, old age to death, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, climax and decline."
For the five thousand years of China culture, he clearly saw two peaks of artistic development. Through the investigation and study of Dunhuang art, he thinks that "the murals before Sui Dynasty fully show the heroic vitality of China, an ancient nation". Based on the study of stone carvings in the Han Dynasty, we can be sure that China culture at that time had already crossed the deserts of the East and the West. Our noble, strong, brave and enterprising nation is very specific in art.
During this period, China art and Gu Zhuo's wild style developed until the Han Dynasty, and there was a climax in the history of China art.
On this basis, the introduction of Indian culture formed Chinese oriental culture. The prosperous Tang Dynasty is the representative of this peak. China culture has profound cultural heritage and strong creativity. Instead of being overwhelmed by foreign culture, it absorbed the criticism of foreign culture and made itself more prosperous and brilliant again. Therefore, Mr. Wu believes that the interaction between eastern and western cultures is beyond doubt. It is openness and communication that promote the development of art. Mr. Wu Zuoren clearly saw the peaks and valleys in China's painting tradition. See more clearly the basic law that causes this contrast: if you don't develop, you will decline. Change is normal!
This is the history of art development in China, and so is the history of western art. Mr. Wu was not carried away by the splendid culture of the motherland for 5 thousand years; Nor did I confuse my eyes with the Greek Bole culture as the source in front of the splendid western culture since the Renaissance. Under the historical conditions at the beginning of the 20th century, Mr. Wu, like many previous painters, took the initiative to choose the western realistic art tradition, which is a historical choice. However, after studying in western Europe, Mr. Wu realized more deeply that eastern and western art are two different artistic systems with different aesthetic pursuits. Therefore, he did not lose himself, nor did he blindly crawl in front of the palace of western art, trembling. But first of all, calmly distinguish the "uphill road" and "downhill road" in the development of western realistic art, so as to make a clear choice. He said: "Western painting began to show a sense of quantity and space, which can generally be traced back to Giotto and massac. This is the beginning of light and shade. It has been five or six hundred years since19th century. Italian Da Vinci, Clezio, etc. It took the uphill road of light and dark law, but in the eighteenth century Italy began to decline and developed into eclecticism, divorced from reality. This is academic. "
In the History of Western Art, Mr. Wu also keenly saw that French painting in the19th century was a magnificent chapter of western painting precisely because it absorbed and digested the strengths of others and developed its own national characteristics. In view of the lesson that the predecessors clung to the late Italian and academic stereotypes and bound themselves to dogma, and combined with their own characteristics of the times, they tried to give full play to the originality of painters, and French painting in the nineteenth century took on a new look. As early as 1946, he clearly expounded the viewpoint of artistic development:
"The art movement is horizontal, not vertical, so the power of the trend will undoubtedly destroy the tradition. Cornelius of Germany never tried to pursue Dvrer, the glorious tradition of Germany in the past, but the influence of foreign French style actually caused the great Lieberman-being expelled by the Nazis and the glory of modern Germany. " (Chinese painting is tomorrow)
In Mr. Wu's view, the "climax" of China's art history and the "glorious tradition" of western art history are not the end, but the starting point of our art era today. "High tide" and "uphill" are the same, not to mention their "low valley", "downhill" and the last stream?
With profound common sense and keen appreciation, Wu Zuoren not only clearly understood the law of the development of Chinese and Western arts, but also keenly saw that although Chinese and Western arts have different systems, they have many similarities as arts. See the possibility and trend of complementary, comprehensive and all-round development. He said: "Although the faces of eastern and western art are different, they are similar in temperament." Moreover, sometimes even the face is similar, as long as you can appreciate it, you are not afraid of not understanding the face; A watercolor landscape painting by Devel will make people suspect that it was made by the Tang Dynasty. If we have seen the murals of Gaochang or the northern style of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, we will not feel the horror of western expressionism or fauvism. There are many similar examples. Where is the boundary between China art and western art? "(Chinese painting is tomorrow)
In this way, for the relationship between eastern and western cultures, and in the process of developing China's modern culture, how to understand and solve the problem of the time difference between Chinese and western social development and the spatial difference of the eastern cultural environment, Mr. Wu Zuoren has his own clear answer:
"I'm not saying that China's past artistic style and China's artistic tendency should be cut into two sections flatly, denying the inevitable existence of artistic tradition; However, we have to admit that the evolution of artistic style varies from time to time and from person to person, following the influence of the ideological trend of the times, the domination of instrumental materials and the differences in the spiritual life of writers in a certain era, and the result is unpredictable. " ("Chinese Painting of Tomorrow") In the 1940s, after inspecting Dunhuang art, Mr. Wu wrote with deep feelings: "Whether the future of China art can have such a glorious era and a brand-new look depends on whether we can accept and digest all aspects of nutrition to change our blood." (Trends in the Art World in the Rear during the War)
For a long time, Mr. Wu has actively "accepted and digested all aspects of nutrition" with his profound knowledge, open mind and open mind.
For China's profound artistic tradition, he chose the starting point of literati painting, and then traced it back to the vigorous degree of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, followed the style of Wei and Jin Dynasties, followed the ancient customs of Qin and Han Dynasties, and directly adopted the core spirit of local ancient culture, found the root of Chinese culture and obtained the richest artistic nutrition source.
For the vast western art tradition, he chose Xu Beihong's realistic art as a breakthrough, followed the essence of classicism, followed the downstream, took the charm of impressionism, borrowed the essence of post-impressionism, and emphasized subjective creation and expression, thus gaining a reasonable core for the development of western art for more than 500 years.
It is the essence of the two major artistic systems of the East and the West that nourishes Wu Zuoren's artistic flowers. It is this spiritual realm that dares to change and create that endows Mr. Wu with infinite vitality.