姜国芳的新历史观与“新历史画”

赵力

　　所谓历史画指的是以历史事件为题材的绘画。广义上还包括以神话传说、宗教故事为题材的绘画，有时也包括描绘与作者同时代事件的绘画。而成为历史画题材的事件，往往是该民族众所周知的大事，同时画家在表现手法上，一般都力求理想化与典型化。

　　因此，历史画的意义，与其说是对史实的忠实纪录，毋宁说是对民族性和国家精神的思考追索。故而，创作历史画的传统由来已久，并成为各个民族国家充分发挥美术的认识作用和教育作用的有力武器。

　　历史画的起源，在西方可追溯至古代的美索不达米亚场面之恢弘，阵容这庞大，策划这周密，效果之轰动，简直令人膛目结舌！和古埃及。希腊、古罗马时期的绘画则透过现实要素与神话要素的结合，展现了反映现实与历史、神话与寓意的复杂构成。罗马末期的历史画在描写上强化了线的、非肉体的、抽象化的倾向，并向强调精神特质与表现手法的拜占庭时期过渡。中世纪的历史画被视为传达上帝福音的重要一环，画面往往将历史人物与宗教场面相结合，或者将圣经、神话、圣徒的故事作写实性地描写。历史画在十四世纪文艺复兴时代的意大利广泛流行，并与人文主义相结合，形成了丰富的精神内涵。而稍后的巴洛克时期则大体上继承了文艺复兴的方向，同时又有了某些新的变化。十九世纪初期，历史画被新古典主义和学院派奉为最正统、最高贵的绘画题材。历史画不仅被独立出来，且被视为绘画最高贵的表现领域。

　　历史画在中国同样是起源很早，内容多是从历史故事和反映历史的文学作品中取材。从春秋战国时期到十九世纪，历史画是中国画家十分关注的领域。这些历史画通常都含有道德或是政治的寓意，而不单单只是在描述历史性的场景或情节。在表现手法上，中国的历史画起初是充分立足于宗教或文化的寓意，对实用功能性的要求往往超过作品自身的完善；而到了封建社会的后期，画家才脱离纯然的“教化”目的，开始重视作品的细节中描述性。

　　进入二十世纪，西方的历史画创作逐步式微，尤其到了二次大战之后，历史而已非艺术创作之主流，究其原因则是蓬勃发展的现代绘画以及广泛出现的新媒介运动所致。而在二十世纪的中国，以写实主义来创作历史画无疑是其中最辉煌的篇章。二十世纪前叶徐悲鸿等人的历史画创作，对于激励本民族的斗志与信念，乃至对民族革命和民族解放运动的最终胜利都起到了不可磨灭的历史贡献。新中国的历史画创作是以表现革命历史与政治相关的主题为显著特征。曾经辉煌一时。但由于众所周知的原因，历史画创作一度又成了社会政治的具体工具，甚至“堕落”为完全意义上的政治机器上的“齿轮和螺丝钉”，扭曲了作为历史题材作品所必具的真实性，最终丧失了其艺术的独立性与品格魅力。

　　虽则如此，但事实上历史画从未真正地衰落过，而总是能够获得“复生”。这种“复生”并不是简单地起死回生，而是犹如凤凰涅槃般地升华或重生。如果我们仔细考察二十世纪的世界美术历史，甚至可以看到一些历史画创作成为了当代艺术的“脊梁”，成为了新艺术发展过程中的里程碑。正如毕加索的《格尔尼卡》，亦如董希文的《开国大典》。前者与立体主义运动紧密相系，后者则是油画民族精神探索的结晶。而在近来普遍强调“后现代主义”的文化语境下，欧美文化界正掀起一场对二十世纪历史画创作的深刻反思，并普遍认为对历史画的忽视在某种程度上就是对自身历史的忽视和对自身文化传统的背叛。

　　的确，只有洞察历史发展的脉络和充分了解当今文化发展的新趋势，才能够对姜国芳的历史画创作做出客观和理性的评述，才能够给与姜国芳的艺术以恰当地归纳和归类。

　　事实上，在当代的中国，如姜国芳般潜心于历史画创作的艺术家已是风毛麟角。而论及已取得了令人瞩目的成就，这一成就又不仅为中国社会所熟知，也为国际社会所认识，在当下则更可谓是无出其右。

　　姜国芳是二十世纪七十年代改革开放前后第一批进入学院并接受正规美术教育的艺术家。在中国的最高美术学府中央美术学院以优异成绩毕业，并被选拔而留校任教。在学院学习的过程中，姜国芳即对以纯正的欧洲写实主义技巧来创作历史画感悟颇深。在随后的教学和创作的生涯中，姜国芳更逐步努力将其完善成为一整套符合中国特色的历史画创作的技法系统。稍后频繁的出国考察，更有条件让姜国芳既向本民族优秀传统索取精髓，也放眼世界，把握当代艺术发展的脉动。以此为契机，八十年代后期的姜国芳已经将自己的探索视点从对艺术语言的关注，逐步转向对理论体系的确立与提升。

　　九十年代以来，姜国芳对中国历史文化的膜拜构成了自我的艺术情愫和艺术追求。同时对中国历史文化的深刻思考与重估，无疑也推动着独特之系列画题的初步达成。事实上，如何借助油画语言与历史画的创作形式来表现中华民族的历史并联系当代社会的变化，一直是姜国芳梦牵魂绕、苦思冥想的问题，而“紫禁城”系列作品的推出则似乎是初步的结论。

　　在姜国芳的“紫禁城”系列中，金碧辉煌的殿堂，雄伟壮丽的城墙门楼，纵横交错的街巷铺陈出历史的宏大背景，但画家无意于还原历史的真实或者说是复原历史的场景，更着意表现的是矛盾的冲突、历史的嬗变，并努力投射上创作者的经验痕迹，以及当代性的理解或文化性的结论。

　　因此画家从未选择过真正意义上的历史事件或历史人物作为自己的画题。即便是像《奏折》、《天子》、《宫门》这类作品，与某些特定的历史事件或历史人物有着一定的关联性，但是姜国芳并非仅仅是“图解”历史，而是通过高大的空间结构和繁杂丰富的道具细节，以及对主体人物的刻意描绘，营造了一出由画家充任导演的“历史活剧”，制造出戏剧性的情境张力和精神冲突。而在更多的作品中，女性形象往往成为了作品描绘中心。《梦中芙蓉》、《营闱之夜》、《御花园中》、《春风吹入紫禁城》、《闺秀》，昏暗的宫殿室内、装饰华丽繁复的宫门、雕龙画凤的屏风与床榻，构成了作品明确的清代宫廷之地点性。然而与那些津津于病态、孱弱的女性形象塑造的所谓“古典矫饰主义”迥异。姜国芳笔下的女性却是如此的自信、美丽、善良、健康，甚至充满了现代女性的品格特质。

　　这些独特的处理更明确地反映了姜国芳的历史观念，与画家个人对历史画创作的界定：描绘历史并非是要被历史所拘，画家必须从具体的历史情态中抽身出来，去关注、去表现那些永恒的精神命题。

　　油画的写实传统在表现物象的逼真性和复杂性方面具有明显的优势，但更重要的是写实性的语言有助于绘画经典性的理想实现。姜国芳站在美术巨匠的肩膀上，而反观内审的结果则是画家既试图继承古典写实的精神，又努力注入个人的情感和理解方式，并将其转化为紧扣时代脉搏的“新写实主义”。在具体的创作中，姜国芳擅于结合美术发展的新结论，综合美术诸流派的新成就，进而形成符合当代审美特点、展现当代审美特征的新绘画形式语言、在造型、色彩、结构、空间、笔触等诸方面推陈出新。

　　从近期完成的作品来看，姜国芳的历史画创作出现了一些形式语言上的新进展。自古以来，在历史画创作中最难解决的是人物间的相互关系、人物与环境的关系。姜国芳虽则同样面临着这样的难题，但他首先立基于人物与环境和谐统一的大关系，借助于画面气氛的整体营造，统和了画面的各部分；同时也致力于人物群像间关系的建立，而这一关系的建立则主要是通过情感性、情节性的描写而得以强化。

　　色彩与质感是过去历史画家往往有意回避的话题，因为过去的人们认为对这些因素的过多关注将削弱作品主题性的表现。但姜国芳毫不理会这些陈规，转而强调在表达历史观念的同时，展现视觉性的意义。因此画家不断增强色彩与质感的表现力，甚至不惜在画面中人为设计光源，来展现色彩与质感的表现力。画面空间的塑作也有了新的变化，正如姜国芳强调的“东方艺术的静态、平面装饰性、人物的神意交流”，依据这些艺术主张，背景的历史空间被有效地转化为一种传达意念的“场”，这是一种错综复杂的结构形态，并对应于作品的主题而呈现出丰富变化的特质。

　　以历史的眼光来评价姜国芳的历史观念与“新历史画”，我们可以这样认为，画家创造的不仅仅是“绘画性的历史”，更是“历史性的绘画”。也就是说画家在开创历史画的崭新篇章的同时，自己也因在此领域中的开创性工作，而进入了历史的视野。

Jiang’s New Historic View and “New Historic Paintings”
　　　　　　　　　　-Zhao Li

　　Historic paintings refer to paintings that draw material from historic events.In a general sense, historic paintings also feature myths, legends and religious stories. Sometimes, paintings that depict events contemporary with the painter are also classified as historic paintings.Historic events used in historic paintings are usually major events widely known by society. Meanwhile, painters generally stress idealism and typification in their artistic expression.

　　Consequently, historic paintings are not just faithful recordings of historic facts. They also reflect on the spiritual exploration of a people and a nation.Historic paintings have therefore become a time-honored tradition. Many countries have used them as a powerful tool for providing awareness and education.

　　The origins of historic paintings can be traced back to the time of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.Paintings in the ancient Greece and Rome eras employed a combination of real and mythological elements, from which emerged the representation of actual and historical events with mythology and fables.Historic paintings at the end of the Roman Era showed a consolidated linear, non-carnal and abstract tendency and entered the transition stagetoward the Byzantium era, when spiritual qualities and representation techniques were emphasized.Historic paintings of the Middle Ages were used as an important means to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paintings usually combined historic figures with religious scenes, or realistically depicted stories of the Bible and legends.Historic paintings became very popular in Italy during the Renaissance era in the 14th century as they were merged with humanism and resulted in rich spiritual connotations.The subsequent Baroque era continued the trend of the Renaissance era, though some changes took place.In the beginning of the 19th century, historic paintings were regarded by painters of neoclassicism and academism schools as the most orthodox and noblest paintings.Not only had historic paintings become independent from other types of paintings, they had also been ranked as paintings of the highest order.

　　Historic paintings originated in China rather early and mainly drew material from historic stories and literature.From the Spring and Autumn periods and the Warring States period until the 19th century, historic paintings were a very important area for Chinese painters.As these historic paintings usually contained moral or political overtones, they were not merely reproductions of historic scenes or plots.In terms of techniques of expression, China’s historic paintings originally dwelt upon religious or cultural matters. Demands for their pragmatic functions usually outweighed demands for perfection of the works themselves. It was not until the later period of feudal society that painters finally disengaged themselves from “preaching” and started paying more attention to descriptive details in paintings.

　　Entering the 20th century, the importance of historic paintings declined in the West. Particularly after World War II, historic paintings were no longer regarded as the mainstream form of artistic creation, due in part to the vigorous development of modern paintings and to the emerging new media movements.In China however, it was then that historic paintings created through realism had undoubtedly reached their zenith.During the first half of the 20th century, historic paintings by Xu Beihong and others inspired the struggling spirit and confidence of the Chinese people and contributed greatly to the final victory of the revolution and the liberation movement.Historic paintings of New China mainly featured themes that reflected the revolutionary history and politics.Gradually, the function of historic paintings was reduced to that of a political tool, and even degenerated completely into “gears and screws” of political machines. The compulsory authenticity of historic paintings was distorted and ultimately, historic paintings lost their independence and glamour as a separate school of art.

　　In spite of this, historic paintings have never truly faded, but have always managed to be resurrected.This resurrection is not simply bringing something back from the dead, but more in the manner of sublimation like Nirvana.If we carefully inspect the world’s art history of the 20th century, we can even see that some historic paintings have become the backbone of contemporary art and a milestone in the cause of art development.Examples of such works are Picasso’s Guernica and Dong Xiwen’s Founding Ceremony.The former is closely associated with cubism while the latter is the crystallization in oil painting of the exploration of national spirit.In the recent context of post-modernism which had been gaining popularity, European and American cultural circles conducted a profound reassessment of historic paintings of the 20th century and had universally acknowledged that neglect of historic paintings meant neglect to some extent of their own histories and betrayal to their own cultural traditions.

　　Indeed, only by fully perceiving the threads of thought in historic development and fully understanding trends of current cultural development can we make objective and rational reviews on Jiang’s historic paintings and properly summarize and classify his art.

　　In fact, there are scarcely any artists in present day China who devote themselves to the creation of historic paintings like Jiang.He has made outstanding achievements which are well-known in China and have alsobeen recognized by the international society. He is without equal in this regard.

　　Jiang was among the first batch of artists that received a formal art education in the late 1970s, when China adopted policies of reform and opening.He graduated with distinction at China’s highest seat of fine arts learning, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and was appointed to the faculty upon graduation.While a student in the Academy, he developed a profound understanding of portraying historic themes with pure European realism.During the course of his teaching and creation, Jiang gradually developed a set of techniques suited for historic paintings with Chinese characteristics.He also traveled frequently abroad, which made it possible for him to grasp the pulse of contemporary art development in the world while extracting the quintessence of the fine tradition of Chinese arts.In the late 1980s, he gradually shifted his focus of exploration from a mere concern for artistic language to the establishment and refinement of his theoretical system.

　　In the 1990s, Jiang turned his worship of Chinese history and culture into his own artistic pursuit.His deep thinking and reassessment of Chinese history and culture undoubtedly gave impetus to his unique painting series themes.In fact, Jiang has given serious thought on how to present the history of the Chinese people in relation to current societal changes through the language of oil paintings and historic paintings. The birth of The Forbidden City Series seems to be the preliminary conclusion.

　　In Jiang’s Forbidden City series, the splendid palace halls, towering city walls and towers, and interlocking streets and lanes present a grandiose historic background. But the painter doesn’t mean to restore historic authenticity, or to duplicate historic scenes. He is more after showcasing contradictions, confrontations and evolutions of history. In addition, he tries to cast into the paintings his own experiences, his contemporary understanding and his brand of cultural conclusions.

　　Therefore, the painter has never chosen historic events or figures in the real sense as his topics.Even in such works as Memorial to the Throne, Son of Heaven and Palace Gate, with certain connections to specific historic events or characters, Jiang did more than merely “illustrate” history. Through the lofty spatial structures and exquisite details, as well as the painstaking depiction of main figures, he created scenes of “historic dramas” with the painter himself acting as the director, producing tense situations and acute spiritual confrontations.In still more of his works, women became the central focus.In paintings such as Lotus in Dream, Night in Yingwei, the Imperial Garden, Spring Breeze in the Forbidden City, and the Young Lady, gloomy palaces and chambers, splendidly decorated palace gates, exquisitely sculpted and painted folding screens and beds formed the explicit characteristics of locale in Qing dynasty palaces.Compared with the classic insipidness of sickly and weak women often featured in ancient Chinese literature, women under Jiang’s paintbrush are confident, beautiful, kind and healthy, all qualities and features of modern ladies.

　　This unique treatment more clearly reflects Jiang’s historic views, as well as his definition of historic paintings: a painter must not be bound by history when depicting history. The painter must be able to stand aloof from historic situations so as to observe and present eternal themes of humanity.

　　The realism tradition of oil painting enjoys obvious advantages in presenting the verisimilitude and complexity of objects. More importantly, the language of realism aids in the ideal realization of the classicality of the painting.Jiang looked reflectively inward while standing atop the shoulders of masters and tried to inherit the realism of classic oil painting while imbuing his paintings with his own feelings and way of thinking, thus forming the neo-realism that firmly grasps the pulse of the ages.In his specific creation process, Jiang excels at integrating new developments in the field of fine arts and combining the achievements of the different fine art schools of thought to cultivate a new painting language that suits the aesthetic tastes of the contemporary age and exhibits characteristics of modern aestheticism. He has also brought forth many innovations in terms of form, color, structure, space and brushwork.

　　From his recently completed works, we can see new developments in the form of Jiang’s painting language emerging from his historic paintings.Since ancient times, the most difficult issue to address in creating historic paintings is how to present the relationships among different characters and the relationship of the characters with the environment.Although Jiang faces the same issues, he first establishes his starting point at building an overall harmonious and unified relationship between characters and the environment. Then he creates the ambience, and thus integrates all components of his paintings. He also strives to construct relationships between different characters, the establishment of which are strengthened through depictions of emotions and plot.

　　Color and texture used to be topics that painters deliberately avoided because it was perceived that excessive attention to these elements weakened the presentation of the main theme of the work.Jiang, however, doesn’t avoid these old “rules”, and on the contrary, he emphasizes the visual impact of his paintings when presenting historic themes.Therefore, the painter continuously strengthens the expressive force of both color and texture, and spares nothing to add sources of lights in his paintings, thus giving full play to both color and texture.The spatial structures of his paintings also undergo changes. They combine, as Jiang emphasized, “the static state of oriental art, the plane decorativeness, and the interchanges of mind and thoughts of characters”. In accordance with this proposition, the backgrounds of historic scenes are used effectively in creating a certain atmosphere or ambience, and in displaying rich particularities corresponding to the main theme of his paintings.

　　From a historical perspective, Jiang’s concept of history and his “new historic paintings” are not merely history being depicted through painting, but rather paintings that have a historic nature.That is to say, in the course of creating a new chapter in historic paintings, he himself has also entered onto the horizon of history.

书笔兼史笔，是真亦非真

　　　　　　　　　　　　　——姜国芳《紫禁城系列》油画评述

杨新

　　姜国芳的《紫禁城系列》油画创作，不久将要紫禁城内展出，他约我为这次展览专门出版的画集作序，以便让观众对展品有所了解。其实他的这些作品，早就在国内外多家美术馆和画廊中展出过，深受人们的喜爱并获得新闻媒体的广泛好评，已经是蜚声画坛，名扬海外了，本用不着我再来饶舌的。不过这次展出与以往不同，首先是以故宫博物院的名义在紫禁城内举办一个现代油画家的个展，还是破天荒第一次，这样的殊荣必定会引来各方面的关注；其次，他所画的紫禁城，这回要面对身在其境的千百观众，真景和画境相对照，可能会招至更多的挑剔和质疑。如此，对展出的作品作一点必要解释和述评，也许不是多余的，姑作为序。

　　《紫禁城系列》共有一百八十余幅，都是以宫殿室内环境为背景，集中描绘幼小皇帝与宫妃这两种人物在其间活动。只有两幅将帝妃画在一起，标题说明他们是母子关系，其他则都是帝妃各自独立成篇，可以说这些作品是一个系列，两个分支。

　　在小皇帝分支系列中，《宫门》是姜国芳的成名之作。背景是乾清宫一侧的过道，一个穿着朝服的小皇帝正徘徊在门槛之前。对于今天的观众来说，这条幽暗，狭窄的过道是再熟悉不过的了，因为它是由乾清宫通向御花园的必经之路，人多的时候往往拥挤不堪。那么这个穿着清王朝服饰的小皇帝是谁呢？人们不禁要问。在有清一代，顺治、康熙、同治、光绪和宣统，都是幼小登基由太后临朝听政，究竟是哪一位？姜国芳说：“谁也不是，谁都是。”他画的只是一种感觉。既然紫禁城里有这么一条必经之路的通道，又有这么多个小皇帝，出现画面上这么一个瞬间，是符合历史的逻辑和真实的，又何必问他是谁呢？在这里，敞开的宫门和幽暗的过道，即使修饰得金光灿灿而不见其富贵，倒象是张开着的大口和露出的咽喉；穿着华贵厚实朝服的弱小身材，不见其尊荣而只觉其负重，好象是心生恐惧或者在企盼那一线明光。宫门是帝王们建造起来防护外来侵扰的，但同时挡住了忠臣良将。“君门深九重，坟墓在万里”！这是被贬谪在黄州的苏轼所发出来哀怨。宫门又是帝王们为自己建造起来的牢笼甚至是深渊，历史总是处在这样的矛盾之中，姜国芳所发现的新视点是很能启发人们思考的。

　　白石老人说：中国画的写意手法，“在似与不似之间”。其实工笔画在严谨的造型当中也有写意手法，它对事物的描摹，妙就妙在是与不是之间。姜国芳的《宫门》，造型严谨，浓墨重彩，堪称中国的工笔画，而在描写事件上，也正在“是与不是之间”。唯其如此，才使这件作品表达出思想的深沉，内含的充实，给观众留下的是广阔的想象空间，带来的是对紫禁城历史沉重的思考。

　　随着《宫门》的创作在社会上获得极好的评价，激发了姜国芳于“妙在是与不是之间”继续在小皇帝身上构思做文章，先后便产生了《梦》、《天子》、《小皇帝》、《嬉耍》、《皇子》、《皇太子》、《太子夏宫》、《远方的钟声》等一系列作品。

　　《梦》描绘一个小皇帝，身着常服，爬到宝座上酣睡，背景是一扇金漆屏风，上面雕刻着治国箴言。分别是：“惟天聪明，惟圣时宪，惟臣钦若，惟民从义。”“首出庶物，万国咸宁。”“恺悌君子，四方为则。”箴言并没有引全，在画外的还有“知人则哲，安民则惠。”“功崇惟志，业广惟勤。”这些箴言都是从《尚书》中摘录出来的，讲的都是治国方略，以及君、臣、庶民的行为规则，只有在乾清宫宝座后的屏风上才有，因为乾清宫是皇帝的正式寝宫，同时也是接见臣僚处理日常事务的地方。屏风上刻上这些箴言的目的，是要时时刻刻提醒告诫君王他应当怎样去治理国家。这里的宝座，是极其庄严肃穆和神圣的，怎么能容许小皇帝随便爬上去睡大觉呢？按照宫中严格的规章制度，小皇帝的生活起居，自有专人管理负责，这样的事情是绝对不可能发生的，否则倒霉的是这位负责人（一般是太监）。如此说来，画家的描绘是否违反了普通常识呢？余谓不然。中国自从禹王爷“父传子，家天下”以来，把整个国家的前途命运寄托在一个幼小的生命上是屡见不鲜的事实，哪怕这个幼小的生命是个白痴如晋惠帝，那也天经地义在所不惜的。试想，要叫一个幼童去听《尚书》上那些高深莫测、佶屈聱牙的治国齐家平天下的大道理，他能正襟危坐而不打瞌睡那才是不真实哩。画家是在有意违反知识性的常识，以强烈的反差，去揭露历史真实。正象鲁迅先生一样，把一部二十四史有“吃人”两个字的历史真实，去托一个“狂人”之口说出来，是将春秋笔法寓意于艺术创作之中。

　　《天子》、《小皇帝》、《孤独的光》和《皇太子》等幅是不同形式的变体，都是描绘小皇帝在宝座上玩耍，只是其姿态与背景有所不同。《小皇帝》宝座后的屏风，因有“保泰常钦若，调元益懋哉”的对联，知其基本取景于养心殿前殿正间，清代从雍正皇帝开始在这办公，处理日常政务。之后，乾隆皇帝在这里居住。殿后是寝宫，西侧为三希堂。对联是乾隆皇帝书写的，“保泰”、“调元”都是皇帝应该担负的责任，意思是调和阴阳，保持天下太平。再后，慈禧皇太后也居住在这里，于殿的东间垂帘听政达四十年之久。在她治下，有同治、光绪两个小皇帝，临终之前，又将三岁的溥仪扶上宝座。

　　《皇太子》中画的全身金漆宝座，是陈设在太和殿的。要说画家违反常识和常理，当以此幅为最。因为画中的那个小孩标明是太子，说明他只是储君而还没有登基。太子有太子居住的地方，怎么会跑到举行最隆重的庆典—登基仪式的太和殿宝座上去呢？这是最典型的僭越，不要说如此，平时就是连偷偷地多看上两眼也是不行的。康熙皇帝所立的太子允礽，就是因为过早地暴露了抢班夺权之意而被废掉的。历朝历代为建储传位，老皇帝费尽心机，皇子之间明争暗斗。父子兄弟，视若寇仇，宫闱之内，血溅陛墀,史不绝书。画中，宝座之后，暗烟浮动，神秘莫测；屏风疑重，犹如铁幕，隐伏杀机，我们能不为这个无知的小太子捏一把冷汗？

　　这一组小皇帝系列，所画的皇帝更幼小。惟其幼小，则更无知。惟其无知，则可放肆。惟其放肆，则见天真。他们把宝座当作滑梯或垫褥，爬上滑下，翻来滚去，随心所欲，自得其乐。威严、庄重、神圣的帝王之座，不过是个玩具，倒是那双小小的虎头鞋却不能忘怀。往昔“舜视弃天下，犹弃敝屣”（《孟子·尽心》），而这个小皇帝把鞋子看得比宝座更珍重其意是相同的。所不同者，前者是经历人生对权利的彻悟，后者则未谙世事纯出天然。三岁的溥仪正在举行登基盛典时，哭着闹着要回去，情急之中摄政王（其生父）脱口而出：“这就快完了。”满朝文武听到后无不黯然神伤，预感到不祥即将降临，仪式草草收场。这不是笑话，可真是闹剧，它在中国历史上演绎了几千年，从周公辅成王开始，直到溥仪被革命党人赶下台，有说不完的故事。所以把象征最高权力的宝座与天真烂熳的幼小皇帝画在一起，并不是姜国芳的臆造，而是他在重新审视紫禁城的过程中，从新颖的视角，用调侃的笔法，表现一个严肃而重大的主题。为了表达这个主题，除了在幼儿的描绘上使人见之可爱外，特别在宝座、屏风、地毯、门窗等等的描写上，不惜笔墨，寓庄严肃穆于精雕细刻之中而不见其斧凿痕迹，正是其艺术手法与技法的过人之处，在今天的艺坛上实属少见。

　　在小皇帝系列中，只有《远方的钟声》是可以报名道姓的。因为那副墨镜，使我们知道是以末代皇帝溥仪为模特。溥仪在《我的前半生》回忆录中曾说到，每当清晨寂静时，深宫内能清晰地听到街市上的叫卖声，引起他对外面世界的向往。那么这幅作品可说是以真人真事作依据的，但姜国芳在此处也不是要去为溥仪造像，只不过把他当作一只笼中的小鸟来描绘，尤其是那两扇特意安排的门窗，突显出网状的花纹，暗示着这个豪华的宫殿，对人性的专制和对自由的禁锢。

　　相对小皇帝系列给人们以沉重负载来说，姜国芳的宫妃系列，给人们展示的却是另外一番景象。虽然其中也有孤寂和哀愁，但更多地是表现她们的天生丽质，似锦年华。不过需要指出的是，在宫廷女性中，还有皇后、皇太后，作者没有画她们，也许是怕把沉重的历史包袱又背上。另外的福晋，亲王的夫人们，没有特殊的恩准，是不能进入宫廷的，可以不在此列。这时所画的只有两类人物，一是公主，皇帝的女儿；另是妃嫔，皇帝的妻妾。

　　俗话说：“皇帝的女儿不愁嫁。”因为谁要是娶上了皇帝的女儿，就等于取得了荣华富贵，领到了进入权力中心的门票，当然是万人竞争的对象。但公主在宫廷中，又是政治交易的牺牲品，对外消弭战争，对内笼络权臣。在爱情与婚姻上，公主比一般平民还要没有自由和自主权。在中国的公主故事中，只有“和番”远嫁的凄凉和悲怆，却没有邂逅白马王子的浪漫与风情，从这里也可以反映出东、西方文化的差异。系列中《大清公主》，窈窕的身材，斜倚在软褥上，姿态的随意，显出她自矜骄贵，但却不放纵，青春与装束，光彩照人。《公主》的背景是太和殿，深邃昏暗，隐现的大柱，庄严肃穆，衬托出盛装的公主。她站立的姿势，穿着华丽但显厚重的衣服，即表现她的身份，端庄美丽却受拘束。出嫁前应该是少女最激动而深感幸福的时刻，系列中的《出嫁前》所画的公主，却是那样的表情恬静。灯光集中突出她的双手，托着两腮。背景黝黑，显然已是夜深了。脸上没有泪痕，知其并非远嫁，也许她在想着未来的夫婿和生活，在默默地等着命运的安排。“女子未嫁从父，既嫁从夫，夫死从子”，“妇德，妇言，妇容，妇功”这些礼教的规范，不但面对平民女性，也同样面对宫廷女性，而宫廷的规矩、礼节还更多。姜国芳也严格把握住这个规范、真实地再现了礼教压抑下的公主形象。

　　妃嫔在《紫禁城系列》中，数量上占有较大的比重。笔之所到，花团锦簇，百态千姿，同时又如歌如诉地吐露出她们的心声。作者对人物体察入微，刻画细腻，画幅虽多而富于变化，毫无重复之感。例如同样是表现她们遥望皇帝的幸临，《期盼》画的是倚伏椅背，从眼神可以看出她等待已久。那件紫檀木嵌大理石的太师椅，是为皇帝来临而设置的，空寂寂，沉甸甸，冰冷冷，就象她此时此刻的心情。《床前》画床前静立，低首沉思，面含苦涩。在她眼前，架子床罩上，那块雕刻精细的花板，描绘着人间的欢乐，更反衬出她心里的落寞。《她在静静地等待》画侧卧床上，姿态看似放纵，实际是描写疲乏。从她脱掉一只高跷鞋就可以看出站立已久，想要休息而不敢卸装，是以备应对召唤，然而望穿秋水，却始终听不到这样的呼声。同样是描绘入睡的作品，不但姿势各不相同，而且情绪各异。《梦中芙蓉》，和衣而睡，显其慵懒。《春泉小隐》，坦然贪睡，现其温柔。《梦之光》，困倦甜睡，也许在梦中见到了亲人，回到了小时的欢乐，所以那个较年长的宫女，不忍心去打扰她。

　　在紫禁城内有大大小小许多佛堂，妃嫔们信佛敬佛，是寻求精神寄托。《禅室芙蓉》和《冥》反映了这方面的生活。前者画妙龄少女盘膝打坐，却如老僧般的入定，说明她修炼已久，早已心如死灰；后者手转经筒，冥思默想，是在不求今世，以修来生。两者都描画深刻，启人深思。生了儿子是嫔妃们最值得庆幸和欢乐的事，系列中有两幅是画母子在一起的，《母与子》表现的是人性，母子间的依恋，而《望子成龙》则是表现的社会性，描绘的是母亲在苦熬苦守。系列中如果将《新选入宫的秀女》与《玉妃寒雀图》放在一起欣赏，是颇有意思的。前者十一、二岁左右，初选入宫，还未知深浅。她悄悄地梳妆打扮，几分胆怯，几分自赏。作者有意在她身后安排一个厚实的正方形窗花，蓝灰色调，规整而寒冷，暗示着她的未来生活。后者则是入宫有年，穿丽服，头戴花冠，美丽的面容，却神情忧郁，背景深暗，在屏风上隐现出一幅《寒雀图》，寓意着她在宫中的处境。唐杜牧《阿房宫赋》中描写秦宫人时说：“一肌一容，尽态极妍，缦立远视，而望幸焉，有不得见者，三十六年。“此图及其它许多作品似之。

　　妃嫔在宫廷中是一个复杂的群体，一是人数众多，按古礼“王者立后、三夫人、九嫔、二十七世妇、八十一女御”。但历朝历代，谁也没有遵守。白居易《长恨歌》中说：“后宫佳丽三千人，三千宠爱在一身”，虽然有所夸张，但不是没有根据。清代入关以后，参照明代对后宫定制是“皇后居中宫，皇贵妃一，贵妃二，妃四，嫔六，贵人、常在、答应无定数，分居东西十二宫”，“皆有宫女子供使令”。（《清史稿·后妃传》）。二是来源多途径。绝大部分是从民间采选，“视良家童女年十三以上，二十以下，姿色端丽合法相者，载还后宫，择视可否，乃用登御。”（《后汉书·后纪》）其次是来自贵族世宦家庭，甚至还有从战争中俘获抢夺的敌国女子。清代制度是：“每三岁选入八旗秀女，户部主之。每岁选内务府属秀女，内务府主之”。“贵人以上得选世家女，贵人以下但还拜唐阿以下女”。（《清史稿·后妃传》）所以清代自宫女子以至皇后，都是旗人，只有个别例外。三是她们入宫以后的地位存在着极大的变数。一旦得宠，或者生了皇太子，地位立即飞升。汉代的赵飞燕，唐代的武则天、杨玉环等，即其中典型人物。清代的那拉氏，由贵人而嫔、而妃、而贵妃变为皇太后，掌国柄达四十年之久。自古以来，帝王对她们是又爱又怕，爱的是其美色，怕的是大权旁落，殃及子孙，以至亡国，因而宫廷的制度对她们的管制和防范也极严。

　　但是，在妃嫔中能够飞黄腾达的毕竟是少数，绝大多数则处于弱势，虽锦衣玉食而精神压抑。对她们而言，高墙深院无异如牢笼，君王咫尺觉暗无天日。故《红楼梦》中的贾元春，把紫禁城称作“不得见人的去处”。所以这一部分人也引起了社会的同情，成为文学家、艺术家的创作热门，出现了许多的名家名作，在中国文化艺术史上占有很重要的地位。例如绘画中唐代的张萱和周昉，都是以描绘宫廷妇女而著称。今存《挥扇仕女图》（故宫博物院藏）、《簪花仕女图》（辽宁省博物馆藏）等，使我们不但能看到唐代宫廷妇女美丽的身影和盛装，而且能了解到她们在宫廷中的生活。姜国芳的这些作品，首先应该说是对这传统题材和美学思想的继承和发展，只不过所采用的是油画的表现形式而已。

　　用油画来描绘紫禁城及其人物，姜国芳虽说不是第一人。但是以如此巨大的规模，从新的历史角度，用油画来作为表现手段，他不但是第一人，而且可以说是在这以前的唯一的第一人。无怪乎很多在第一次看到他作品的人，都感到十分惊讶。我曾经特地到他蛰居的画室去欣赏过这些原作，深深地被画家的精神和毅力所感动。这么多一丝不苟精心制作的巨幅作品，这要流出多少汗水，用去多少个不眠之夜啊！更难能可贵的是，十几年如一日，坚持不懈的努力，才获得如此的成果，这需要耐得住寂寞和坚强的毅力，否则会功亏一篑。写实主义的油画创作方法，需要直接面对真人真物的写生，为此他不知多少次出入故宫的大门，一方面收集图象资料，作为创作素材；另一方面感受古韵古情，启发画面的构思。为追求表现物象的真实感觉，他甚至买了许多服饰和古旧家具，去观察它们的形体和光影变化。正是有这种如痴的执着追求，才使他取得了如此的丰硕成果。

Painting of Facts and History, of Realistic and Unrealistic
Art Review: Jiang Guofang’s Oil Paintings
　　　　 --- The Forbidden City Series
Yang Xin

　　Jiang Guofang’s oil paintings, TheForbidden City Series, will soon be exhibited in the Forbidden City. He asked me to write a preface for the album published specifically for this exhibition so that audiences can get a better understanding of his works. These works have actually been displayed in quite a few art galleries both at home and abroad and gained wide acclaim both in the press and from the audience. As they are already well-known, there is no need for any extra explanations. However, this show is indeed quite different from past shows in that this is the first time that a modern oil painter exhibits his personal artistic works in the Forbidden City in the name of the Palace Museum. Such a special honor will inevitably attract the attention of people from all walks of life. In addition, the audience will compare the Forbidden City in his paintings with the real Forbidden City, where his paintings are displayed. It is more likely that some audiences will be critical of his works in this way or other. Therefore, it is necessary for me to offer some necessary explanations and comments on these works. I hope they are not redundant and can be treated as a preface.

　　 The Forbidden City Series has altogether more than 180 paintings, all with the indoor environment of the Imperial Palace as the backgrounds, and focus on activities of little emperors and concubines. Only two paintings put together a little emperor and a concubine, suggesting that they are of mother-son relationship. The rest of the paintings are either about little emperors or concubines only. So we can say that these works form one series yet with two sub-series.

　　 In the sub-series on little emperors, the Palace Gate establishes Jiang’s reputation. In the painting, with a corridor beside the Palace of Heavenly Purity as the background, a little emperor in his court dress is wandering at the gate of the palace. The gloomy and narrow corridor is quite familiar for visitors of today, because it is the only path leading to the Imperial Garden from the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and it can be rather crowded when there are many visitors. People cannot help but ask: who is the little emperor in his court dress? In the Qing Dynasty, emperors such as Shunzhi, Kangxi, Tongzhi, Guangxu and Xuantong all ascended the throne in their childhood and the country was actually ruled by the empress. Who this little emperor can be? According to Jiang, “He can be one of them, or he can be none of them.” Jiang depicts his own personal feelings. It is meaningless to ask who this little emperor is as in the history there were so many little emperors, who definitely had loitered through that unique corridor. The scene is historically logical and factual. Here, the widely open palace gate and the gloomy corridor look like a wide-open mouth of a fierce beast even though they are splendidly decorated. The little emperor, in his gorgeous and precious heavy court dress, gives people an impression of heavy burden instead of a sense of honor. His heart may be full of fear or he is looking forward to a glimpse of sunlight. The palace gates are built with the order of the emperors to keep out outside intrusions, yet they have also blocked the way of loyal court officials. “The emperor sits behind nine layers of heavy palace gates, tombs are found ten thousand miles away,” thus sighed by Su Shi, a famous poet and official of the Song Dynasty, when he was banished from the court to Huangzhou. On the other hand, the palace gates are also a cage or an abyss that emperors built for themselves. The history is always full of such contradictions. The new perspective as discovered by Jiang is rather inspiring.

　　 Qi Baishi, a famous Chinese painter, once said that the freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting stresses on capturing the spiritual content of an object rather than attempting to capture every detail on the outward appearances of an object. In fact, such technique can also be used in creating a realistic painting with fine brushwork. Jiang’s Palace Gate is precise in design and rich in color, which can be rated as Chinese realistic painting with fine brushwork. Yet his paintings never attempt to reproduce any specific historic figures exactly. Only in such a way can his works carry profound thought and substantial content, providing enormous space for audiences to let fly their imaginations and set off their meditations about the history of the Forbidden City.

　　 The Palace Gate, which wins high acclaims in the society, stimulated Jiang to continue his creative work on the theme of little emperors. He created a series of paintings such as Dream, Son of Heaven, The Little Emperor, Playing, Prince, Prince in the Summer Palace, Toll of the Bell Afar and so on.

　　 Dream depicts a little emperor, dressed in ordinary clothes, climbing up onto the throne and sleeping soundly. The background is a golden lacquered folding screen, upon which are inscribed mottos of how an emperor should govern the country for the best interest of the people. The mottos, all taken from a Chinese classic work “Shang Shu”, are inscribed only on the folding screen behind the throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the place where the emperor sleeps for the night and meet with ministers for state affairs. The throne is sacred. How can a little emperor be allowed to climb on it for a nap? According to the strict regulations of the Imperial Palace, the life of the little emperor is taken care of by specially assigned people. So it is absolutely impossible for the little emperor to be sleeping on the throne, otherwise, the guardian, usually a eunuch, would be punished. Thus, is the painting against common sense? I don’t think so. There are many historic facts that tie a nation’s destiny with a little emperor since Lord Yu, one of the earliest leaders of China, who first regulated the royal power passing down from the father to the son and the royal family ruling the country. It is an unalterable principle to crown somebody even though he is an idiot if he is the son of an emperor. Just imagine a child is taught the abstruse and profound principles on how to govern the country, which are written in “Shang Shu”. It is no wonder that he cannot help falling asleep. Just as the famous Chinese writer Lu Xun who exposes the “cannibal” facts in “The Twenty-Four Histories” through a madman in his novel, the painter deliberately rebels against historic common sense to uncover historic truth. He is applying the euphemistically critical approach in his artistic works.

　　 Son of Heaven, Little Emperor, Cloistral Light and Prince are different versions of the Dream and all depict scenes of a little emperor playing on the throne in varying postures and backgrounds. The couplet on the folding screen behind the throne in the Little Emperor suggests that the scene is that of the front room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Starting from Emperor Yongzheng, emperors of the Qing Dynasty handled official businesses here. Later, Emperor Qianlong resided here. His sleeping chamber is at the back of the palace, with the Hall of Three Rare Treasures on its western side. Still later, Empress Dowager Ci Xi also resided in this palace, governing the country from behind a screen for as long as 40 years. Under her rule, two little emperors, Tongzhi and Guangxu were put on throne when they were merely toddlers. Just before she died, she put 3-year-old Pu Yi, the last emperor, on throne.

　　 The throne covered with gold lacquer depicted in the painting Crown Prince, is placed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This painting testifies the painter’s boldest rebellion against common sense because the child is a crown prince in status, who has not formally ascended the throne yet. A prince has his due place to reside. How it comes that he could sit on the throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where the grandest celebration marking a prince ascending the throne is held? This constitutes the most typical overstepping of the emperor’s authority. Actually it is a dangerous thing even for a prince to steal a glance at the throne in normal times. Prince Yun Ren, whom Emperor Kangxi had established as his successor, was revoked of his status as a future emperor when he showed a premature attempt to seize the power. Throughout the Chinese history, emperors rack their brains to establish a crown prince; imperial sons have both open strife and veiled rivalry; fathers and sons, elder and younger brothers, regard each other as enemies; bloodily fights happen in and outside the palace among them for the throne. In the painting, dim smoke floats behind the throne, while the folding screen stands there like an iron curtain. Who knows what is secretly hiding behind the folding screen? We cannot help but worry about the fate of the ignorant prince.

　　 Little emperors featured in the paintings treat the throne as a sliding board, where they climb up and slide down in whatever way they like and to their hearts’ content. To them, the awe-commanding throne is just a toy. For the little emperor, his tiger-head shoes that he wears are more valuable than the throne. This reminds one of a historic story recorded in Mencius, which says that Lord Shun gave up his throne to a publicly-elected successor so easily as he threw away torn shoes. Their difference is that one tells an experienced man who is fully conscious of power, while the other depicts a child ignorant of worldly affairs. When three-year-old Pu Yi ascended the throne in a grand ceremony, he cried and made noises, wanting to go back home, which prompted his father to blurt out without thinking, “it will soon be over.” Hearing these words, all the ministers attending the ceremony feel depressed, anticipating the forthcoming of something ominous for the Qing Dynasty. So the ceremony came to a hasty end. This is not a joke but a farce. Farces of this sort had been going on for several thousand years in the Chinese history. There are endless such stories starting from Zhou Dynasty until Pu Yi, who was driven off the throne by revolutionaries. Therefore, it is not a groundless fabrication for the painter to link the throne, which represents insurmountable authority, with ignorant little emperors. Jiang Guofang is actually expounding on a serious and great historic theme from a novel perspective and in an ironic tone. To fully express the historic theme, the painter not only depicts little emperors as pure and lovely children, but also presents the throne, the folding screen, the carpet and windows, etc., with exquisite details in such a natural manner as if the patterns were not produced from a paintbrush. This exactly shows the painter’s outstanding skills and his superb artistic understanding, which is rare in today’s artistic field.

　　 In the little emperor series, only the emperor in the Tolls of the Bell Afar can be identified as the last emperor, Pu Yi. That pair of sunglasses gives the audience the hint that the painting takes Pu Yi as the model. In his memoir entitled From Emperor to Citizen, Pu Yi wrote that in the quiet early morning hours, he could clearly hear in the palace peddlers hawking on the street, which triggered his yearnings for the outside world. Although that painting can be said as being based on true historic figures and facts, Jiang is not really drawing a portrait of Pu Yi, but rather, depicting him as a bird in a cage, especially the two specially arranged windows with eye-catching net-like patterns imply that this luxurious palace is but a prison for human being and fetter for freedom.

　　 Compared with the heavy burden of the little emperors, Jiang’s concubine series presents a different world. In solitude and sorrow, they are young and naturally beautiful. But it needs to be pointed out that Jiang has deliberately avoided painting the empress, probably be afraid that the women in his paintings would shoulder heavy historic burdens. Nor has he depicted princely consorts and wives of princes because without permission, they were not allowed to enter the Imperial Palace. So in his paintings only princesses and concubines are featured.

　　 A saying goes that “A princess needs not worry about her marriage.” This is because that by marrying a daughter of the emperor, one can instantly be showered with wealth and respect and gain the ticket to enter the power center. Therefore there is a fierce competition for this position. However, princess is a sacrifice of political transactions used by the emperor to gain loyalty from his ministers and to avert potential dangers of wars with outsiders. On the aspects of love and marriage, a princess has less freedom and autonomy than an ordinary girl. In Chinese stories of princess, there are only sorrows and bitterness for being married off to a distant kingdom and never have we learned that they had ever experienced romance and love with a man of their own choice. Here shows the difference between the Oriental and Western cultures. In The Princess of the Great Qing Dynasty, the princess reclines on a soft padded mattress with an elegant and reserved manner and brilliant image. In another painting, Princess, against the background of the overpowering and gloomy Hall of Supreme Harmony, with its giant columns, a young princess in splendid and heavy garments that symbolize her status stands there, beautiful, gracious yet reserved. In another painting, Before the Wedding Ceremony, the princess carries a calm and tranquil facial expression, which is against the state of a girl who is to embrace her most exciting and happiest moment in her life. The dark background shows that it is already late at night. With her cheeks rested on her two hands, she seems to have accepted her father’s arrangement and looks forward quietly to whatever the destiny has decided for her. There are no tear stains on her face, so she is not marrying far away. The feudal codes of conduct for women determine a woman must obey her father before marriage and obey her husband after marriage. When her husband dies, she then must listen to the arrangement of her son. Such traditional preachings bound not only commoners but also women in the Imperial Palace. And women in the Imperial Palace suffer from additional rules and norms. Jiang veritably reproduces the images of princesses under the oppression of feudal values.

　　 Concubines occupy the majority part of the paintings. The painter shows concubines in various postures and tries to reveal their inner world to audiences. The painter pays particular attention to unique details, preventing redundancy among the numerous paintings. For instance, in depicting their awaiting the emperor’s arrival, Anticipation paints a concubine leaning against a chair, and the expression in her eyes implies her longing for the emperor’s arrival. The rosewood chair imbedded with marbles is placed specially for the emperor. The chair is vacant, heavy and cold, just as her feelings at that moment. Before the Bed shows a concubine standing beside the giant bed, with her head lowering down in a bitter meditation. The bedspread has pictures of the lively life in the outside world, which forms a stark contrast with her lonely heart. She is Waiting Quietly depicts a concubine lying on the bed. The first glance might suggest that she was unrestrained, yet she is actually tired. From one of the shoes on the floor, one can tell that she wants to take a rest but dares not undress in order to prepare for the call of the emperor. She gazes with eager expectation but never gets any sign of calling. The paintings that describe concubines sleeping are not only in different postures but also with different emotions. Lotus in Dream pictures a concubine sleeping with her clothes on in a rather leisurely manner. Spring Fountain shows a concubine sleeping sweetly. In Light of Dream, a concubine is in a deep sleep, maybe she is meeting her relatives and returning to her childhood joys in her dream, therefore an elderly lady-in-waiting doesn’t want to disturb her.

　　 There are numerous Buddha shrines in the Imperial Palace. Concubines believed and worshipped Buddha to seek peace in their mind. Lotus in Meditation Hall and The Nether World reflect just this aspect of their life. In the former painting, a young lady is sitting with her legs crossed in a deep meditation, which suggests that she has been worshipping Buddha for a long time and her heart has long been as dead as ashes. In the latter, a concubine is turning the scripture scrolls and thinking silently, praying for a happy life in the other world. Both of these paintings are imbued with profound meanings that are worth deep thinking.

　　 To give birth to a son is most worthy of celebration and feeling happy for the concubines. There are two paintings in the series that feature a mother and a son together. Mother and Son expresses the humanity in nature and shows the attachment between a mother and a son. Great Expectations, on the other hand, shows the social aspect, a mother is enduring years of suffering for his son’s future. If we put Concubine just Entering the Imperial Palace and Concubine and the Sparrows together and appreciate them, it would be quite interesting. In the former, the girl looks to be 11 or 12 years old and is lack of experience, not knowing how her future life would be like in the palace. She is decorating herself self-appreciatively yet with a little timidness. The painter deliberately arranges thick, square and blue paper-cuts decorated on windows behind her, which symbolize her strictly regulated and lonely life in future. The latter painting shows a concubine, who obviously has been in the palace for quite some years. Wearing corollas and dressed in splendid clothes, she looks beautiful but distressed. In the dark background is a folding screen with a loom picture “The Sparrows in the Cold”, which alludes to her situation in the palace. The painting reminds people of what Du Mu, a Tang Dynasty poet, once wrote in his E Fang Gong Fu: “She is beautiful and attractive in every aspect and looks afar in dim anticipation of the arrival of the emperor, yet many concubines haven’t seen the emperor for 36 years.” This painting and many other works of this series are similar to this poem.

　　 Concubines constituted a complex community in the Imperial palace. They had a large number in population. Ancient regulations stipulate that an emperor should have an empress, three wives, nine concubines, and 108 other women with various titles to serve him. However, no emperors throughout the history had obeyed the regulations verbatim. Bai Juyi, a Tang Dynasty poet, wrote in his Chang Hen Ge that “There are 3,000 beauties in the living quarters of the palace but the emperor showers his love for only one woman.” This may be a little exaggerating but not without ground. After the Manchurians entered Beijing, they modeled after the norms of the preceding Ming Dynasty and but made no exact limit for the number of women to serve the emperor in the palace.

　　 Concubines also came from a variety of sources. The majority of them are chosen from commoners. According to Hou Han Shu, concubines were selected from virgins aged between 13 and 20. Some of them came from aristocratic families, and some are even captives from enemy countries. In the Qing Dynasty, concubines as well as the empress were all selected from Manchurians, with only a few exceptions. Concubines’ status also changed dramatically in the palace. Once a concubine was favored by the emperor, or she gave birth to a son, her status instantly soared. Zhao Feiyan of the Han Dynasty, Wu Zetian and Yang Yuhuan of the Tang Dynasty, are some of the typical figures among them. Empress Dowager Ci Xi saw her status rise from that of a concubine all the way to Empress, governing the country for 40 years. Throughout the history, emperors had a mixed feeling toward concubines. They loved them for their beauty but also feared that their powers would slip away to the concubines. So there were strict rules and regulations to guard against concubines in the Imperial Palace.

　　 However, only very few of the concubines could have their status raised, and most were weak members of the palace community. Though living an extravagant life, they were spiritually suppressed. For them, the high walls and deep yards of the Imperial Palace were of no difference to birdcages. They have little hope of seeing the emperor even though the emperor might be just a few steps away. Jia Yuanchun, a character in the Chinese classic Dream of Red Mansions, refers the Forbidden City as “a place which outsiders should be ashamed of going inside”. Therefore concubines attract social sympathy and become one of the hot topics of literary writers and artists. There appear many famous writers and painters on this subject whose classic works occupy an important position in the Chinese cultural and art history. For example, in the field of painting, Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang in the Tang Dynasty are renowned for painting women in the palace. Concubines with Fans stored by the Palace Museum and the Concubineswith Hairpins collected by the Liaoning Province Museum, allow us not only to enjoy the beautiful women wearing gorgeous garments in the palace of the Tang Dynasty, but also get a glimpse of their life in the imperial palace. Jiang’s paintings are succession and development of this traditional theme and aesthetic thinking, but are expressed in the form of oil paintings.

　　 Although Jiang is the not the first person to depict the Forbidden City and the characters thereof in the form of oil painting, doing so with such a grand scale and with such a new historic perspective, Jiang is indeed the first person. It is no wonder that many people are surprised by his works the first time they see them. I once went to his studio to appreciate these original works and was deeply touched by his diligence and perseverance. How many sleepless nights has he spent and how many meticulous efforts has he made in creating so many huge works? He must have spent about a dozen years consistently working on these works, enduring loneliness and forsaking leisure and entertainment. I don’t know how many times he has visited the Forbidden City to gather visual data and to study the ancient architectures and furnitures to get inspiration for the various backgrounds he needs in his paintings. To paint with realism, a painter has to draw sketches on real objects. He has even bought many ancient garments and antique furnitures to study their shapes and changes of light and shadows. It is with such resolute pursuit that he makes such great achievements.

　　 I admire Jiang’s talents and oil painting techniques. An artist needs talent to achieve breakthroughs in his art and needs constant practice to develop skills. A successful artist needs both talent and skills. Talent and skills gained through constant practice are mutually dependable. Through my contacts and communications with Jiang Guofang, I found that Jiang has a very active and sharp mind and has profound understanding of both traditional Chinese culture and the Western art history.

　　 He says that he is a coolie and craftsman in his studio. He is not being modest but indeed he has explored hard and bitterly to brush up his skills. The oil painting is a rather young type of art in China. There were few people before him that have endeavored to depict the palace life through oil paintings. As there are hardly any experiences to draw upon in China, he has to look to the Western art history for reference. However he must take into consideration the differences between the Chinese culture and Western cultures. He respects and admires the Western art, and is fascinated by works of Van Eycks, Rembrandt and Ingres. Western painters directly painted nudes to present feminine beauty, but he cannot do so by presenting concubines and princesses in nude in China. What he has done is that he conscientiously studies their techniques with paintbrushes, their ways of treatment of light and color, and absorbs such techniques in his own works, meanwhile inheriting China’s traditional aesthetic values. For instance, the garments worn inside the Imperial Palace of the Qing Dynasty are splendid indeed, yet with embroidery, pearls and gold threads, such garments are usually loose and heavy, which make it very difficult to show the beautiful figures of the women in the palace. Jiang doesn’t retreat from this problem; instead he takes advantage of such garments to his benefits. He tirelessly catches the fine details on the silk garments, as they are unique to the Chinese culture. They are the finest embroidery products and show the unique features of the Chinese art. He painstakingly brought out the texture of the silk garments, and their sumptuousness. With bright and rich colors and beautiful shapes, he presents their faces and hands.

　　 It can be said that Jiang has a particular talent in depicting doors, windows, folding screens and other furnitures in the Imperial Palace. These objects carry so exquisite patterns and designs that it takes a challenging job to present them in an oil painting. An incompetent painter would succumb to the difficulties of either paying so much attention to details without losing an overall grasp and balance, or reproducing their splendors without showing them as antiques. However, under the paintbrushes of Jiang, he not only accomplishes both but also demonstrates subtle changes in the shade of colors under different lighting conditions. What is more important, he has also developed such techniques as to make the silent objects to utter what they have witnessed and what their masters have gone through. In addition to the throne, the fauteuil, the bed, which we have mentioned above, in a painting entitled Light of Dream, the lamp cover with its exquisite patterns present various colors, which not only shows that the master is in a dream but brings visitors to a mysterious world as well.

　　少励画廊代理过中国大陆的许多优秀艺术家。通过少励的努力，许多艺术家现在享誉国际，其中包括姜国芳。他画的故宫系列使他成为国际画坛上一颗新星。Schoeni was instrumental inbuilding a loyal international following for many artists he represented on the mainland They included JiangGuoFang whose forbidden City Series made him an international star.

——摘自：南华时报（欧泳诗）2004年5月5日

　　姜国芳深知去创作挖掘心灵的作品意味着什么——无边的孤独和辛劳，他把所有的工作比作驴推碾子，全部精力都被那些想要用的油彩来自我展现的形象占用了，在这些形象的驱使之下日复一日的超负荷工作。2004年月10月初这些漂浮在油彩上的灵魂出现在故宫博物院的展厅内，向人们诉说百年来在这里展现的荣耀与悲凉——2004年姜国芳的名声在各种媒体出现，尤其是故宫主办的姜国芳的个人画展，使他名声大震，而今年秋季的拍卖会上，姜国芳在不同的三个拍买会上都创下令人注目的好成绩，前不久，他还收到联合国教科文组织发来邀请信，于2005年2月在印度为他举办画展，随后，他会在许多重要的国家举办他的个人画展。这一系列的国际间重要展览，将姜国芳推向世界级大师的行列，姜国芳这个并不显为人知的名字，慢慢地进入我们的视野中。

——摘自：Audi 《奥迪杂志》2004.12

　　2004年9月29日—10月8日“姜国芳紫禁城系列油画展——现实的历史”，在北京故宫博物院神武门城楼举行，整个展览先后参观人数达3万人次，这次展览由故宫博物院主办，也是故宫建院80周年以来首次为当代画家举办个人画展，近两个月后的11月21日，在北京翰海拍买公司举行的“2004年秋季拍买会的场上”姜国芳以紫禁城为创作背景的油画《天子》，以297万人民币的高价成交，另一幅作品《傍晚》，也创下60万5千的成交价，成绩骄人，2005年2月，他受联合国教科文组织邀请，将参加在印度举行的世界知名画家联展，姜国芳——这位被画界称为“发现紫禁城第一人”的当代著名油画家，无论在艺术上，还是在商业上，都可以说在画史写下了他独特的一页。

——摘自：《空中生活杂志》2005.2

　　姜国芳认为历史从来就没有真实过，所以他不会拘泥于事件的真实来要求其作品，在几十年的创作过程中他发现，人在走神的时刻最能够表现其内心的状态，而且这种状态可心同观者相互关照。
　　姜国芳通过对一系列清代宫廷内人物走神的绘画，在有意无意之间表明一种围城状态——当年紫禁城里人视宫廷所象征的时代为牢笼，而今天的人却对当年的情境浮想联翩。历史与今天，隔着油画表面透明的薄层相互凝视。

——摘自：时尚——先生风采2004.11

　　当故宫拒绝了所有带有商业色彩的摄影机的时候，一位画家却用他的画敲开了这高墙间的层叠宫门，他就是姜国芳。
　　一位用油彩表现紫禁城，又使画作惊现于紫禁城神武门城楼的艺术家。
　　故宫博物院此次突破不为“活人”举办展览的“禁区”，而显示出了极高的眼光、魄力和对姜国芳的偏爱。
　　这是故宫第一次举办画家的个人展览，并且把画展的开幕式定在晚上，更是史无前例，说起这次画展，姜国芳一贯平静的脸上闪出兴奋的神情，我从五年前就开始向故宫作出办画展的提议，故宫方面对我一直很重视很支持，无论什么都可以沟通，尽量配合。作为一个画家，可以得到这们的肯定，说明从中央到整个社会对中国传统文化的重视。
　　“十年完成了我的一个梦，将创作还原它们的发源地，这是上帝的旨意”。

——摘自：Clty+club/城市俱乐部杂志2004.9

　　姜国芳笔下的紫禁城很大气，具有一种史诗般性格，对事件和人物的透析，能使人感觉到一种深层次的底蕴，如泣如诉般的思索，如歌如午般的耕耘，使他的作品在人生的孤独和寂寞中诞生，甘于寂寞是姜国芳选择的人生之路，为了紫禁城，他甘于寂寞几乎达到“忘我”的程度，姜国芳发现了紫禁城，不管前方的路途有多么坎坷，他也会不回头地走下去，这就紫禁城的性格，就是姜国芳所钟情的“梦”。

——摘自：北京晚报《姜国芳梦紫禁城》2004.9.22

　　与紫禁城的雄伟相一致，他的画一般都是大体量，大制作，宫廷建筑装饰的繁缛，以及他所追求的写实主义的细节精确性，都使得他的画作极“吃功夫”可以想象，在细腻的笔触之后，是日复一日的艰难劳作。
　　紫禁城，城墙厚重，宫门层叠，它是建筑、是历史、是文化、是精神、姜国芳对准了它，把绘画的笔触和观察的视角。在他整整画了20年之后紫禁城向他敞开了怀抱——9月29日-10月8日，他将成为进入故宫第一个办个人画展的画家，在神武门展出他的“紫禁城系列”画作50多幅。

——摘自：光明日报/姜国芳眼中的紫禁城/2004.9.15

　　故宫博物院展宣部主任闫宏斌先生介绍，其实故宫是一座综合性的博物院，不拒绝为在世的画家举办画展，但故宫历来对这个问题十分慎重，对画家和作品审查也十分严格，所以迄今为止，只有姜国芳一个人将在故宫办个人画展，以前从未有过。
　 　闫宏斌认为，姜国芳的画以故宫为题材，其作品的艺术水准和个人声誉达到了在故宫展览的要求，不久前，文化部副部长，故宫博物院院长，郑欣淼先生看了姜国芳的画册，对他的作品给于较高的评价。著名书画鉴家，故宫博物院前副院长杨新先生也看了姜国芳的作品，推崇备至，认为具有很高的艺术水准。

——摘自：信报2004.7.25

　　姜国芳的“紫禁城系列”是必然会引起轰动的系列，因为所有欣赏了它们的人，都有一种想拥有它们的愿望，对于画家而言，欣赏者的冲动正是他们幸福和满足的所在。

——摘自：中国文化报/姜国芳：发现“紫禁城”2004.8.1

　　姜国芳的画室很大，但因摆放着大量油画作品，而显得狭小。数十幅作品已经被装进画框，只待展出时间的到来。记者发现，这些作品的内容全部都与紫禁城内容有关，有的内容为宫廷美女，有的则是小皇帝，也有的是宫廷事件，如反映朝廷生活的《奏折》等，油画并不是中国的技法，其发源地在西方国家，而紫禁城却是能够代表中国封建文化的建筑，两者并无关系，但是在画家的笔下，紫禁城内的神秘却被生动的反映在画布上，配以金黄、红色等中国封建王朝最为重视的颜色，油画中的紫禁城却是别有一番意境，——此次展览是他在国内举办的第一次大规模的展览，但是展出的作品却并非是他作品的全部，主要作品为近几年新创作的，而原先创作的作品因流散到海外藏家、博物馆而难以借回，这不能不说是一个遗憾。

——摘自：北京青年报/“发现”紫禁城2004.8.6

　　姜国芳的作品中所呈现的色彩凝重深厚的，造型严谨不苟，画面堂皇而不雕俗，他秉承了15世纪油画大师凡艾克的画风，继16世纪绘画大师伦勃朗的后尘，融汇东方文明中的明哲，智慧、超脱以及西方文明中热情，理性和大无畏精神，审美趋向于古希腊唯美主义，崇尚自然博大的姜国芳，作品呈现中国皇家气派。

——摘自：新浪文化2002.11.22

　　在艺术界，姜国芳有“中国当代宫廷画家”的称号，在他之前，这个称呼是属于250年前的意大利籍清廷画师郎世宁的，不同是在郎世宁的画中，他所表现的是实实在在的清宫生活，而姜国芳刻画的却是一段抽象的历史，郎世宁引入西洋画的技巧，却以中国的笔墨作画，而姜国芳作为中国人，却选择了西洋画的表现手段。

——摘自：信报/宫廷油画再现“紫禁城”辉煌2002.12.1

　　姜国芳，一位现代中国油画大师，以深沉的角度表现他心中的紫禁城，不论是其内在建筑或人物都带有一份不可思议的神秘。

——摘自：香港失乐园（Forbidden.Fruit）1998.1

　　姜国芳并不把自己的画当作一种真正实的历史的再现，“我的人物，无论是在龙床上嬉戏的孩子，是华贵端庄的宫女，都不是那个特定的人物，其实你在历史找不到那些人，我用的是具象的表现手法，但表现的欲是抽象的历史。
　　姜国芳选择紫禁城作为他艺术表现的一种方向，看似偶然。实际上欲包含了一种历史的和艺术的必然性，这说起来很玄，但只要了解他所接受的教育和二十年的努力，就不难发现，这位出生在中国南方江西的艺术家，最终会融化在紫禁城百年不散的迷雾和高墙重门的重重包围之中。
　　 我觉得油画应该表现一种隆重的感觉，它不像水粉画那么轻飘飘，宫廷生活的华贵隆重，正好符合这种特质。
　　孤独很可能是画家的一种特质，可是在姜国芳宫廷生活那种金壁辉煌下的孤独和自己作为画家的孤独又不是一回事。
　　“孤独的光”中孤独感可能只是一种表像，而油画中那种光线投射在花华服上的贵气，可能才是主要的。贵气可以理解为一种隆重的感觉，隆重的感觉对姜国芳来说是最重要。

——摘自：Ming Pao Newspaper 20 April 1998

　　我国宫廷油画最早始于清朝，在几经发展后虽然现当代画家中也不凡涉猎这一题材的，但均没有形成大势，随着姜国芳在这一领域的开拓，冷寞了百年的宫廷油画，再次成为人们关注的焦点。
　　近现代绘画史，以宫廷生活为素材的油画创作可称得上罕见，姜国芳近年的创作可以说继承和丰富了这一题材的创作，又为东方文化艺术增添了新的内容。

——摘自：东方晨报/宫廷油画浮出水面/1997.12. 30

　　然而在辉煌与灿烂的色彩气氛中，又仿佛蕴含着一种森严保守拘谨的成份，画面带领着观者走向深层的思考，去追溯改朝换代的成败——这正是《紫禁城》的魅力所在，姜国芳以他特殊的艺术风采，建立在中国油画界牢固的地位，然而，他今年只不过是四十四岁的中年人，辉煌也许还在后头呢！

——摘自：香港文汇报（1995.11.18）

　　作为文革的第一代画家，已届中年的姜国芳是中国写实主义主流的代表之一，使他闻名海内外的“紫禁城”系列，是他费时六年，呕心沥血的结晶，姜国芳的创作方式极为严谨，他用了十几年的时光来研究中国传统艺术和欧洲油画技巧，最终发展出以历史题材为表现民族精神意蕴的特定方式，有许多作品历时一年多才完成，幅幅宏篇巨构，在中国艺术史占有重要的一席。

——摘自：香港新晚报1994.10.3

　　我找到了自己的创作道路，不会轻易放弃，现实太近，反而变得模糊而不确不定，我不想表现一种使命，不想说什么哲理，我即是一种单纯的绘画，用画去感动人，传达一种文化信息。我的追求只有六个字“完美、典雅、高尚”，是姜国芳另一组牛之系列——生命三部曲中之一幅，姜国芳的生命三部曲，被誉为生命的诗赞，他企图通过牛，来表现来自人类生命运动的审美意念——从诞生，自立，到“敲着战鼓向坟墓走去”的死亡。强烈地展示出一种空灵而颇为玄秘的意境。
　　姜国芳之“清宫”系列已为公认之精品，为画家六年苦心创作的成果，由此姜国芳亦成为当代中国油画之大家，深受评家和收藏家的肯定。

——摘自：新晚报1993.10.15

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