There are many models in later generations, but few are beyond them. Skills, whether physical or physical, everyone can learn; Charm, metaphysics, learning but not doing, enlightenment.
People who like it all love its charm. There are many audiences, each with its own understanding. Although they are different, they all feel that their hearts are full of pride and shock, and they can better understand the profound meaning of Xu Beihong's philosophical saying, "People should not be arrogant, but not impetuous." Every horse in his works embodies his pride, and has the highest state of "swan goose moans, Ma Si".
Genius is the product of the times, and artists are the crystallization of the times. Excellent works of art are the representatives of an era. Xu Beihong's "Horse" represents that turbulent era and embodies his feelings of worrying about the country and the people. Under the background of "September 18th Incident", "December 28th Incident" and World War II, Xu Beihong's "War Horse" bravely followed the soldiers to the battlefield, and those "War Horse" became the spiritual force to inspire people to resist foreign powers bravely without fear of violence.
Literary and art workers are defenders of the people's spiritual strength and beliefs at all times. Without faith, people are really no different from salted fish, walking in the world like walking dead, waiting for death; But with faith and spiritual strength, generate will have infinite potential, and it will not be afraid of the 25,000-mile long March, and Qianshan will only be idle. Therefore, in that era, there was Lu Xun's "Scream" with a pen as a knife and Xu Beihong's "War Horse" with a pen as a pen.
If we haven't seen Xu Beihong's War Horse, we may imagine that the war horse is in a war scene with heavy gunfire, or there is a grand scene of soldiers going out, or a horse is fighting against the enemy. We imagined all kinds of scenes, but when we really saw Xu Beihong's "War Horse", we found that there was only one fine horse standing on snow-white rice paper, which was heroic and imposing. No background, nothing else. We were confused and laughed. Isn't that what Xu Beihong wants? Leave the space of imagination to the viewer. A thousand spectators have a thousand "war horses", so leave the background to the audience to imagine.
This is the genius of Xu Beihong. No background is better than background. There is only one war horse. Adding any embellishment is gilding the lily, which will destroy the existing aesthetic feeling and supreme artistic conception of the whole picture. For example, in the propaganda of "War Horse", he wrote, "Fight with sorrow, stand upright and return to heaven" and "Autumn wind, Wan Li often looks back and knows the old battlefield." ......
Savoring "War Horse" carefully, three feet firmly step on the ground, while the left front hoof has been gently raised, turning the neck to look back, as if listening, although seemingly static, while the swaying mane and ponytail are flying, as if they will be washed away at any time. Sketch the shape of the horse with round and powerful lines, and the thick brushstrokes are integrated into the calligraphy of Wei Bei and Cao Li. The horse's head is left blank and highlights, which strengthens the three-dimensional sense of the horse and the tough texture of the horse's head; The center of gravity is straight down, the brush strokes are bright, showing a rigid and flexible posture; Brush the body with a slightly lighter pen and ink, and explain the body surface clearly; Outline prominent joints, hard horseshoes and other places with rich lines; The horse's mane and ponytail are the most imposing, and the wide pen sweeps away and flies out of the air. Xu Beihong expressed his thoughts with stirring pen and ink, and brought the charm of the war horse to the extreme. His brushwork and smooth lines are like his overwhelming enthusiasm.
Xu Beihong painted wild horses and war horses. Without saddle and reins, wild horses are not bound by gold. The wild horses written by Xu Beihong are robust, unrestrained, free and easy, lifelike and extraordinary. In the boundless wilderness, they walk, fly or prance, and have all the beautiful characteristics endowed by nature, not only full of energy, but also noble in spirit. Isn't this the expression of Xu Beihong's freedom and passion?
Representing realism with romanticism, Xu Beihong's Horse can be described as "a horse that flows through the ages", subverting the traditional horse painting techniques, drawing a freehand horse with literati's freehand brushwork ideas, breaking through the barriers of predecessors, expressing it with rough and bold lines, and expressing its beauty and majesty with the spirit of calligraphy, which has both a realistic style and the charm of Chinese painting.
Rome wasn't built in a day, which can make the horse's heroic performance so perfect. How can you draw without the skill of 3 thousand waste paper? Xu Beihong once concluded: "I love painting animals, and I spent a long time on objects." That is to say, on horseback, he quickly wrote more than 1000 manuscripts, learned the anatomy of horses, and became familiar with the bones, muscles and tissues of horses. Then, it is worth studying its dynamics and expression in detail. Therefore, Xu Beihong said: "The avenue of art is the pursuit of nature. "Only by pursuing in nature and feeling in nature can we draw a masterpiece that is truly higher than life and reflects the spirit of the times.
So, why do we all fall in love with horses written by Xu Beihong in the end?
Because everyone has a heart to defend the country and everyone loves freedom and nature, it is not surprising that everyone loves Xu Beihong's horse. Every one of us has a horse of Xu Beihong, or a war horse, running to the battlefield to defend the motherland; Either wild horses, galloping on the grassland, bohemian and love freedom.