Modern Figures

Chinese name: Wang Dafan

Nationality: Chinese

Place of birth: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Date of birth: 1888

Date of death: 1961

Occupation: Master of Fine Arts

Main achievements: Won the Panama Exposition Gold Medal Medal

Representative works: "The Horse is Presented to the Commander-in-Chief", "Facing the Wall for Ten Years", "Dayu Controlled the Flood", "The King Enters the Capital"

Characters of Wang Dafan (history lishixinzhi.com)

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Wang Dafan: Male (1888-1961), surnamed Kun, also known as Xiping Jushi, also known as Yishan Woodcutter, also known as Xiping Caolu, a master of Chinese ceramic art. His ancestral home is Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. His ancestors fled the war and later moved to Yi County, Anhui Province. He was born in Huanggang Village, Boyang County, Jiangxi Province.

Wang Dafan’s life experience

Wang Dafan is a descendant of Confucian businessmen, and his ancestors were engaged in business and teaching. Due to the war, his father Wang Jiayao's business failed and he relied on his mother Lu Yucui to make rice cakes to make ends meet. Wang Dafan attended private school for three years as a child, and was an apprentice to barber before he was 13 years old. In 1901, he went to Jingdezhen with his parents to join his sister's "Red Shop", where he and his brother Wang Daping learned skills. After his three-year apprenticeship, Wang Dafan painted porcelain independently in his sister's shop. At this time, his sister paid a high salary to hire Wang Xiaotang, a famous Hongxian porcelain painter and light crimson painter at the time, to come to the shop to paint porcelain, providing Wang Dafan with an opportunity to learn. Wang Xiaotang is a representative figure of "literati paintings on porcelain" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his paintings of ladies are particularly famous. Wang Xiaotang made a living by painting paper fan paintings in Hangzhou in his early years. His calligraphy was influenced by the "Two Kings" of the Qing Dynasty, and his paintings are in the same vein as Fei Xiaolou, Sha Shanchun and Qian Hui'an. Wang Xiaotang is only 3 years older than Wang Dafan, so it is easy to communicate with them, and their friendship developed into a master-disciple. Wang Xiaotang not only taught Wang Dafan painting, but also taught him poetry and poetry. Under the guidance of Wang Xiaotang, Wang Dafan studied hard and emerged. In 1915, the works of Wang Dafan, Wang Qi, Pan Gouyu, Wang Xiaotang, Zhou Xiaosong, Wang Yeting and others were recommended by Jiangxi Porcelain Company and Jingdezhen Chamber of Commerce and sent to the Panama Exposition for exhibition. Wang Dafan's pastel porcelain plate painting "Test of Wealth and Longevity" won the Panama Exposition Gold Medal and was the only gold medal winner at that time.

In 1922, Wang Dafan joined the "Porcelain Art Research Society" initiated by Fuliang County Magistrate Xu Zhongting and others, with Wang Xiaotang and Wang Qi as vice presidents. From 1922 to 1924, the society attracted more than 200 members, published more than 20 issues, hosted several art exhibitions of teachers, students, and members, and targeted the ceramic paintings that did not understand painting principles, did not distinguish between yin and yang, and did not distinguish between near and far. We use Chinese painting theory classics such as "Linquan Gaozhi" to improve the artistic accomplishment of Hongdian artists and explore the development of porcelain art. In 1924, the research society was looted and dispersed by warlords; soon after, Wang Xiaotang passed away at the age of 39. After Wang Dafan lost his mentor, he did not feel depressed. Instead, he continued to work hard, practice his skills diligently, and read widely. This established his position in the Jingdezhen porcelain art circle. In order to devote themselves to the creation and research of ceramic painting,

Wang

Dafan and Wang Qi went to Shanghai in 1916 to observe the works of the Shanghai School of Painting and met Mr. Wu Hufan. During this viewing, they were attracted by the painting styles of Luo Pin and Huang Shen respectively from the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. After returning to Jingdezhen, they often studied, copied, and discussed together, and their influence grew day by day. Chen An, the governor of Fuliang County, specially wrote a plaque for their studio Tao Tao, "Excellent skills", and the two became famous. In January 1928, a porcelain dealer wanted to collect two sets of eight long porcelain plates, depicting landscapes, flowers and birds, figures, and animals. Wang Dafan and Wang Qi contacted porcelain artists Wang Yeting, He Xuren, Deng Bishan, Cheng Yiting, Eight people including Bi Botao and Liu Yucen composed paintings and formed the "Full Moon Club", known as the "Eight Friends of Zhushan". Soon, Bi Botao went to his hometown for funeral, and Deng Bishan passed away, so Xu Zhongnan and Tian Hexian were absorbed into the association, which lasted until about 1940.

In the 39 years from 1901 to 1940, Wang Dafan's ceramic art completed the transformation from ancient colors and patterns to traditional literati paintings.

From 1901 to 1920, Wang Dafan was deeply influenced by his master Wang Xiaotang. The ladies he painted in his early paintings were in the same vein as the ladies painted by Wang Xiaotang, and they were both a relatively fashionable style of painting in the late Qing Dynasty. For example, the images of ladies in Wang Dafan's "The Romance of the West Chamber" and Wang Xiaotang's "Hunting Picture" both have melon-seed faces, small cherry mouths, and weak and slender waists. It is very similar to the styles of Fei Xiaolou, Sha Shanchun and Qian Hui'an. It targets ladies who are not noble but noble, and uses dramatic techniques as the expression method. The brushwork is precise and the modeling is restrained. It has not yet reached a mature state. , but it shows Wang Dafan’s persistence in the pursuit of art.

In 1916, after Wang Qi and Wang Dafan went to Shanghai to observe the works of Shanghai School of Painting painters and returned, Luo Pin’s painting style had a profound influence on Wang Dafan, and Wang Dafan

Compared with Luo Pin's paintings, the paintings of figures with themes of gods and monsters are like re-creations. In his middle age, he studied the painting techniques of Wu Daozi, Chen Laolian and Ma Jingjiang. It can be said that he learned from many teachers and learned from their strengths to become a Legalist. Later, Wang Dafan drew inspiration from Ma Tao (Ma Jingjiang)'s "Poetry in Painting", and it seems that Ma Tao's shadow can be glimpsed in "The Examination of Fortune, Gui, and Longevity". At this time, Wang Dafan also created "Mother-in-law's Tattoo", "Mulan Joins the Army", "Three Brothers in Taoyuan", "Three Heroes in the Fengchen", "Bearing the Candle", "Xi Zhi Loves Goose", which are based on Confucianism and historical allusions. Porcelain works such as "Taibai Drunk", "Collecting Zhizhi to Help the World", "Pine and Chrysanthemum Still Remaining". Among them, "Collecting Medicines to Help the World" is a story about Tieguai Li, one of the Eight Immortals, picking Ganoderma lucidum from deep mountains and old forests to heal the wounds of the world. The picture shows steep mountains, numerous peaks, and winding trails. Whether it is the shaping of characters or the composition of mountains and rocks, they all give people a strong visual experience, and the content and form have reached a high degree of unity and harmony; "Dancing Chickens" is one of Wang Dafan's favorite themes, and its shape is accurate and The character creation focuses on the sense of volume and the agility of the character wielding the sword, showing the beauty of elegance and power. When Wang Dafan was young, he liked to play the piano and dance with the sword. He also liked to practice painting "Dancing Chickens". Before starting to write, he would pose with the sword in the mirror. When he was confident, he would finish the painting in one go; "Wan Yue Cheng Tian Temple", whether it was poetry, calligraphy or painting They are all very mature, "Wandering in the moonlight at Chengtian Temple, Su Gong and his guests were relaxing. Who knew that a thousand years later, he was in the drawing room again." The poems are natural and simple, with profound implications. The atmosphere of "literati painting" fills the picture, and the portrayal of the characters , the organization of clothing patterns, the matching of scenes, and the composition of the picture are all just right; although "The Pines and Chrysanthemums Still Remain" is a work written part-time, its character modeling and picture composition all indicate the author's pursuit of elegance in the form of expression. The spirit and emphasis on the freehand brushwork. The above works are enough to represent the artistic style and aesthetic characteristics of Wang Dafan's paintings in his middle age.