Not long ago, Chen Yiming's personal oil painting exhibition was held in Hammer Gallery. During the exhibition, 36 oil paintings, two thirds of which were bought by American collectors. How did Chen Can Yi Ming achieve gratifying results when many galleries in new york were almost deserted? What is the charm of his works?
During the festival, Chen Yiming was invited to the new york branch of the Mirror to celebrate Christmas with the author's family and openly discuss the secret of success with the author.
Marching into America is extraordinary.
Chen Yiming was born in Shanghai, China on 195 1. I study in Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. 1979 Graduated from Oil Painting Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy. Before going to America, I was a teacher in the Fine Arts Department of Shanghai Institute of Light Industry. 198 1 year, settled in new york, USA.
A good beginning means half the battle. 1987, Chen Yiming made an exception and held his first solo oil painting exhibition in Wally Findlay Gallery, a famous impressionist work in new york, which achieved unexpected success. This solo exhibition laid the foundation for his unswerving March into American oil painting. It has established firm confidence for him to gain a foothold and occupy a place in the American oil painting industry.
Since 1982, he has participated in joint exhibitions or held solo exhibitions for more than 20 times in the United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, and the name "Chen Yiming" has been widely circulated in the oil painting art world. Participated in Christie's and Sotheby's contemporary oil painting auctions in China for many times, and achieved remarkable results. 1992 On March 30th, at the auction of contemporary oil paintings by Christie's China, Hong Kong, Reflection, one of his series of works "The Sea of China", entered the top ten of China's oil paintings, setting a record for his personal oil paintings. His brother Chen Yifei's large oil painting The Night Banquet was sold for HK$1980,000, which is the highest achievement of China oil painters in the world auction market. The Chen brothers' impressive achievements in Taikoo's auction not only wrote a brand-new page for China's contemporary oil paintings, but also had a positive and far-reaching impact on promoting China's oil paintings to the world.
The guests lingered at the door.
19971October 6th, Hammer Gallery once again held a grand opening reception for Chen Yiming's personal oil painting exhibition. Present at the reception were: Qin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to the United Nations; Ambassador Qiu and his wife Xie Jue, Consul General of the Consulate General in new york; Many consultants and consuls; Li Yuyao, Deputy Director of new york Finance Bureau; Many American collectors; Celebrities in the cultural and artistic circles; Mr. and Mrs. Su, President of the American Branch of China News Service; World News, Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao, Ming Pao. Ms Chen Yilan, Special Assistant to the Asian Governor of New York, also sent a congratulatory letter signed by Governor Baji to Chen Yiming.
This unique solo exhibition, which lasted nearly a month, is another large-scale exhibition with a wide range of topics since Yi Ming and his brother Yifei held a joint exhibition in Hammer Gallery in 1990. His works include: Portrait of a Lady, The Sea of China and 36 Still Life Plans. More than half of them are gorgeous and lovely portraits of ladies. During the exhibition, two-thirds of the works with the price between 1 10,000 USD and 30,000 USD were bought by American collectors or entrepreneurs. Inches was ordered and collected by the famous Hollywood director oliver stone. Faced with such gratifying achievements, Yi Ming himself said: To make a breakthrough in American oil painting, we must make persistent efforts.
Some of these portraits of ladies, which blend the eastern and western artistic conception, are based on China traditional Chinese painting, some are set off by gardens, and some are props of silk umbrellas, paper fans, flutes, Zheng or flutes. They are bold in composition, elaborate in description, profound in meaning, unique in style and breathtaking. In sharp contrast to portraits, the series of works "The Sea of China" are bold and won unanimous praise from fans, whether depicting the ever-changing seascape or the radiant fisherman. As for the still life paintings on display, they are also outstanding in techniques, elegant and luxurious. People have taken pictures in front of lifelike works, lingering.
A vivid portrayal
As a realistic oil painter, Yi Ming believes that his creative inspiration comes from life, from the pursuit of beauty in life, from the praise of beauty, and from the persistence of beauty. In short, "beauty" is an eternal theme; Only beauty can be understood, accepted and praised by people. It is not difficult to find that the girls in Yi Ming's works are elegant and lifelike. The artistic conception and charm he created on the screen not only pinned the painter's attachment to the culture of the old country, but also appropriately reached a very high aesthetic realm-vivid charm and vivid portrayal.
Yi Ming said that the reason why a work can arouse people's admiration is, in the final analysis, the "beauty" expressed by the painter through artistic means. Beautiful works of art are indispensable in human life, and are not limited by time, skin color or even national boundaries. Beauty is full of thoughts and feelings. And thoughts and feelings are the source of human communication. Yi Ming emphasized that "beauty" is "truth", and realist painters pursue the beauty of reflecting truth. Only beautiful and true works can complement each other, be full of infinite charm, be fascinating and refreshing.
Take the "inch" painted by Yi Ming as an example. With extremely delicate brushwork, he carefully shaped and portrayed a pipa player dressed in ancient gorgeous costumes, next to a landscape painting of the Song Dynasty. After playing a piece of music, I saw her holding the pipa, her slender fingers pressed against the strings, her chin gently pressed against the back of her hand, her lips pursed and her eyes solidified. The painter shows a vivid, realistic and vivid girl's look through the dynamics of pressure, sticking, sipping and stagnation, through carefully handled vivid eyes, finger sleeves and charming and gentle expressions on her face, as if this lovely girl is still immersed in music. He deliberately guided and explained the profound meaning to people, suggesting: or miss the past, or miss relatives, or homesick ... This moment's expression left the viewer with unlimited thinking space. You see, he not only pays great attention to the shade and collocation of colors, but also harmonizes with the theme. He chose Lao Huang as the keynote of the background, and the color was right, which just reflected the rhythm of time and space. Excuse me, how can such a vivid oil painting not make people linger and admire?
The composition is bold and profound.
As early as ten years ago, Yi Ming took the Sea of China as its theme. Findlay Gallery successfully held a solo exhibition, and since then it has stood out in the American oil painting field. The "sea" he painted blended his yearning for Zhenhai, his hometown in Zhejiang, his attachment to Chongming Island, and his infatuation with Hui 'an fishing village near the Taiwan Province Strait. He has an indissoluble bond with the sea. Because he put all this into the "sea" he painted, the "sea" he painted is infectious, not only full of emotion and vitality, but also contains profound connotations. Today, his painting "Sea" is still favored by collectors, and "Sea" has become his "reserved theme".
Yi Ming expresses a concrete and poetic "sea" through ever-changing clouds, blue beaches, vibrant fishing villages or fishermen in colorful villages. Not only is the composition complete and appropriate, rigorous and bold, but also the layout of each painting is just right. In order to highlight the theme of truth, goodness, beauty and enthusiasm, he attaches great importance to the contrast and coordination of colors, including the contrast of tones. He skillfully contrasts them with each other and skillfully increases the brightness of colors, thus making the picture have a good visual effect. Facing the "sea" he painted, I can't help but feel relaxed and happy.
From many exquisite works, we can see that Yi Ming attaches great importance to the role of imagination. For example, in his paintings Reflection, The Beach and Golden Dusk, the characters on the screen appear in the background. This "silence is better than sound" method of depicting characters implicitly expresses the mental outlook of the characters and even achieves poetic effect. Yi Ming believes that this method of expression can leave imagination space for the appreciator, thus leading people to a beautiful artistic conception.
In this exhibition, several collectors also took a fancy to a picture of "Family" (26×30 inches), which shows: Grandma and her little grandson are picking up shells on the beach, and when they come home at dusk, the afterglow of the sunset is scattered all over the beach. Grandma, whose hands were stained by picking shellfish, bent down, hugged her grandson, put her face on her little grandson's face and talked to him intimately. Although the painter didn't draw the grandmother's face, let alone the facial expression, even the little grandson's face was only half exposed. People can't imagine and understand the connotation of this painting through the dynamics of grandparents, barefoot and a basket on the beach. Yi Ming skillfully touches people's heartstrings through pictures, which on the one hand reflects the hardships of fishermen's lives; On the other hand, grasping the instant affection between grandparents and grandchildren vividly shows a simple love and makes people feel the warmth of the world.
Attractive elegance and customization * * * reward
In today's era of rapid development of high technology, a good picture can be drawn by computer; Printing a printed oil painting on canvas can also produce a good effect, which is almost confusing. So, why is there always a market for realistic works? In galleries or museums, people wander in front of perfect works and indulge in perfect artistic atmosphere. Yi Ming said that the simplest answer to this question is: This is a realistic work.
The charm of. This charm is the artistic appeal and vitality of realistic works. So, what's the difference between realistic works and "photographic art"? The essential difference between it and "photography art" lies in the creativity of the painter. In other words, realistic works are the product of the artist's re-creation of the objective object itself and even all the details. This kind of creativity is irreplaceable by mechanical means or "photography art".
Yi Ming believes that to be a realistic painter, the first key is: you must have a solid basic sketch skills. Of course, proper composition, correct perspective, harmonious proportion and harmonious colors are also indispensable. There is no shortcut to become an excellent realistic painter. If there is any secret of success, it is: down-to-earth and meticulous.
Today, Yi Ming's works can enter the ranks of American realistic oil painters. Like most successful painters, they have experienced the process of suffering, patience, exploration, learning, persistence, improvement and innovation. When he first arrived in America, he worked as a man in a grocery store, making frames in a frame shop and repairing antiques in an antique shop. During my five-year life as a "wage earner", I have been under economic and mental pressure. What is commendable is that he never gave up his passion for painting under any difficult circumstances, and he always regarded painting art as his second life. He bravely and calmly accepted the challenges and tests of the American market, persisted in his creation seriously, and summed up experiences and lessons at any time. "Works of art cannot be commercialized"; Market price is not the only criterion to measure the quality of artistic works. People probably don't have much controversy about these views. Yi Ming believes that a truly excellent painter will not simply create to meet the market demand. However, if a painter's work is not accepted by anyone in the market, how to measure its artistic value? Yi Ming, who has always kept a low profile, said that whether a painter is successful or not should let his works speak for themselves. He hopes that his works are "both popular and popular" and "both attractive and elegant".
Dare to forge ahead and strive for perfection.
The author asked Yi Ming bluntly: Are you influenced by my brother's flying? What is its main influence? Yi Ming said that his works can win everyone's love, which is the greatest spiritual comfort. My brother's greatest influence on himself is his creative attitude of continuous exploration and improvement, and his enterprising spirit of being tireless and brave in pioneering. He always goes all out to achieve the goal he pursues. My brother's success is also a kind of pressure on himself; In response to this pressure, I always try to turn it into motivation and urge myself to constantly create satisfactory high-quality works with a more serious and dedicated attitude.
There is no end to learning. People are expensive in having self-knowledge. Yi Ming said, I always use these two sentences to push myself. As a professional painter, I deeply realize that only by learning with an open mind and learning from each other's strengths can I constantly improve myself. In the oil painting industry, there is fierce competition. As the saying goes: many things grind, anyone can be in an invincible position in the competition, as long as he is willing to work hard.
Life is the source of art. Painters should always go out of the studio, broaden their horizons, enrich their lives, communicate with each other, collect materials, inspire and concentrate on their creation. Yi Ming, who lives in new york, takes time to visit Chinese mainland or other countries every year, constantly enriching himself and drawing nutrition from the treasure house of world culture and art. Not long ago, Yi Ming made a special trip to France, Spain, Italy and other countries to appreciate the fine arts of various countries, which greatly inspired him, especially the classical style of European painting, which once again stimulated his creative passion.
Yi Ming firmly believes: more hard work, more harvest. A good painter should be hard-working and persistent, and constantly create works that can be accepted, understood and loved by people in both East and West. To this end, becoming an excellent realistic painter is my lifelong goal!