前些时日，春涛兄告诉我说他画了一批荷花，希望我能为这批画写几句，我欣然答应。原因有二：一是春涛兄的画总能出新意，不会让我无话找话说，同时也迫使我对艺术中的一些问题进行深度思考，有利自己修炼。二是友情。

　　果然不出所料，春涛兄的这批以荷花为题材的大作，令人耳目一新，其画面气势之庞大、情感之浓郁超出我的预想。

　　当今中国画坛可谓纷繁复杂，令人眼花缭乱，但只要冷静观察历经了百年风风雨雨的中国画，其局面已脉络初显，轮廓已具。自从林风眠首创了中国画的现代之路至今已近一个世纪，百年的历史证明这是中国画自从努力摆脱古典形态之后的最有生命力的一条路，他的成功不仅仅在于有了后来者吴冠中这样的大师，关键是它确实改变了中国画的面貌而且具有了现代性。对于现在的中国画家来说，继续深度拓展前辈的道路是义不容辞的历史使命。这个使命的内涵就是创造出有时代精神、民族个性、个体风貌、现代形态的中国画。诚然，完成这个使命需要众多的艺术家不懈的努力，陆春涛是其中的佼佼者。

　　春涛这个系列的作品显示了他努力的成就。

　　春涛的许多荷花作品与林风眠的《睡莲》同样采用了西方艺术的透视法则，画面具有强烈的纵深感。但这种纵深感不仅仅是视觉上的，更多是心理上和情感上的，把东方人含蓄、幽静、神秘的感受与意境通过富有纵深视觉效果的透视手段隐入无尽的时空，令人震撼而神往，回味与缠绵。在意境和情绪的表达上，既连接了文人画的潇洒幽远，又赋予现代生活的一种重金属般节奏，传递了一种现代的人文情怀。春涛区别于林风眠对画中物体进行理性而严谨的透视处理，而是采用了意象性的手法处理画中物体之间的远近关系，极其感性的、充满热情的写意笔触在画面跳动、奔驰，他笔下的荷叶、荷花都用大小不等的墨块、色块和线条组合起来，这种看似相对独立的墨块、色块又有着内在情感上的联系和视觉上的节律，摆脱了传统的程式化表现方法，但有着比传统语言更强烈的写意精神，画面更为浑然一体。绘画语言上的现代诠释，让春涛能轻松地表达出一种开放的精神面貌和胸怀，使作品在思想层面获得了现代意义，《荷塘系列之荷塘月色》是这种表达方式的典范作品。春涛除了把西方艺术中透视法则成功地转换成中国画中深邃的韵律感，他还有一些作品，把中国画平面性的处理方法推向极至。在《荷塘系列之月色》展示的平面叙述中更多地包含了不经意的、隐含的、巧妙的设计性。荷叶、莲蓬、河水、月光……这些不同大小的形状、色彩的情感符号相互交融浑然一体，承载了作者清净的胸怀和沉郁的情感，也折射了现代的审美趣味。春涛的《荷塘系列》，不仅成功地转换了中国画的传统表述方式，而且在技法上作出了大胆的探索。《荷塘系列》中最抢人眼球的是他对白色的运用，在传统中国画中，我们有黑牡丹、朱竹等与客观物体表象不相符的色彩表达，但还没有谁用白色表现非白色的客观物体(传统中国画的地面空白表示空白处没有物体而不是色彩概念)，在传统中国画中运用最多的是以空白暗喻白色的大片天空或者水面，客观上是一种写实自然的理念。这样既可以表达客观存在的天和水，又使这具有实在客体的空白让读者产生无尽的遐想，并与老庄文化中倡导的虚空境界融为一体;白色还在表现呈白色的客观对象时使用，比如雪景和白衣服等。但是在春涛的作品中我们看到他把中国画中白色的运用拓展了领域，大片的荷叶是用白色去表现，成片成片的白色荷花在荷塘中随风荡漾。虽然用白色代替了清翠欲滴的荷叶，但丝毫不影响我们感受荷花的轻盈脱俗的趣味和茂盛的生命力，更因为白色与生俱来的纯洁性，使笔下的荷花更加清澈与高贵。春涛对白色颠覆性的使用，成功地拓展了中国画的语言疆域。色彩的有意错用也是现代艺术中常常使用的手法，我们可以在马蒂斯的笔下看到绿色的脸、红色的头发、蓝色的皮肤等等超越物体表面真实的描绘，这种错用的依靠是为了表达艺术家内心的真实，通过这种内在真实来激动读者的情怀，让读者忘却了事物表面的不真实，而被画家内心的真实所吸引、感染，春涛的《荷塘系列》在这一点上做得很到位。

　　写到此，我已无需再过多评说春涛的画，绘画本来就是因为语言无法满足表达的需要才产生，阅读艺术品最佳的状态应该是“得意忘言”。春涛是名家，很多人了解他，读者对他的作品自有判断，能比我理解的更深更丰富。我更需要考虑的是春涛的艺术对发展中国画的意义。

　　艺术对于人类的重要性是不需要重复的。时至今日，世界文化需要多元已经成为共识，文化的多元本质上是要求每一元的文化都要有自己的内在个性。对中国画而言，这个内在个性需要体现本民族健康的精神追求和审美判断，并能创造与时代匹配的个性化的语言形式作为外在显示。个性伴随着时代而显现和存在，也就是说只有在时代性的支撑下，个性才具备了活力。因此，中国画的个性并非是传统模式的保留，即使再娴熟的传统技巧都无法证明艺术上的价值;即使有众多盲目恋旧的粉丝，也无法证明它是一个活体，它仅仅是一个用各种人人皆知的技法包装着的躯壳而已。同样，中国画这个“元”也不能寄生在其他“元”的文化之下，因为每一个独立的“元”的文化都有与之共生共存的外在形态，外在形态是个性的物化状态，物化状态是区别其他“元”的标识。寄生的结果是被消融和同化而失去自身的外在形态，外在形态的消失导致个性亦无处生存，失去了个性本质上是一个失去了内在生命的伪艺术，无论其外表多么时尚也只能是伪现代。一味依赖西方艺术流派或理论创作的中国画，因为缺乏内在文化上的逻辑关系让人们无法理解和接受，这种窘境随处可见。

　　岁月荏苒，百年的文化求索，我想鲁迅的“拿来主义”仍然是面对外来文化，发展自身文化的唯一真经。林风眠、吴冠中是在中国画发展道路上这个真经的践行者，为中国画的未来在百年的迷茫中做出了灯塔式的榜样。他们的贡献使有着五千年文明的中国画在与西方文化百年相争、相融的艰苦卓绝的奋斗中获得了新生，在全世界文化渐趋同质化的局面中保持与发展了一个真正有个性的艺术样式，中国画成为有内在个性、独特外在形态与时代同步的一“元”艺术种类，丰富了人类的生活，他们的工作具有了全人类的意义。

　　这条道路发展到现在，社会的巨大变革使我们正面临着关于中国画的精神追求、价值取向、现实关怀、审美判断、语言创造等许多系统性、重建性的工作要做，每一个方面取得进展都具有标杆性的意义而将写入历史。这条道路对创造性的崇尚使每一个参与者的自我价值得到肯定的同时推动了艺术的发展，使工作赋予了社会意义和历史意义;这条道路求变革的开放性是其旺盛生命力的保证，迫使每个中国画家为创造自己所处时代的艺术不停的奋斗。

　　春涛用他富有睿智、充满激情的艺术创造在这条道路上做出了许多有意义的贡献，他的《荷塘系列》正散发着自己的艺术趣味飘香画坛。

　　The Aroma of Lotus

　　Lin Yipeng

　　Not long ago, Chuntao told me he had drawn some paintings featuring lotus and asked me to write something for them. I gladly agreed. There are two reasons that I wouldn’t say no to him. Firstly, his painting always presents something new, so I don’t need to worry that I may feel speechless. It is more than often that his painting promotes me to reflect on art in-depth, which is good to me. The second reason is because of our long-time friendship.

　　As expected, the lotuses featured in his painting are indeed refreshing. The sense of grandeur and the profoundness of emotional subtleties revealed in his work even exceed my expectation.

　　Today’s Chinese painting is witnessing an extremely diverse and dazzling stage. But a cool-headed observer is still able to figure out a holistic picture of Chinese painting despite the hundreds years of forwards and backwards it has experienced. Since Lin Fengmian, modern Chinese painting has developed for nearly a century. The past century shows that it is the most successful and energetic move Chinese painting has ever made in order to get rid of the influence of classicalism. Its success lies not only in the emergence of masters such Wu Guanzhong, but also in the fact that it profoundly changes the appearance of Chinese painting and imbues it with modernity. To make continuous advancements in the direction that our pioneers have carved out is an unshirkable mission for today’s Chinese painters. To be more specific, it is their responsibility to continue to create Chinese paintings that can feature the zeitgeist, national characteristics, individual diversity and modern forms. It takes constant efforts of numerous artists to fulfill this mission. And without question, Lu Chuntao is among the top of them.

　　Chuntao’s recent series shows exactly the achievements of such efforts.

　　Similar to Lin Fengmian’s Water Lily, the use of the laws of perspective is also perceived in Chuntao’s lotuses, imbuing the images with a strong sense of depth. It not only influences the visual effect but also has a strong emotional impact. By integrating Chinese imagery with western painting techniques, the senses of subtlety, peacefulness and mystery that are unique to easterners are delineated most vividly, leaving a lingering impression on viewers’ mind. In terms of the expression of feelings and imagery, on the one hand, what Chuntao presents reminds people of the elegance and poetry of traditional literati painting; on the other hand, it also reveals a modern sense of humanistic sentiments, imbuing modern life with a kind of heavy metal rhythm. But different from Lin Fengmian who used the perspective laws in a highly rational and meticulous way, Chuntao adopts a somewhat imagistic way to deal with the different distances between different objects, giving his paintings a sense of poetic sensibility and passion. The lotus leafs and lotuses in his works, composed of different sizes of seemingly independent ink blocks, color blocks and various lines, are intricately connected in terms of emotional and visual rhythm. Leaving the traditional stylized ways of expression behind, his paintings seem to feature an even stronger sense of poetry and freedom than traditional Chinese painting language and look more integral. Such a modern way to deal with the language of Chinese painting opens up new room for Chuntao to express from a more open-minded perspective and injects modernity into his work on the ideological level. Lotus Pond Series: The Moon Lit Lotus Pond can be deemed as a classic of such artistic expression. Not only has he managed to integrate western laws of perspective with the sense of depth of unique to Chinese painting, but he also brings Chinese painting’s characteristic of symbolizing three-dimensional space on a plane into full play. In Lotus Pond Series: Moonlight, an inconspicuous, ingenious and seemingly casual sense of design is embraced in its linear and two-dimensional narrative. Lotus leafs, lotus seedpods, river water and moonlight… emotional symbols of different sizes, forms and colors integrate seamlessly together, casting light on both peace and profoundness of the painter’s mind and the essence of contemporary aesthetic taste. The Lotus Pond Series not only fundamentally transforms the traditional expression forms in Chinese painting, but also makes some bold exploration in terms of techniques. The use of the color of white is the most eye-catching characteristic in Lotus Pond Series. In traditional Chinese painting, there’re also objects that are not portrayed in a realistic way, such as black peonies and red bamboos. However, no one has ever tried to use the color of white to represent something that is not white. (The blankness in Chinese painting usually implies that there’s nothing there, not referring to something white.) And blankness is most often used as a metaphor of wide expanses of sky or water. In other words, it is used more or less as a tool to loyally depict objective nature. The beauty of such use of blankness lies in the fact that it both represents the objective existence of sky and water, and inspires viewers to imagine of more, perfectly embodying the state of “void” advocated by Taoism. Certainly, the color of white is used to portray things that are indeed white, i.e. snow and white clothes. But in Chuntao’s work, the use of white in Chinese painting is greatly extended. The large pieces of lotus leafs are white, and fields of lotuses, rippling in the breeze, are also white. Though emerald-green is replaced by white, the elegance and vitality of lotuses are not affected at all. Due to the inherent sense of purity of white, the lotuses in his painting are endued with elegance and dignity. Chuntao’s innovative use of white successfully extends the boundaries of the language of Chinese painting. Intentional misuse of colors is commonly seen in modern art. Green faces, red hair and blue skin are seen in Matisse’s work, aiming to shed light on the artist’s inner world. The seemingly messing up with colors actually effectively helps viewers forget about the unrealness on the surface and be attracted by the power of inner truth Lotus Pond Series does well in this regard.

　　I feel like I don’t need to say more about Chuntao’s painting. As a matter of fact, painting emerges at a point when language can no longer meet the needs of expression. Hence, in a sense, the ideal status to read art is to become “fully absorbed and forget about language”. As a well-known painter, his works have been widely exhibited. Viewers have their own judgment of his art, and it’s highly possible that theirs is profounder than mine. So what I’d like to focus more on is the influence of Chuntao’s art on the development of Chinese painting.

　　Needless to say, art is of vital importance to human beings. Nowadays a consensus has already been reached that diversity is a key element of global cultures, which means that each culture should have its own personality. In the case of Chinese painting, such personality is supposed to embody the spiritual pursuit of the nation and to create a kind of unique way of expression that catches up with the zeitgeist. Personality is fostered by the time. In other words, only with the support of the current time can personality gain its long-lasting momentum. In this regard, the personality of Chinese painting doesn’t lie in the maintenance of the traditional format. Sophisticated as they are, traditional skills and techniques cannot be seen as the proof of its artistic value. Neither can the number of nostalgic fans prove that it is an art form attached with the contemporary time. It is merely an outer form meticulously covered by various techniques. Likewise, Chinese painting should by no means live a parasitic existence under other cultures. Each independent culture has a particular outer form that is complementary to its essence. The outer form is a symbolic materialized state, a sign that differentiates it from other cultures. The result of parasitism is to be melted and assimilated so that it loses its distinctive outer form, which leads to the disappearance of personality. Art without personality and inner vitality can only be deemed as pseudo-art. Trendy as it may look like, it is in nature pseudo-modern. If Chinese painting relies heavily on western art schools and theories, its lack of inner cultural logic will make it hard for people to understand and accept. Such dilemma is commonly to be spotted.

　　After a whole century of cultural exploration, I think “grabbism” proposed by Lu Xun is still a canon when dealing with other cultures and developing our own culture. In the realm of Chinese painting, practicers of the canon such as Lin Fengmian and Wu Guanzhong pointed a direction for the future development of Chinese painting. Thanks to them, the five-thousand-year old Chinese painting acquires a rebirth during its competition and communication with western culture and manages to maintain and develop a kind of genuinely distinctive art style under the backdrop that global cultures are getting increasingly similar. With distinctive personality, unique outer form and the inner essence that is in line with the zeitgeist, Chinese painting enriches human life, imbuing itself with a kind of universal meaning.

　　At the present stage, drastic social changes compel us to be confronted with a lot of work that needs to be redone or improved in terms of spiritual pursuit, value orientation, humanistic care, aesthetic judgment and the creation of language. Progress achieved in any of those aspects is of benchmark significance and will be written into history. The emphasis on creativity acknowledges the value of each participating individual and in turn, promotes the development of art, imbuing the practice and exploration with social and historical significance. The open-mindedness lying in the aspiration for revolution lays a foundation for its vitality, pushing every Chinese painter to keep contributing to the creation of the art of the era.

　　Thanks to his intelligence and passion, Chuntao has made some remarkable contribution to the cause, and the aroma of his Lotus Pond Series is spreading in a wider range.