陆春涛的作品，我喜欢的是他画的荷花，这首先不仅因为他画得好，而且我这个不爱花的人却独爱荷花。多年前有人编纂《中国当代美学名人志》，询问我最喜欢的花，我的答复是野生的白荷花。它们没有人工的雕凿，单纯而清新。看花其实是看自己的志趣，评画同样如此，画画和写诗也不例外。比如，陆龟蒙的白莲诗“素花多蒙别艳欺，此花瑞合在瑶池，无情有恨何人见，月晓风清欲堕时”，苏东坡的诗“开花浊水中，抱性一何洁”，写的都是清高的人格;秋瑾的白莲诗“东皇为恐红尘涴，亲赐寒潢明月裳，国色由来夸素面，佳人原不借浓妆”，写的是女子不流俗的品位;宋代王姓女子的荷花诗“白藕作花风已秋，不堪残睡更回头”，写的是个人情怀。

　　荷花，中国五大名花之一，出污泥而不染，人称花中君子。夏荷同冬梅一样，象征高洁。高洁在污水横流的时代，变成了奢侈的精神现象。当人世都是小人和弄臣得势的时代，当人心惟危的混乱时代，荷花都曾是画坛借以讽喻的素材。中国画坛的名流，大都画过荷花。齐白石的写意荷花，张大千的泼彩荷花，潘天寿的才情荷花，朱耷的性情荷花，画的既是花，又是人的情操。陆春涛画荷花，多画月光下的景象，展现的也是个人情操。洁白的月光同洁白的荷花并置，月即是荷，荷即是月，两者如同人的心境。这种月光下的景象，曾经打动过古往今来的无数文人。比如人们都倾心《春江花月夜》的苍凉，都感叹林黛玉同史湘云联句凹晶馆的冷寂，感叹朱自清笔下荷塘月色的惆怅。

　　陆春涛画荷，试图同各家各派的荷花拉开距离。局部是写意，整体是构成，有设计感，有画外之意。其意图在于强化荷花的象征作用，让泼墨作为背景，让描写作为引子。他画花瓣不是自然留白而是使用白粉。古代没骨画用白粉，层层敷染，造成朦胧含蓄的效果。陆春涛用白粉不染，用色比较厚，用笔比较硬，比较直露。如何看待这一特点，取决于观看者的趣味，也取决于作者的寓意。

　　What I like the most in Lu Chuntao’s works might be the lotus painted by him. That is merely because the excellent skills of his paintings, that could also be due to my preferring to the lotus flowers. Several years ago the editor, who planned to compile a book about the famous scholars in aesthetics, once asked me that what’s my favorite flower, and I replied with wild white flowers. They are pure and fresh without any artificial decoration. This feature also attracts me in paintings and poetry. For example, the Poet Lu Guimeng wrote a poem to describe the aloof characters of louts which distinctively differentiates from the other flowers in the pond. Su Dongpo also had poems to praise the nobleness of the lotus despite of growing in the mud. The female revolutionist Qiu Jin compared the louts to the beautiful woman without any makeup. A woman in the Song Dynasty implied her personal feelings in writing that all louts withered away in autumn all of a sudden after taking a nap.

　　Lotus is one of the most typical Chinese flowers and is often compared to people with noble characters. Just like the plum blossom in winter, the lotus becomes a precious character in this age full of corruption and hypocrisy. Throughout the history, the painters and writers always chose the lotus to remind people of noble characters particularly during the age of chaos. Most famous painters have great works about the louts such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Pan Tianshou and Zhu Da. All of their paintings show the noble qualities of humans, just as Lu Chuntao’s paintings do. The lotuses are integrated with the bright moonlight painted by Lu Chuntao. And this scene of the lotus under the moonlight has touched numerous litterateurs. For instance, the tranquilness of the poem titled A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, the chillness of the pavilion in which Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyu once wrote couplets and the melancholy of Zhu Ziqing’ Moonlight over the Lotus Pond are all exemplified the great touches.

　　Lu Chuntao’s paintings about lotus are different from other painters. His works are delicate in details and unique in layouts to strengthen the representative role of the lotus with sprinkled ink as background. He also uses pinkish color instead of white to paint the petals of the lotus. The white poster color he applies are very thick with strong brushes, unlike the graceful features in the ancient times. Therefore the perspective of how to view this style depends on the viewer’s interests and the painter’s purpose.