Chapter 70 Bronze Age

Rodin, a modern master sculptor, had an early work "The Age Of Bronze" (The Age Of Bronze), which is my favorite sculpture.This work carves a nude portrait of a young man, his right hand is holding his hair tightly, his left hand is clenched into a fist, his head is facing far and high, his eyes are not yet open, his right foot is walking between raising and not raising, Xiong Bingming, a professor at the University of Paris, said of this work, “The young body is still between deep sleep and waking, and the muscles of the whole body are also between deep sleep and waking. The eyes have not yet opened, the outside world has not yet been seen, and of course the enemy has not yet been seen. With your lover, like a newly matured chrysalis, it begins to wriggle and wriggle, and in an instant it will break through the cocoon shell and jump into the vast world."

He also said: "It seems that the steam pot of the locomotive has been fully fired, but the brakes have not yet been turned on." He also commented: "I think the old Rodin can no longer make the "Bronze Age". Only young sculptors Only the hand and heart of the young can shape the posture and mentality of such a young life." Mr. Xiong Bingming's observations and comments on "The Bronze Age" in "Selected Copy of Rodin's Diary" are very profound, which reminds me of last year's National Art Museum in Washington, USA. When I went to the museum to see Rodin's sculpture exhibition, the two works that attracted my attention the most were "The Bronze Age" and "The Thinker". "The Thinker" is engraved with a middle-aged man propping his chin in meditation. It is the most well-known Rodin's work, and it is also a masterpiece after the establishment of Rodin's style. "Bronze Age" is little known. Many Rodin's albums do not even have this work , to be honest, I like "The Bronze Age" far better than "The Thinker".

In the art museum, I walked from "The Bronze Age" to "The Thinker" and back again, looking at these two works repeatedly, hoping to find out why I prefer Rodin's "few works" over "masterpieces". Later, I stood in front of the "Bronze Age", which is 181 cm high and the same size as a real person, as if I saw my youthful and bright years before I started. I found that I love "Bronze Age" because it is full of unknowns Maybe, it can be unknown, but it can also shine brilliantly; it can be as small as a grain of sand, or it can be as tall as a mountain; It will be immortal... because, after all, it has lost a short part of its life.

"The Thinker" is different. Although it sits 186 centimeters tall and has very strong muscles, it has already reached half of its life, and it must sit down and reflect. Because it has too much reflection, life The possibility of being weak is weakened, and it also hinders the bravery of action.There is a big difference between the two, no matter what, young people always have a bigger sky than middle-aged people, it is really like bronze that has just been baked, it sounds crisp and melodious when knocked, and when you are middle-aged, you will inevitably sit down. Come down and meditate on the patina on your body.

Watching "The Bronze Age" and "The Thinker" reminded me of an Arabic idiom: "Life consists of two parts, one part is the past and a dream; the other part is the future. It is a little hope." Hope is strong, and for the middle-aged man sitting in a chair meditating, it is mostly a dream of the past. Not long ago, a young man who was studying at a university came to me. He felt hesitant, fearful, and helpless about the road ahead, and he didn't know how to walk the road ahead.I think that everyone has to face such a test in their youth, and there are few people who walk smoothly in their youth.Some people say that "The Bronze Age" is Rodin's self-portrait in his youth. Even a great artist like him has obviously struggled for a long time. Without the struggle and trials of the Bronze Age, there would be no later Rodin.

Modern people almost see their own face in front of the mirror every day. This ordinary face that faces each other every day has once radiated the light and heat of youth. What is terrible is not the instability of youth, but the fear of youth. Retreat slowly.At this time, "heroic ambition" is very important, which is to shape one's ambition to grasp the current situation, so that after youth, one can have no complaints. I once observed a group of children kneading mud. The works they kneaded may be childish and immature, but I can see their vigorous and growing lives and full of beautiful hope in the mud.And there has never been a child who did not do it himself when watching people making mud, but was willing to sit aside and meditate.

Everyone's youth is as ordinary as a ball of mud, it just depends on how to shape it.The reason why Rodin became a great artist is that he used the mud, stone, and bronze that everyone once had to witness his life again and again, and finally achieved himself. Only by thinking this way can we experience a greater enlightenment from "The Bronze Age". A locomotive that is ready to go is always more moving than a locomotive that has reached the end. ——May 11, 1983