Chapter 141 Lotus Stone Waterfowl Picture Qing/Zhu Da

In Zhu Da's flower and bird paintings, the characteristics of the objects are exaggerated to the extreme, showing strange expressions, combined with sinister composition and vigorous and smooth brushwork, forming a bizarre and unexpected artistic effect. "Lotus Stone Waterfowl Picture" is his masterpiece. One of the masterpieces. Zhu Da's paintings are free and unrestrained.In "Lotus Stone Waterfowl Picture", there are several lotus leaves, protruding into the picture from different angles, thick and light, with different shapes, uneven and well-proportioned.A bud that is ready to bloom emerges from the flowers and leaves, showing a lot of vitality.

At the bottom of the picture, there is a stubborn rock lying on its back, and two teal ducks are squatting on it, one in front and one behind, one high and the other low. standing.On the lotus stem in the middle, there is still a little bird standing, leaning down, with its mouth open, singing to the two teals.The composition of the whole picture echoes each other and is full of movement. Zhu Da's special life experience and state of mind determine the basic tendency of his painting creation, which is to express his dissatisfaction with reality such as arrogance, indifference, pain, hatred, and contempt with strong contrasting brush and ink effects and symbolic techniques.Therefore, the personality characteristics of his works are unprecedentedly prominent.The fish and birds in his works have strange expressions, with square eye sockets, and a small eye on the top, often showing a proud and stubborn attitude of "white eyes facing people".These images either express his mockery of the world and human conditions, or the portrayal of his own personality and spirit.

From this painting, one can fully feel Zhu Da's pen and ink skills.It looks like a sloppy brushstroke, but it has reached the realm of conciseness and completeness, and further developed Xu Wei's freehand flower-and-bird painting style in the late Ming Dynasty. The scene of the lotus pond in "Lotus Stone Waterfowl Picture" is tranquil, but this tranquility is a painful tranquility, a neurotic tranquility, and a tranquility after a heart-piercing cry.In his tranquility, we can faintly hear a low sob, which is exactly the artistic conception of Zhu Da's painting.

"Lotus Stone Waterfowl Picture", paper, ink.165 cm long and 90 cm wide.Made by Zhu Da in the Qing Dynasty.It is now in the Shanghai Museum.