Episode 213: Huang Binhong’s Works (10)

Huang Binhong paid great attention to techniques and philosophy in his artwork, as mentioned previously regarding “thickness and luxuriance”. Generally describing mountain and water as thick and plants as luxuriant is how Chinese landscape painting is characterized. However, for Huang Binhong, this is melted into a core concept of painting, depicting his aesthetic ideal, pursuit of life and highest level of art, or even a key concept to showcase his vision of lifework – using art to save humanity and restore the spirit of Chinese civilization.
Additionally, the “Red Chamber Dream” idea of “false appears true while the true is also false, absence creates presence while presence also vanishes” cannot be entirely negated, but the true likeness should also be retained to achieve “dissimilarity within similarity is the true spirit”. This echoes with Impressionism of the West. The sun represents sunlight illuminating earth while the moon represents femininity or mother, etc. Western Impressionist artwork commonly expresses through implication.
An artist’s expertise comes from deeply reflecting through one’s unique perspective and techniques to express universally known subjects. After visual, tactile and spiritual processing by different audiences, the insights gained will not be the same – this is what makes art intriguing. It is not just about an artist’s techniques, but also a viewer’s life experiences, knowledge, cultivation in aesthetics, exposures and more. Therefore, truly stepping out into the world to broaden horizons and feel nature is more beneficial than just studying books.