Century of Glory: Famous Artists of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Great Art is Wordless - The Centenary Art Exhibition of Mr. Lin Gang.
Preface
“As we know, a great university is not defined by having grand buildings, but by having great masters.” Since the founding of the Central Academy of Fine Arts 106 years ago, it is precisely because it has gathered generations of famous predecessors that there are the glorious fruits of a century-old school history and the continuous spirit of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Mr. Lin Gang is an outstanding professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and an iconic figure in the Chinese oil painting circle, enjoying high reputation in the Chinese art field. He has played a very important role in promoting the development of the school at different historical stages and made important contributions to the development of education and teaching in the school. In 2024, Mr. Lin Gang enters his centenary. We are happy and inspired. At this time, it is an honor for the school and also a mission of passing on the torch to hold a large retrospective exhibition for Mr. Lin Gang, sort out his artistic journey and academic context, and show Mr. Lin Gang's fruitful artistic creation achievements.
Mr. Lin Gang is a generation of oil painters who grew up in New China. He has firm cultural ideals, distinct artistic styles, and has always been at the forefront of the changes and development of the times.
He is an artist who dares to break through. In artistic creation, he pursues the most sincere and moving expression, and is not constrained by past achievements, thus opening up one new artistic milestone after another. In his youth, his work "Zhao Guilan at the Gathering of Heroes" showed the new spirit of New China in a simple language. During his study in the Soviet Union, he deeply studied and mastered the language tradition of oil painting modeling and color, "pursuing the vivid and smooth brushwork and colors, and pursuing the beauty of color tones and the sentiment of the picture", and achieved remarkable results. A batch of historical theme creations such as "In Prison", "The Meeting of Jinggangshan", "Eventful Years", and "Endless Poems on the Long Journey" have become a generation of classics with solid modeling, characteristic composition and colors. Since the 1980s, with the thinking of "transcending the limitations of the times", Mr. Lin Gang's paintings have gradually moved from realistic figurative to imagery and abstraction, expressing rich life and real insights through basic painting languages such as dots, lines and surfaces.
He is a sincere, upright professor who is deeply loved by students. In teaching, Mr. Lin Gang takes care of students and encourages free creation. Like a father, he gives firm and deep care. He has taught in the second and fourth studios of the Oil Painting Department successively. He has long thought about the development and future of oil painting in China and put it into practice. In particular, in 1985, he established the fourth studio of the Oil Painting Department, taking the lead of the times, expanding the field of oil painting education in China, cultivating a large number of talents and having a profound influence.
This exhibition is carefully prepared and planned. Based on the basic idea of reviewing Mr. Lin Gang's artistic journey, it outlines the contours of his artistic creation through six sections: "Enthusiasm and Sensation", "Mission and Struggle", "Unity of Emotion and Form", "Charm of Color and Shape", "Sower", and "More Direct". It focuses on showing the internal unity between different periods and different painting styles and capturing the pulse of Mr. Lin Gang's artistic life. "Great art is wordless". Mr. Lin Gang has infected the younger generations with his life-long artistic practice and powerful works one by one. "Don't ask about the harvest, but ask about the cultivation." It is the cultivation and struggle of generations of famous masters like Mr. Lin Gang that have accumulated the rich heritage of the art academy.
"There are thousand-year-old trees in the mountains, but it is rare to meet a centenarian in the world." At the centenary age, Mr. Lin Gang's life, art and spirit are extremely precious for the century-old art academy and worthy of our careful experience and inheritance. Finally, I sincerely wish Mr. Lin Gang health and longevity!
Lin Mao
Dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions. It is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
——Samuel Ullman (USA)
Note: The texts in this exhibition are all selected from Mr. Lin Gang's self-narration or notes. We hope that through the artist's most authentic language, the audience can shorten the distance with the artist and enter the artist's spiritual world.
Section 1
Enthusiasm and Sensation - Early Experiences
and "Zhao Guilan at the Gathering of Heroes"
In the early 1950s, teachers and students majoring in painting at the art academy were all painting New Year pictures and picture-story books. Teachers Xu Beihong and Wang Shikuo gave creative lessons to me, Feng Zhen, Li Qi, Deng Shu, Liang Yulong, and two students from the art department of Central University in the dilapidated house of the sculpture department at the back of the art academy. We discussed how to learn from old New Year pictures, create new New Year pictures, and how to use our skills to create New Year pictures that are loved by the people and serve the people. Everyone was really full of enthusiasm. Including Mr. Li Keran, Ye Qianyu, and Gu Yuan, although they were somewhat unaccustomed in painting methods, they were all very active.
The third New Year picture I painted is "Zhao Guilan at the Gathering of Heroes". I saw a report about Zhao Guilan in the newspaper. It said that Premier Zhou led Zhao Guilan to meet Chairman Mao. I was very touched. First, Zhao Guilan's deeds of being unfortunately injured while saving public property are very touching. Second, the scene of Premier Zhou leading her to meet Chairman Mao is very touching. The chairman and civilians are equal. This is something that only exists in New China. Later, the school asked me to tell my classmates about the creative experience of this painting. In fact, after talking for a long time, it was just the two words "excitement".
For the composition, I referred to Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper", with a large white table and perspective. Because I had seen it in the library of the art academy before and I liked it very much and was deeply impressed. In fact, when I painted this picture, I only knew the perspective of sketching and flat coloring with single lines. I hadn't learned anything about color at all. I just had a little feeling. Looking back now, I really don't know how I painted it at that time. It was completely relying on feeling. So until now, I highly praise feeling. I once wrote in my own notebook "Long live feeling". Painting mainly depends on feeling. What's in your heart is what you will naturally draw.
—By Lin Gang
Zhao Guilan at the Gathering of Heroes. Lin Gang. Color on silk. 138×176cm. 1951. Collected by the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
The chairman and civilians are equal. This is something that only exists in New China.
—By Lin Gang
In September 1950, the "National Conference of Model Workers from Workers, Peasants and Soldiers" and the "National Conference of Combat Heroes" were held in Beijing. I borrowed a camera from someone else. Seizing the opportunity of the model workers' meeting and holding the introduction letter for meeting opened by the school, I visited Zhao Guilan. I hurriedly took a few photos in the yard of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. I also collected several images such as female train drivers and Xinjiang youths from newspapers. Then I started painting in a studio of the old Central Academy of Fine Arts. Because I had the experience of creating picture-story books, it was not difficult to show the story plot.
—By Lin Gang
After painting "Zhao Guilan at the Gathering of Heroes" in 1950, the "People's Daily" organized several of us young teachers such as Wu Bidan and Hou Yimin to go to North Korea for sketching to enliven the cultural life of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. We followed the troops all the way to Seoul. At night, we could hear the sound of bullets sweeping by. It was quite terrifying.
—By Lin Gang
Korean War Battlefield Sketch 2. Lin Gang. 1951. 25×20cm. Sketch on paper. Collected by the artist.
Korean War Battlefield Sketch 3. Lin Gang. 1951. 22×17cm. Sketch on paper. Collected by the artist.
Korean War Battlefield Sketch 4. Lin Gang. 1951. 22.5×17.5cm. Sketch on paper. Collected by the artist.
Section 2
Mission and Struggle
—Seven Years of Studying in the Soviet Union.
Shortly after the founding of New China, the state publicly sent a large number of young people of different majors to study in the Soviet Union. Because "Zhao Guilan at the Gathering of Heroes" had a relatively good response, in 1954, I was publicly sent to study at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in Leningrad, the Soviet Union. At that time, Soviet movies, music, literature, and art had a great influence on us. So I was very excited to be able to study abroad.
Our living expenses were at an upper-middle level among students, but everyone was still very frugal. Xiao Feng and I often ate bread with salted fish and a little butter, and then drank some water. We used the money we saved to buy a large number of small pictures and oil paints. Everyone felt that our whole body was supplied by the country from top to bottom. How many farmers were working there to support our study abroad. We must learn the good things of the Soviet Union and come back to serve the country.
In China, I had only painted picture-story books and New Year pictures. I had never learned sketching, and as for oil painting, I had never painted it. So after arriving in the Soviet Union, I studied desperately. I worked extremely hard. It's 99% effort plus 1% talent.
The days in Leningrad are very short. Especially in winter, it doesn't get bright until 11 am, and it gets dark at 3 pm. We took advantage of the daylight to practice color quickly. When the light dimmed in the afternoon, we drew sketches under the lamp. The school studio was not closed. The dormitory was right next to the school. We often painted very late. Sometimes we painted until 11 pm. When our eyes saw things double, we had to go back to the dormitory.
I think the most important thing I learned in the Soviet Union is color. Many Soviet classmates in the art academy were also secretly trying various artistic changes, exchanging their experimental experiences with each other, and holding exhibitions at home. The initial influence of modernist art on me came from the after-class creations of these Soviet classmates.
—By Lin Gang
Russian Woman. Lin Gang. 1958. 99×71.5cm. Oil on canvas. Collected by the artist.
Art depends on instinct, hobby and sweat.
—By Lin Gang
Russian Old Man #1. Lin Gang. 1958. 35×25.3cm. Sketch on paper. Collected by the artist.
Russian Old Man #2. Lin Gang. 1958. 38×29cm. Sketch on paper. Collected by the artist.
By the Volga River. Lin Gang. In the 1950s. 15.5×30.5cm. Oil on paper. Collected by the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Beach. Lin Gang. 1957. 17×25cm. Oil on cardboard. Collected by the artist.
Diagnosis. Lin Gang. 1959. 140×115cm. Oil on canvas. Collected by the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
