Introduction

方圆之境——湖南博物院藏铜镜展

铜镜是我国古代青铜器中旁逸斜出又妙趣横生的一朵奇葩。近代国学大师罗振玉的《古镜图录》有云：“刻画之精巧，文字之瑰奇，辞旨之温雅，一器而三善备焉者，莫镜若也。”而事实上，铜镜之旨趣不止于此。青铜时代结束之后，鼎、簋、尊等青铜礼器逐渐退居庙堂、宗祠等专用场所，铜镜、铜钱等小件却日益深入百姓生活，生产规模逐渐扩大。尤其铜镜不断推陈出新，历经了两汉繁荣和魏晋南北朝的中衰，至唐代达到了发展巅峰，其后历经宋元明清时期的平稳发展，在清代中晚期玻璃镜出现之后才日渐式微。数千年间，铜镜在铸造工艺、造型、纹饰、铭文方面都与时俱进，花样翻新，异彩纷呈，可谓铜器中硕果仅存的不断生长的鲜活范本。

中国古代铜镜，作为人民日常生活中不可或缺的器具，承载着宗教信仰、美好祝愿等诸多寓意，也频繁出现在诗词歌赋、传奇话本等历代文学作品中，产生了广为流传的破镜重圆、以人为镜等典故或故事，使得铜镜成为了一种无法替代的文学意象，并形成一种“镜鉴文化”。

本次展览甄选湖南博物院院藏铜镜中200余面形态风格精绝于时代者，基本涵盖战国至明清等各个历史时期的主要镜种，旨在通过对不同时代铜镜的造型、纹饰、铭文等的展示，体现铜镜发展脉络，揭示铜镜延续数千年的旺盛生命力，发掘其文化内涵。

明镜所以察形，述古所以知今。铜镜对于今天的我们而言，如同方方圆圆的窗口，由此可以窥见古人的生活、科技、艺术及审美情趣等。方圆之境，可观民风世情，可知兴亡得失，亦可明文化的累积与创新，从而照亮我们的今天。

Introduction

根基——2022第八届艺术长沙

在中国近现代美术史的叙事中，我们有过一次关于艺术媒介的“正名”：20世纪上半叶普遍使用的“洋画”或者“西画”的称谓，在新中国成立后，迅速地被基于材料特征的“油画”称谓所取代。一字之差，但后者的命名方式，在认识论层面，将油画在中国的推广、传播和我们的实践，以及对应的中国美术现代化的改造与建设，理解为我们从学习先进文化走向孕育文化自新的践行过程，并从“文化—政治”的角度，提示了中国的现代化是一个面向“世界图景”的内在化进程。

如何诠释中国现代化的内在化进程，或者进一步说，如何建立中国当代艺术与中国现代美术之间的历史连续性，正是“根基——2022第八届艺术长沙”聚焦与思考的议题。事实上，中国当代思想界曾不止一人一次提出，面对当前中国社会，我们需要把握与处理儒家文化、社会主义革命与改革开放三个传统之间的历史关联性。并且，学者们都不约而同的提到，需要正视整个传统中国历史文明对于现代中国的历史基座与精神基础之意义——作为一种在思想方案上的启发，中华文明所展现出的时空超越性，无疑为本届“艺术长沙”关涉的议题，搭建了一个更大的反观中国当代艺术的历史框架与文化框架。

作为展览的“根基”，由三位中国艺术家的个展组成：张恩利的“容器”、王郁洋的“奇云”和苏新平的“延绵”。具体于艺术上的观念与实践，三位艺术家虽然有着各自不同的方向，但从他们的艺术中，我们可以发现与捕捉一种贯穿至今，以“油画”为代表的中国美术的现代性经验：一面是与时俱进的“普遍”的生活世界，一面是思考与呈现“我们是谁”的价值世界，两个世界辩证统一在对于自我历史的叙事与践行中。所以，从某种意义上说，这里谈及的“文明”并不意味着一个过去的语境，恰恰相反，它是一个包含历史可能性的现场，关乎我们怎样走向未来。

Introduction

无限佳丽——明清人物画中的文学与女性形象

她们，垂眸浅笑而来——
温婉，柔情，孕育生命，宜室宜家；
她们，踏马仗剑而来——
智慧，坚忍，英姿飒爽，巾帼何让须眉；
她们，仙裳凌波而来——
圣洁，慈爱，迷途之子的心灵港湾；
她们，乘风破浪而来——
傲世孤标，恣意热烈，不负真我，绝世而独立……

无限佳丽，佳丽无限。在明清人物画的传承与发展中，多少知名或不知名的丹青妙手，从引经据典到中体西用，从笔墨写照到留真传神，把一个个鲜活的女性形象，以及她们动人心魄的文学故事图绘于史。今天，她们穿越数百年世俗社会的成规习见与我们相遇……或许，画框内外，每一次的目光相接，都将赋予她们新的生命与意义。

Introduction

Infinite Beauty—Literature and Female Images in Figure Paintings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Looking down, they come with an agreeable smile—
Gentle, tender, give birth to a new being, make a harmonious and orderly home;
They come here with their horses and swords—
Wisdom, perseverance, valiant, women are in no way inferior to men;
Walking with a light step, they come here in fairy clothes—
Holy, loving, the spiritual harbor of the lost souls;
They ride the winds and break the waves to come here—
Proud and solitary, free and enthusiastic, living up to the true self, peerless and independent…
 

Infinite beauty, beauties are infinite. In the inheritance and development of figure paintings in the Ming and Qing dynasties, many famous or unknown masters of traditional Chinese painting, from making classical allusions to viewing Chinese learning as substance, western learning for application, from pen and ink portrayal to a vivid touch, recorded lifelike female images and their soul-stirring literary stories in history. Today, they meet us after shaking off hundreds of years of established rules of secular society... Perhaps, inside and outside the frames, brand-new life and significance is made possible for them when we look at the women face to face.

Introduction

Exhibition of Zou Chuan'an Art and Literature— "The Soul of Flower and Bird"

Chinese meticulous flower-and-bird painting originated from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, matured in the Tang Dynasty, and thrived in the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, meticulous flower-and-bird painting with profound traditions has taken on a new look. The Hunan style presented in the Hunan meticulous flower-and-bird painting is unique in the country, showing the artistic spirit of fine research and pioneering.

 Zou Chuan'an is an important painter in the field of meticulous flower-and-bird painting in Hunan and even in the whole country. He has created his own unique style of "Zou's Flower and Bird". His style of painting has guided a group of domestic meticulous painters and laid the foundation for the contemporary transformation of Chinese meticulous painting. Fan Di'an, president of the China Artists Association, once commented that Zou Chuan'an’s art has reached a new height in three aspects: First, he takes the shape of the image, instead of relying on the painting manual and ancient books; Second, the vision of setting is extremely broad; Third, exquisite skills can be seen in the vivid portrayal. Lin Fan, the former president of the China Hue Art Association, spoke highly of Zou Chuan'an at the academic seminar, "This is the pride of Hunan and the pride of the Chinese meticulous painting". With the help of generous life feelings and immersed artistic courage, Zou Chuan'an integrates exquisite skills, unique aesthetics and life perception into flowers and birds and turns them into "the Soul of flowers and birds". 

In 2013 and 2021, Zou Chuan'an donated more than 1,000 pieces of his representative works, paintings and manuscripts of various periods to the Hunan Museum. These works formed a systematic collection of Zou Chuan'an, and enriched and extended the "Hunan famous calligraphy and painting collection" series in the Hunan Museum.

After systematic sorting and research, the Hunan Museum launched the "The Soul of Flower and Bird—Zou Chuan'an Art and Literature Exhibition", which comprehensively displayed the artistic experience, artistic characteristics and achievements of Zou Chuan'an over the past 60 years, with a total of more than 300 pieces (sets) of calligraphy and painting works and literature materials exhibited. 

The Hunan Museum also hopes that it can promote the research of local artists and the artists in Hunan through this exhibition, continue the art history of Hunan, and provide a useful reference for the inheritance and development of meticulous flower and bird paintings since the 20th century.

Introduction

至纯至美——湖南省博物馆藏单色釉瓷器展

从古至今，单色釉瓷一直是中国瓷器的重要品类，代表了中国最传统的审美观念。纯净素雅的单色釉瓷，深受中国古代皇家贵族和文人士大夫的青睐。

单色釉瓷经过一千多年的发展，才形成今天色彩斑斓的局面。东汉时期，中国南方创烧出成熟青瓷、褐瓷和早期白瓷。随后，白瓷技艺断裂，黑瓷在褐瓷基础上创烧，青瓷蓬勃发展，并在南朝晚期传入北方。北方改进青瓷技术创烧成熟白瓷，逐渐形成隋唐时期南青北白的制瓷格局。唐代还出现了绿釉、黄釉、红釉瓷，其后绿釉持续发展，黄釉技艺断裂，直至明代发展出新的黄釉工艺。红釉为偶然烧成，元代才掌握烧造技术。明清时期，单色釉瓷器迎来发展高峰期，釉色品种层出不穷。

纵观单色釉瓷的发展史，烧制技艺有传承创新，有倒退断裂，过程复杂曲折，体现了中国制瓷工匠推动釉色演进的智慧与艰辛。至纯至美的釉光里，闪烁着中华文明的璀璨和辉煌。

Introduction

Exhibition of Hunan Private Collections

China is a country blessed with a long history and splendid culture, which became the core of national spirit and gave rise to the activity of cultural relics collection. In recent years, the increasingly developed economy in China added fuel to public’s passion in collection, making it an important  part of their cultural life, greatly enhancing the inheritance as well as spreading of Chinese culture. 

Private collections of Hunan Province have been flourishing for a long time. In response to the policy of the Sate Council, we organized this exhibition, aiming to encourage the legal private collection, inject vitality into collection market and reveal the irreplaceable role of society in facilitating the protection of cultural relics. 

With the support of many private collectors, we have selected  a series of  paintings, calligraphy works, letters, jade articles etc among Hunan Province since Ming and Qing dynasties,  providing a wonderful platform for the public to appreciate our local traditional culture. 
 

Introduction

藏海拾贝——湖南民间收藏精品（明清以来）展

中华民族在数千年历史长河的进程中，留下了灿若星辰的文化瑰宝。这些文物承载灿烂文明，传承历史文化，维系民族精神。文物收藏历来有国家和民间之分。随着社会经济的发展、人民生活水平的提高，民间收藏队伍不断壮大，收藏已成为大众喜闻乐见的重要文化生活，并且为精神文明建设和中华文明的传承发展发挥着重要作用。

湖南历史悠久，文化灿烂，文物丰富，民间收藏由来已久，在全国占有较重要的地位。根据中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发的《关于加强文物保护利用改革的若干意见》精神，为鼓励民间合法收藏，促进文物市场活跃有序发展，我们特组织这次民间收藏展，旨在揭示湖南民间收藏的丰厚底蕴，反映社会力量在文物保护方面所发挥的重要作用；旨在让民间文物活起来，推动湖南民间收藏以及文物艺术品市场的繁荣健康发展。

承蒙诸多藏家鼎力支持，我们遴选了湖南民间收藏的明清以来湖南名家书画信札、瓷器、玉器、杂项、红色记忆等文物精品，让广大观众朋友领略这一时期湖南地区的社会风尚和文物的材质之优、工艺之精、装饰之美以及仁人志士的家国情怀。

藏海拾贝，挂一漏万，在所难免。请大家批评指正！
 

Introduction

Exhibition of Ke Tongzhi’s Paintings

Ke Tongzhi is an artist who shows unstoppable enthusiasm in the innovation of Chinese paintings. Featured with plainness and straightforwardness, his works are brimming with vitality, which is well revealed in the abundantly colored  images and the way they are presented. The fine contrast between the colorful flowers and birds and the traditional  Chinese brushwork brings about great artistic tension, well reflecting the devotion and dedication of the artist. 

The style of an artist is to some extent nourished by the culture where he is raised. Born and growing up in Putian City of Fujian Province, a place known for its exploring and adventurous tradition in China, Ke was shaped into a person with great passion and persistence, which set tone for the “harmonious collision" displayed in his work such as fine skills versus free brushwork, black ink versus bright colors. And his later living experience in Hunan further strengthened his cultural and aesthetic consciousness, evoking within him a sense of pragmatism and naturalism， which also can be traced in his paintings. 

In his later age, Ke has been exposing himself to life in Southern China for the pursuit of “the art of rainforest ”. And now, his works are exuberant with flowers and plants, a rolling vivid network redolent of the flourishing rainforest. Besides, as a mirror of  the ecological and environmental awareness increasingly called on  by the public, his works also assume certain social significance. 

Fan Di’an,  director of Central Academy of Fine Arts, vice president of Chinese Artists Association. 

Exhibition time: July 17— 31, 2018.

Sponsors: China Fine Arts Creation Academy  of Chinese National Academy of Arts, Arts Council of China Artists Association, Institute of Chinese Painting, Hunan Research Institute of Culture and History, Hunan Cultural Association, Hunan Artists Association, Hunan Museum, Publicity Department of Changsha Municipal Party committee, Changsha Cultural Association. 

Organizers: Hunan Flowers and Birds Painting Artists Association, Hunan Xiangjiang Painting and Calligraphy Academy.