The Book of Appreciation

Castiglione is an Italian, born in Milan. In the 54th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, he came to China as a monk of the Catholic Jesuit Society to preach, and then entered the palace and entered the Ruyi Pavilion. He became a court painter. During the three dynasties, he has been engaged in painting in China for more than 50 years.

Castiglione painted in the court and won many honors, not only surpassing other European missionary painters, but also making many Chinese painters enshrined in the court unable to match.

In the painting creation, Castiglione integrated Chinese and Western techniques to form a fine and realistic effect, created a new painting style, and presented a novel appearance and unique style different from the court paintings of previous dynasties.His greatest contribution was to show the charm of European light and dark painting to the emperor and many court painters, and he gained recognition.

In Chinese painting, there are not one but several viewpoints on objects, and the angle of sight is not fixed, so the painter can express different viewpoints and angles on landscapes or gardens in the same painting.Castiglione’s painting subject matter was specified by the emperor, and portraits had to be drawn on the front of the flat plate, and shadows could not be drawn. People thought that the shadows on the portraits were “like spots and blemishes on the face”.Castiglione borrowed from the portraits of Chinese people to allow the face to accept the frontal light as much as possible and avoid the side light. At the same time, the sides of the nose, the nose, and the neck of the character were slightly aggravated, so that the facial features were more clear and three-dimensional.This is exactly what the maid in this painting of ladies does.

Wu Di looked at it for a while, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then closed the scroll and opened another one.

This scroll is smaller, and the content is not a painting, but a calligraphic regular script.The work is unnamed, it is a piece of chidot commenting on the paper of Chengxintang, signed in the year of Kuimao, signed "Xiang, Shu", and stamped with the seal of Jianzang, with "magic", "Mo Miao", "An Shiyi Zhou calligraphy and painting "Chapter",

"Xue family collection" and so on.

This work is beautiful and calm, with the charm of the Jin and Tang Dynasties.The full text is written in Xingkai, the font is correct and slightly flat, thick and dignified, simple and graceful, self-contained, the spacing between words is appropriate, and every stroke is very graceful, neat and graceful.The composition of the characters is close and unfolded, handy, extremely natural, and the writing is like flowing clouds and flowing water, showing a beautiful and powerful state.It is the representative work of Cai Xiang in the Northern Song Dynasty advocating the style of calligraphy in his later years!

Cai Xiang is the ancestor of Cai Jing, the famous power minister, that is, the brother of Grandpa Cai Jing, and is honored as one of the four masters of calligraphy in the Song Dynasty.He is as famous as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu.Of course, some people think that among the four great masters of "Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai", the word Cai should refer to Cai Jing, but Cai Xiang was added to the four masters only because most of the calligraphy and painting circles despise him.

Wu Di copied Cai Xiang's handwriting with his fingers. After a while, he shook his head and read the work again before opening the fifth scroll.

Seeing him, Zheng and Wen shook their heads and nodded but said nothing. They didn't know what the kid was doing, so they had to wait patiently for him to look down.Zheng Zhuya did not know when she came to Wu Di's side, following a piece of appreciating painting, judging from her slightly frowning eyebrows, it was obvious that she was also thinking hard.

This painting should be Zhao Mengfu's painting of bamboo, and its full title should be "Painting of Dead Wood, Bamboo and Stone".

Zhao Mengfu is the 11th grandson of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin and the descendant of Zhao Defang, King Qin.In particular, calligraphy and painting achieved the highest achievement, and created a new style of painting in the Yuan Dynasty, known as "the crown of the Yuan people".According to records, since he was five years old, Zhao Mengfu began to learn calligraphy, and he continued to watch and write calligraphy until his death. It can be said that his love for calligraphy has reached the point of special liking.He is good at seal script, official script, true script, running script and cursive script, and is especially famous for regular script and running script. His calligraphy style is charming, elegant, neatly structured, and skillful in brushwork, which is known as "Zhao Ti" in the world.Together with Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Ouyang Xun, they are called the "Four Masters" of regular script.

Zhao Mengfu has a lot of calligraphy handed down from generation to generation, and his representative works include "Thousand-Character Essay", "Luo Shen Fu", "Gui Qu Lai Xi Ci", "Lanting Thirteen Postscripts" and so on.Author of "Shang Shu Zhu", "Song Xue Zhai Collection" 12 volumes and other works.Relatively speaking, few paintings have been handed down, only a few such as "Self-portrait", "Strange Rock and Bamboo Picture", "Bamboo and Stone", "Dead Wood, Bamboo and Stone Picture".

The work in front of me is a silk book, ink brush, 100 centimeters in length and about 50 centimeters in width.The picture consists of two dead trees, a rock, and several clumps of green bamboo.Among them, the green bamboo grows from two directions under the stone, with a natural shape and vitality.The author only uses a few strokes, and the tenacious spirit of the green bamboo, struggling to survive, is vividly displayed on the paper, which is in sharp contrast with the dead wood behind the stone.

On the left side of the painting scroll, there are three characters "Songxue Weng" signed.In the upper left corner, there are two seals of "Zhao Zi'ang's family" and "Songxuezhai".

Zhao Mengfu painted dead wood, bamboo and stone. On the basis of inheriting Wen Tong and Su Shi, he integrated the calligraphy brush into painting. He advocated that "calligraphy and painting have the same origin", that is, calligraphy and painting. Bamboo, writing bamboo is still based on Bafatong." It has a great influence on the painting circles of later generations, and this picture embodies this theory. It uses the calligraphy "Feibai" to write stones and dead tree trunks. .Bamboo has a smooth style of writing, with the characters "Ge" or "Jie", stroke by stroke, which is both powerful and subtle, rich in pen and ink, and embodies the elegance and charm of literati painters.

Wu Di had been looking at this painting for the longest time, and judging from his frowning all the time, it was obvious that he had encountered quite a problem.On the other hand, Zheng Zhuya looked more relaxed. This painting belonged to her family, and she had seen it countless times since she was a child. Just now, she frowned because she had always had doubts about that work. At this moment, she was relaxed. It must have been a conclusion. And because of the confidence.

After watching this picture, Wu Di took a sip of tea and checked the time, and it turned out that more than two hours had passed!

Lao Zheng waited impatiently for him to put down the teacup, and asked:

"Little Five, how are you?"

"This... Let's talk about it after I finish reading it all."

Next, Wu Di obviously sped up the pace, and there were two bamboo pictures in the remaining five scrolls, one of which was "Slim Bamboo Picture" by Bada Shanren Zhu Da!Wu Di looked at this painting for half an hour, second only to Zhao Mengfu's.The other one is the work of Ren Bonian in modern times. In Wu Di's view, even if it is real, it is his early practice work, and its collection value is not the same as the other nine works.

After finishing the ten scrolls, it was time for dinner.After finishing the last scroll, Wu Di did not speak. Instead, he sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to meditate for a moment. Under the expectant and strange eyes of Zheng and Wen, he opened and browsed all ten scrolls one by one, and then said: :

"Okay."

Wen Yaru laughed and said:

"You boy, if you can't come up with a name later, I won't obey you! Look, everyone has sat with you for four hours, shouldn't you explain something?"

Lao Zheng glanced at him dissatisfied, and said with a smile:

"Xiao Wu, don't listen to Lao Wen's nonsense. Of course, we must be cautious when appreciating collections. We are appreciating. If we really help others to appraise, it is normal to look at a painting for a few days! Hehe, Xiao Wu, after reading it, say Say it?

"Hehe, it's hard to say, and I dare not say."

Zheng Zhuya smiled and said:

"When I started to learn painting, I saw these ten scrolls. At that time, I thought that all of them were real, and they were amazing works of heaven and man. Later, I grew up and gained some insight, but I still couldn't tell the truth from the fake. When I learned from the teacher After a few months, when I came back this time, it seemed that it was five false and five true. I asked my dad full of doubts, and my dad’s answer was still the same as before. Let me see for myself, and when can I understand it completely? , and I’m leaving the teacher. But just now I watched it with brother Wu Di, and felt that it was six false and four true. I don’t know what his judgment is, and I can’t wait.”

Wen Yaru laughed and said:

"These ten scrolls are very famous in Panjiayuan. Many old friends are still arguing about the authenticity of these paintings. I think Lao Zheng has a plan in mind, but he has kept it secret. Five, can the answer be revealed?"

Wu Di smiled bitterly and said:

"You guys think too highly of me, but since it's a study, I'll express some of my opinions, but it might be hurtful, I hope Uncle Zheng can't blame me."

"It's okay, you can just say it. These paintings have been pointed at for more than ten years, and they can say anything. I also want to hear the opinions of Chang Lao Gaozu."

Wen Yaru laughed and said:

"Old Zheng and I have been friends for decades, you don't have to be afraid, just say what you have, anyway, he has suffered enough blows, and he doesn't care if you are one more."

"Hey, how do you talk? Are you here to see the painting or to make trouble?"

Old Zheng raised his eyes at Wen Yaru.

"Okay, okay, I won't say it, let Xiao Wu say it, it's all over, right?"

"Okay, then I'll just say it straight, my own opinion, don't blame Uncle Zheng."

"I asked you to say it, why is it so strange? You are young, don't be like those old men, cherish your reputation, look forward and backward, it doesn't matter if you are wrong, just say it!"

Zheng Zhuya suddenly interjected:

"Why don't I talk about my opinion first, which can be regarded as a good example, how about it?"