Journalist and His Painting

On March 14th 2010， Premier Wen Jiabao mentioned the famous “Mountain Dwelling on Fuchun River” at a press conference during the National People Congress. The premier’s account of the separation of the masterpiece and his wish to see the two come together in the future caused big repercussions across the straits and became a hot topic among cultural circles. Just the other day I heard that the half of the original painting in the collection of Zhejiang Museum is scheduled to be displayed together with the other part of the original in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei from June to September 2011. It is widely believed that the scheduled display is more than a cultural event. It indicates the two sides across the strait are forging closer ties.

From March 2010 on， I met with Fan Jingyi on a few occasions and we talked about the painting. I proposed to Fan to paint me a painting of the landscape of Fuchun River in an ancient style in celebration of the joint exhibition in 2011.

Fan Jingyi is a prominent journalist. Shortly after his graduation from Shanghai-based St. John University， he worked as a journalist for a newspaper in Northeast. After the liberation in 1949， he was deputy editor-in-chief of Liaoning Daily before he was transferred to work in Beijing. In the country’s capital he worked as editor-in-chief for Economic Daily and People’s Daily in tandem. His writings during his career of decades have been published in collections. In 2003， he became a professor and then dean of School of Journalism and Communications of Qinghua University.

A preeminent poet well known in press circles， Fan writes poems that feature his profound knowledge of Chinese classics， which is a must for writing traditional Chinese poetry. On many occasions， people have been amazed by the poems he improvised effortlessly on the spot and by the accomplishment and good taste of these poems.

But few people had known he is an exceptional painter in a traditional style until a collection of his poetry and paintings came out. I had known.

It was by accident that I discovered his excellence in painting. On an occasion years ago， I visited him at his office and spotted a painting he had created for a Japanese politician he was going to meet in his upcoming visit to Japan. On another occasion I saw a landscape Fan had created for a senior journalist. These two paintings convinced me that he was superb at p-ainting.

After his collection came out and I read the preface， I came to know the story how he started painting. He was a sick child. Worried that the son might not be able to pursue a vigorous career in the future， his mother found him a teacher and urged him to learn painting. The teacher was Fan Boyan， an established painter in Shanghai. The master’s father was one of the Big Four artists of their time in southern Jiangsu Province. Fan Jingyi made amazingly fast progress under the tutelage of the teacher. Wang Geyi， a famous artist， marveled at the 17-year-old Fan’s creation and observed that the young man would be one of the outstanding artists in the future.

Fan studied ancient masters and as a nonprofessional painter， he copied ancient masters. The paintings Fan copied and created in his early years and in years from 1976 on were highly appreciated by old-generation masters such as Xie Zhiliu， Xu Bangda， He Haixia， Qigong and Ji Xianlin. They wrote inscriptions on Fan’s paintings for confirmation and appreciation.

Fan Jingyi spent three days in the early summer of 2010 painting a landscape of Fuchun River for me. It is a painting in honor of Huang Gongwang (1269-1354)， the master who created “Mountain Dwelling on the Fuchun River”. My ecstasy knew no bounds when I received and viewed the painting as a gift from Fan. I have had it mounted and now it hangs in my sitting room. I have admired Fan’s painting for innumerable times. I have even compared it with a photo of Huang Gongwang’s masterpiece. Indeed Fan imitates the ancient master’s style and brushstroke in an admirable way.

The painting creates a vista of an early autumn on Fuchun River， the river that inspired Huang Gongwang hundreds of years ago. The rocky hills roll and stretch; trees stand in clusters or in twos or threes， wrapping themselves in mist; interspersed among the hills and woods are villages， fishing boats， streams， and pavilions. The vista spreads as the scroll spreads， enabling the viewer to appreciate more scenes as if he were traveling into the space and time of the painting. At a certain point， the traveler stops whereas the panorama extends and then vanishes into the magnificent nothingness.

The art I see in the creation is masterful. The composition conveys a beauty and creativity that demands admiration; the brushstrokes and ink techniques are also admirable; each detail can be appreciated independently and in connection with other details. Though I am no artist， I understand Fan Jingyi’s profound understanding of Huang Gongwang’s art， for he applies something similar with Huang’s art to his own creative painting masterfully.□