On Zhang Peng's Freehand Flower And Bird Painting's "shape" And "godness"

The theory of form and spirit in the Chinese painting theories has been the most important idea in the Chinese aesthetics,in that from the argument on relation of form to spirit,many painting theories had been developed to influence the artistic pursuit of Chinese painters for over 2000 years.For example,the spirit-giving theory,which was proposed by the famous painter Gu Kaizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty,first highlighted the unification of form and spirit.The spirit-giving means that painters shall express the spirit of an object being painted.In the following period from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Southern Tang Dynasty,many theorists had improved this theory,expanding the application of this aesthetic idea into the field of painting mountains and rivers,birds and flowers,where painting spirit on the basis of form became the fundamental pursuit of Chinese painting.In this period,Chinese painters developed a unique way of thinking and exploring the relation of form to spirit,creating a new artistic expression – freehand brushwork.In the Chinese freehand bird and flower painting,form is a carrier of image,which is a product of the perceptual expression of Chinese painters in their spiritual world which highlights the oneness of heaven and humanity.Since the circulation of western paintings into China,many Chinese painters,inspired by those paintings,developed new thoughts on the form and sprit and their relation in their exploration and practices.Among them,Mr.Zhang Peng has been a representative.He followed the traditional Chinese painting principles while remaining open to change.He developed his own style of painting by studying the paintings of Qi Baishi as well as of painters from a school being called the painting of man of letters,such as Xu Wei,Zhu Da,and Wu Changshuo.Out of his passionate about life,Zhang practiced a lot for collecting painting materials and refining artistic images.He upheld an artistic idea that painters shall paint spirit on the base of form and their paintings shall show reveal form and spirit,realize the unification of form and spirit.In his freehand bird-and-flower paintings,the appearance of animals and plants is precise and vivid,and the painting,though rough in its style,is full of vitality and fun while the image of the paintings clearly revealed his attitude towards a reclusive and simple life.He combined the form and spirit in a way so perfect that his paintings reached the unification of form and spirit.The artistic practices of Mr.Zhang Peng proved that to create a good freehand bird and flower painting,painters need to have an accurate and deep understanding of form and spirit so that the work can clearly reveal the image of the object being painted,that it can obtain a high aesthetic value.Studying the bird and flower paintings of Mr.Zhang Peng from a perspective of form and spirit,we hope to find a way to inspire painters so that they may create art forms that conform to the era,follow traditional Chinese painting principles while remaining open to changes.