一生鑄就工筆魂

孫群豪

美國時間2015年12月24日平安夜，徐啟雄先生在美國南加州橙縣家中因病離世，擱下了他心愛的畫筆，“平安”地走了。

徐先生曾任慈溪畫院名譽(yù)院長，因工作關(guān)系，我與他接觸的機(jī)會也多。20多年前的徐先生，已是滿頭銀發(fā)，很容易讓人記得。他衣著樸素，氣質(zhì)儒雅，看上去很“工筆”，話語不多且語速不快、音調(diào)不高，一字一句有板有眼嚴(yán)密得很，這是給我的深刻印象。

“我們需要這樣一種畫家”

徐先生1960年畢業(yè)于中央美術(shù)學(xué)院中國畫系，分配在人民日報社工作，主要從事創(chuàng)作。他崇仰藝術(shù)源于生活的信條，堅(jiān)持采風(fēng)，走出了一條被稱為“美人畫”或叫“抒情畫”的道路，鄧拓同志稱譽(yù)他“將傳統(tǒng)工筆畫帶出死胡同”?？尚煜壬挂虼嗽馊瞬唤舛x開主流畫壇，返回老家浙江溫州。

30年前，華君武先生撰文《美人畫》，在《人民日報》介紹徐啟雄，說：“數(shù)十年他默默地在家鄉(xiāng)工作，背著畫夾在生活里行走著，默默地在觀察人和生活中的美，他不追逐名利，幾十年不斷地實(shí)踐。我們需要這樣一種畫家。”之后，徐先生受人廣泛注意，黃苗子先生稱贊徐啟雄“賦予工筆畫的傳統(tǒng)以新的生命”，程十發(fā)先生夸獎徐啟雄“是我國民族不可多得的畫家”。

有人曾經(jīng)斷言：“工筆畫的消亡是歷史發(fā)展的必然?！毙轮袊闪⒁詠?，工筆畫確實(shí)一度氣息奄奄，然而，當(dāng)今它終于走出危境，迎來新的復(fù)興，全國工筆畫大展已經(jīng)舉辦九屆，徐先生作為“開拓者”“奠基人”功不可沒。

徐先生的不凡成就和對弘揚(yáng)民族藝術(shù)的突出貢獻(xiàn)已被美術(shù)界所承認(rèn)。作為重要的代表性畫家，他的事跡和作品已收錄在多種中國當(dāng)代美術(shù)史和畫論及年鑒、詞典之中。

情系慈溪的名譽(yù)院長

1984年，浙江畫院成立，徐先生受任專職畫師，從溫州移家杭州。此前，身在北京、時時關(guān)心故鄉(xiāng)浙江的葉淺予先生曾去信勸導(dǎo)徐啟雄：啟雄高足，不要再局限溫州小山頭了。殺出來吧，到杭州去吧，不然，西湖將之遜色！

徐先生在杭州時，常到各地走走看看。1993年春，徐先生與王伯敏先生等省民盟部分同仁來慈溪考察，發(fā)生有一個小故事。期間，時任市長胡永先懇切而熱情地邀請徐先生：“徐老師，你做我們慈溪政協(xié)三北書畫院名譽(yù)院長吧！”此事之前沒有跟徐先生提起過，徐先生不知如何是好，只得笑呵呵地說：“我是溫州人，不是慈溪人，做慈溪書畫院的名譽(yù)院長行嗎？這種情況還是第一次碰到?！北娙藚s不再由徐先生分說，鼓起一片熱烈的掌聲，徐先生便也就答應(yīng)下來。慈溪政協(xié)三北書畫院后來改名為慈溪畫院，徐先生繼續(xù)擔(dān)任名譽(yù)院長。

徐先生每年與慈溪有交往，常來參加慈溪舉辦的大型書畫活動。有一年恰逢三北書畫院建新大樓，徐先生得知消息，立即表示要獻(xiàn)愛心、捐贈精品力作以助一臂之力。他拿出一張心愛的作品賣掉，將所得10萬元人民幣全部捐給了畫院。想想20多年前的10萬元，與現(xiàn)在的幣值完全是不同概念，真讓人感慨。

“你們需要隨便挑吧”

1998年春，三北書畫院編輯了一本《慈溪書畫作品集》，我與慈溪市政協(xié)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)唐廷文、畫院副院長王澤煥等前去杭州拜訪徐先生，希望得到他的支持和指點(diǎn)。我們帶著樣稿請徐先生提意見，并請他也提供作品為畫冊添彩，徐先生滿口答應(yīng)。他把自己精心創(chuàng)作的工筆人物畫悉數(shù)拿出來讓我們挑選，說：“你們需要隨便挑吧?！蔽覀冞x了一幅與慈溪緊密有關(guān)的作品《夏至》——慈溪楊梅，天下果品第一；慈溪民間說“夏至楊梅掛籃頭”；那是美女采摘楊梅圖。

有年冬天，我受人邀約寫采訪記，專程去杭州拜訪徐先生。叩開畫室的門，他正在創(chuàng)作。采訪中，他深入談到自己的創(chuàng)作理念，并告訴我，之前剛剛完成了一張畫《中國公主杜蘭朵》，是近期正在實(shí)踐的新的美女系列作品之一。臨別時，他送我一本董培倫撰著的《工筆魂——現(xiàn)代美人畫奠基人徐啟雄傳》和不少剛拍攝的工筆美女人物畫照片，供我寫文章之用?；貋碇?，我寫了《承傳統(tǒng)之美 抒現(xiàn)代之情——訪徐啟雄先生》刊發(fā)在《中國書畫報》《美術(shù)報》等報刊上。徐先生認(rèn)為，藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作首先要有民族性、地域性，其次是藝術(shù)思想與藝術(shù)技巧必須緊跟時代，筆墨當(dāng)隨時代，但最重要的是在繼承傳統(tǒng)精華的基礎(chǔ)上創(chuàng)新，符合審美規(guī)律。我披露了徐先生的觀點(diǎn)，引起學(xué)界很大的反響。

促成縣級市辦全國展

作為2002年全國第五屆工筆畫展覽評委會執(zhí)行主席，徐先生促成了該展覽在慈溪舉行?？h級市舉行全國性展覽極為少見，展覽由中國美術(shù)家協(xié)會、中國工筆畫學(xué)會、解放軍藝術(shù)學(xué)院、慈溪市人民政府聯(lián)合主辦。

徐先生之所以促成這件盛事，其原因之一是，慈溪是中國現(xiàn)代工筆畫大師陳之佛先生的家鄉(xiāng)，陳先生當(dāng)年知名一時，且對美術(shù)教育頗多貢獻(xiàn)，而后竟也歸于平淡。為辦好展覽，徐先生多次往返慈溪，實(shí)地察看場館及有關(guān)會務(wù)事項(xiàng)、落實(shí)經(jīng)費(fèi)等。他與慈溪組織方面負(fù)責(zé)人徐爾元等人多次商量展事，事無巨細(xì)一一過問；又與中國工筆畫學(xué)會秘書長、解放軍藝術(shù)學(xué)院王天勝教授等遴選邀請?jiān)u委。

展覽收到全國各地來稿之多超出了預(yù)料，作品質(zhì)量也代表了當(dāng)時全國工筆畫的最高水準(zhǔn)，后評出金、銀、銅、優(yōu)秀和入選等獎500多個，是歷屆工筆畫展覽中規(guī)模最大、水平最高的一次，較全面地展示了當(dāng)代工筆畫的創(chuàng)作風(fēng)貌。

展覽之后，人民美術(shù)出版社出版了《全國第五屆工筆畫展覽作品集》。徐先生任該書榮譽(yù)主編之一，個人提供了作品《春韻》，在全國畫壇產(chǎn)生了極大的影響，好評如潮。

我自始至終參加、見證了全國第五屆工筆畫展覽舉辦的全過程。

“伍仟萬元也別賣”

1992年，文化部在香港舉辦當(dāng)代中國繪畫精品大展，徐先生的《山長綠，水長流》以超過百萬元港幣的最高標(biāo)價而成為該次畫展“精品中的精品”。徐先生的畫風(fēng)自然、純樸、高雅，自成一格，在海內(nèi)外有“徐家樣”之美稱。

21世紀(jì)初馮驥才先生回慈溪老家探親時，我曾陪他去慈溪天元古玩城，談到書畫藝術(shù)、書畫創(chuàng)作和書畫市場。之后，我在《美術(shù)報》上發(fā)了篇馮驥才訪談錄，被收錄到馮先生的《思想對話》一書之中。我記得那篇訪談錄也提及慈溪“老鄉(xiāng)”徐先生的工筆畫，馮先生說，徐先生的人物工筆畫厲害；我們在全國政協(xié)開會時經(jīng)常碰面，我對他說，你那張《雨后雨花開》“伍仟萬元也別賣，那是一張難得的精品哦！”endprint

此前，我就聽說吳冠中先生在深圳美術(shù)節(jié)上看到這幅作品時禁不住叫好：“徐啟雄的畫，張張皆心血凝成，今后都是無價之寶?！?/p>

我起初看到《雨后雨花開》是在一本大型畫冊上，畫面是五位少女在南京雨花臺撿雨花石的場景，后來我在徐先生家里看到原作，淡雅之中有一種震撼力，確實(shí)令人難忘。前些時候，我遇到《文化交流》編輯，他說《雨后雨花開》“專供本刊使用”載于2014年第8期封面，“優(yōu)秀的作品永遠(yuǎn)不會失去讀者”。徐先生當(dāng)可慰藉。

（本文圖片由作者提供）

Xu Qixiong：

Master in Gongbi Style

By Sun Qunhao

Xu Qixiong （1934-2015）， a Chinese painting master， passed away at his home in Orange County， California on the night of December 24， 2015. Xu is remembered as an artist who helped start the renaissance of the style in the 1980s. ， a traditional painting style， emphasizes elaborate brushwork and spares no efforts to feature details and colors. I first met him through work more than 20 years ago. He was a man easily remembered： he was silvered haired at the age of 60. Never dressed in a fancy style， he looked elegant like the style he pursued all his life. He was articulate and logical， speaking in a thoughtful way.

After graduation from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1960 as a major of traditional Chinese painting， he worked for Peoples Daily in Beijing for years. He dedicated to painting beautiful women in the style. His artworks were at first considered alternative to say the best. Later， he was denounced for his undisguised dedication to portraying beauty in his art. In 1965， he was forced to leave Beijing and went back to Wenzhou， his hometown in southern Zhejiang Province.

It was not until the 1980s that he made a spectacular comeback. Prominent artists such as Hua Junwu， Cheng Shifa and Huang Miaozi praised Xus unique contribution to the style and considered him an outstanding artist who injected new elements into the tradition. Xus art and contribution to the style is widely recognized in art books， yearbooks and dictionaries.

Xu is a phenomenon in the history of Chinese art. A critic once concluded that the style was doomed to vanish as history moved ahead. And it was true that the struggled and was relegated onto the verge of extinction after 1949. However， the style is flourishing thanks to the renaissance Xu helped launch in the 1980s. A national exhibition for the artists now takes place at a regular interval and has occurred nine times since the comeback of the style.

A turning point in Xus life and art came about in 1984 when he became a member of the newly founded Zhejiang Institute of Traditional Painting based in Hangzhou. He had just moved to Hangzhou from Wenzhou for a new start of his career after his tutor Ye Qianyu urged him to come back to the bigger world.endprint

He served as honorary president of Cixi Sanbei Institute of Traditional Painting for years. He came upon the appointment by accident. During his stay in Hangzhou， Xu traveled across Zhejiang a lot. With some artist friends， he came to Cixi， a city in eastern Zhejiang， in the spring of 1993. At a meeting with local amateur artists， he was invited to act as honorary president of the institute. But Xu wasnt sure if it was appropriate for a Wenzhou native to be a honorary president of an art institute in Cixi. The host insisted and he accepted the honor in heartwarming applause.

The master contributed a great deal to the institute. He visited the city frequently. In the 1990s he sold a painting of his for 100，000 and donated the cash to the institute when the institute was planning to have an office building constructed. One hundred thousand was a huge fortune back then.

The greatest contribution Xu made was in 2002 when the fifth national exhibition for artists took place in Cixi， a county-level city. It is quite rare for a county-level city to host a top national art event. Xu was the executive chair of the jurors for the exhibition. He picked Cixi for a reason： Chen Zhifo （1896-1962）， a Cixi native， was a prominent artist and art educator that， in Xus opinion， should not be forgotten. Prior to the exhibition， Xu visited Cixi many times and engaged himself in preparations. The exhibition was a huge success. After the exhibition， a collection of the best works of the exhibition was published by the Peoples Fine Arts Publishing House.

is a representative artwork of Xu Qixiong. Feng Jicai， a writer of national renown and crusader for urban preservation based in Tianjin， mentioned the masterpiece in an interview with me. Feng said he advised Xu not to sell the masterpiece even if someone had offered 50 million. I learned that Wu Guanzhong， a prominent Chinese artist， was overjoyed with the masterpiece and said it was priceless. The August 2014 issue of Cultural Dialogue used this masterpiece for its cover.endprint