ZAO WOU-KI: PIONEER OF THE 21ST CENTURY

趙無極：二十一世紀(jì)的先鋒

Dominique de Villepin?

（多米尼克?德?維爾潘）

General Advisor of Centennial Retrospective Exhibition of Zao Wou-Ki

Former Prime Minister of France,?Honorary Chairman of the Foundation for Art and Culture

趙無極百年回顧特展總顧問

法國前總理、FAC藝術(shù)文化基金會名譽主席

At?the sources of the revival of Chinese art中國藝術(shù)復(fù)興的源泉
But it would be a mistake to believe that Zao Wou-Ki’s pictorial adventure is a solitary adventure. He participates directly in the revival of Chinese art. And it would be a mistake to believe, as we sometimes think in the West, that the future lies in seeking compromises, in seeking a synthesis of Western modern art with Chinese art. On the contrary, I believe that it is in?our mutual interest to maintain a confrontation of views, a clash of opposites, from which something new and the unknown can emerge.
如果我們認(rèn)為趙無極的繪畫冒險是一次孤獨的冒險，那就大錯特錯了。他直接參與了中國藝術(shù)的復(fù)興。如果我們像西方人有時所想的那樣，認(rèn)為未來在于尋求妥協(xié)，在于尋求西方現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)與中國藝術(shù)的融合，那就錯了。恰恰相反，我認(rèn)為我們需要保持多元化的觀點，聽取不同的聲音，從中了解和學(xué)習(xí)到新的和未知的東西，東西方均可受益。

《錫耶納廣場》（Piazza Siena）

1951年，布面油畫，50 ×?45.5 cm

M+博物館藏，中國香港，2020年趙善美女士捐贈

Among the pioneers of the revival we must mention the giant Qi Baishi, whose powerful gestures succeed, for a moment at least, in uniting Western-inspired modernity with Eastern tradition. Zao Wou-Ki's work is also part of the New Culture movement, in the wake of the May 4th Movement, with artists like Li Tiefu, Yan Wenliang, Xu Beihong and of course Lin Fengmian who was his teacher and paved the way for him in France. With his detour to the West, Zao Wou-Ki himself belongs to a very diverse group of pioneers, all of whom passed through Paris, such as Sanyu, Chu Teh-Chun, or Walasse Ting who multiplied the bridges with the West. And if it took time for Zao Wou-Ki to rediscover China, it also took a long journey to allow China to reclaim Zao Wou-Ki, in the central role of bridge-builder and pathfinder between the two worlds.
在眾多開拓者中，我們必須提到齊白石，他在一段時間內(nèi)成功地將西方的現(xiàn)代性與東方的傳統(tǒng)結(jié)合起來。趙無極的作品也是五四運動之后新文化運動的一部分，與李鐵夫、顏文樑、徐悲鴻和林風(fēng)眠等藝術(shù)家的作品齊名。林風(fēng)眠指導(dǎo)過趙無極，也是他前往法國的引路人。趙無極轉(zhuǎn)向西方，成為先鋒藝術(shù)家的一員。常玉、朱德群和丁雄泉等都是先鋒藝術(shù)家的一員，都曾去過巴黎，他們與趙無極一同建立起連接?xùn)|西方藝術(shù)的橋梁。如果說趙無極重新審視中國需要時間，那么讓中國重新認(rèn)識趙無極，讓他成為兩個世界之間關(guān)鍵的橋梁搭建者和探路者，也需要一段漫長的旅程。
After the 1983 exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing, he taught for a month here in 1985. Everything changed and accelerated at the turn of the 2000s, with the major retrospective exhibition in Shanghai in 1998, with the Suzhou Exhibition in 2006 and the dialogue with younger artists, such as Xu Bing and Cai Guo-Qiang. He dreamed of this exhibition opening today in Hangzhou, which is at the starting point of his artistic vocation and which he loved so much. It was here that he began the long journey that allowed him, from Paris, around the world, to become“authentically” and fully a Chinese painter.
1983年，在北京中國國家博物館舉辦展覽后，他于1985年在此任教了一個月。1998年在上海舉行了大型回顧展，2006年在蘇州舉辦了展覽，趙無極通過作品與徐冰、蔡國強等年輕藝家成功對話。他憧憬著這個如今將在杭州開幕的展覽，杭州是他藝術(shù)生涯的起點，也是他深愛的地方，也正是在這里，他開始了漫長的旅程，從巴黎到世界各地，成為一名“地地道道”的中國藝術(shù)家。

《無題》

1970年，紙本水墨，28 × 27.5 cm

賽努奇博物館藏，法國巴黎，? Adagp, Paris

Looking at Zao Wou-Ki’s work from both ends, from China and from France, from the end and from the beginning, allows us to free ourselves from a number of false interpretations:
我們必須從中國和法國兩個視角來欣賞趙無極的作品，看到他的藝術(shù)起點和終點彼此交織，這樣才能擺脫偏見與誤解：
It is a chance to circumvent the false problem of the transition to abstraction. The question is not indeed, for Chinese painting, the figure but the stake of representation, the capture of life, the resonance of breath and the embodiment of line. And if Zao Wou-Ki turned away from what had become Chinese painting in the mid-thirties, it is indeed because he was worried about the dead image, about a loss of vital impetus through imitation. He then took the lessons from the many variations in the bronzes of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. He also drew inspiration from certain Tang or Song paintings. Abstraction on this path is the fulfillment of Shitao’s teaching, the search for the "without trace" which only captures the resonance of what passes through things, flooding and irrigating them to arrive at the true image, as Mi Fu invites us "not breaking with the trace".
首先，這是一個回避抽象之類的偽命題的機會。對中國畫來說，問題不是人物，而是如何表現(xiàn)生命的捕捉、呼吸的共鳴和線條的體現(xiàn)。如果趙無極在30年代中期放棄了中國畫，那確實是因為他擔(dān)心形象死氣沉沉，擔(dān)心由于過度模仿失去生命力。于是，他從商周青銅器和唐宋繪畫中汲取靈感。正如石濤提及的“無跡”，即只捕捉那轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝的、滋養(yǎng)和灌溉萬物的共鳴，最終達(dá)到真實的形象，也就是米芾所說的“絕跡天機”。
It is also a chance to move beyond the question of the painter as demiurge competing with nature and the divine. Chinese painting is more concerned with participation in the world and the revelation of reality. By immersing us in primitive chaos, capturing the brilliance of reality through the clash of colors and forms, Zao Wou-Ki takes us back to the sources and traces a path with his painting.
其次，這是畫家以造物主的身份與自然和神明競爭的機會。中國畫更注重入世，揭示與現(xiàn)實的關(guān)系。趙無極通過繪畫將我們帶入一種混沌但充滿生命力和原始力量的體驗中，通過色彩和形式的碰撞，捕捉現(xiàn)實的光輝，將我們引導(dǎo)回藝術(shù)的源頭，引領(lǐng)我們開啟藝術(shù)之旅。
It is finally a chance to get out of the Western trap of a beauty which, in a single word, crushes our vision of painting when, in China, it can take countless forms and express the diversity of reality where life abounds and opens to the presence of being.
最后，這也是一個逃離西方繪畫審美陷阱的機會。這種美一言以蔽之，摧毀了我們對繪畫的想象，而在中國畫中，美可以呈現(xiàn)無數(shù)形態(tài)，展現(xiàn)豐富多彩的現(xiàn)實世界。
Between wonder and fight驚奇與斗爭
But who is Zao?Wou-Ki? A Chinese artist, a French artist or an artist of the world? He is all of that, he is a broker of images and spaces who nourishes each of his paintings with his own experience, real or imagined. He keeps traveling. Paris is his first encounter in 1948, with works he had seen in newspapers and postcards and which he finally discovered in reality in galleries and museums. But, Paris is also a unique chance to meet?with artists, intellectuals and gallery owners, remembering for example that his neighbor in Montparnasse was Giacometti. Finally, Paris is for him an opportunity to participate to the second school of Paris, with Hartung, Soulages, Maria-Helena da Silva or Georges Mathieu.
但趙無極到底是誰，他是中國藝術(shù)家，是法國藝術(shù)家，還是世界級藝術(shù)家呢？他同時擁有這三重身份，他將現(xiàn)實空間的元素注入畫中，他用自己真實或想象的經(jīng)歷滋養(yǎng)著每一幅畫，他一直在路上。1948年他第一次來到巴黎，看到了報紙和明信片上的藝術(shù)作品，然后又在畫廊和博物館中看到了原作，他在巴黎遇見了當(dāng)?shù)氐乃囆g(shù)家、知識分子、畫廊老板，他在蒙帕納斯的鄰居就是賈科梅蒂。他還與哈同、蘇拉熱、瑪麗亞·埃倫娜·維埃拉·達(dá)席爾瓦、喬治·馬修等一同加入了第二巴黎畫派。
In his life as an artist, the trip to America in 1957 played an essential role, perhaps not so much as the discovery of a new creation, but as the confirmation of intuitions and metamorphoses already under way, accelerated by his encounters with Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell and Willem de Kooning. He understands the urgency of change, the need to extricate himself from the impasse into which he feels he is plunged. He forged new relationships with artists such as Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Hans Hoffmann and Barnett Newman, discovered a new gallery owner, Sam Kootz, who opened the doors to the American market for him. For the next ten years, he returned to the United States every year and?became part of the historical and magical triangle of contemporary art.
在他藝術(shù)家的生涯中，1957年的美國之行也發(fā)揮了至關(guān)重要的作用，他不僅僅找到了新的創(chuàng)作靈感，還確認(rèn)了之前已經(jīng)感受到的藝術(shù)方向和變化趨勢，而他與杰克迅·波洛克、羅伯特·馬瑟韋爾和威廉·德庫寧的相遇則加速了這一變化。他意識到變化的緊迫性，他感到自己陷入了僵局，迫切需要擺脫出來。他結(jié)識了菲利普·古斯頓、弗蘭茨·克萊因、漢斯·霍夫曼和巴內(nèi)特·紐曼等藝術(shù)家，還認(rèn)識了畫廊老板薩姆·庫茨，這些人都為他打開了進(jìn)入美國市場的大門。在接下來的十年里，他每年都會回到美國，并融入當(dāng)代藝術(shù)領(lǐng)域極具歷史意義和神秘感的圈子。
His return to China from 1972 was also an important step, since he reconnected with the landscapes of his birth without denying the universal aspect of his work and without denying his thirst for transmission, as demonstrated by his stay here in 1985, in contact with students at the Academy of Arts.
1972年他回到中國，與出生的這片土地重新建立了聯(lián)系，但并沒有否認(rèn)他作品的普遍性，也沒有否認(rèn)他對傳播作品的渴望，這從他1985年向中國藝術(shù)院校的學(xué)生們授課的經(jīng)歷中就可以看出。

《20.12.49 - 黃色風(fēng)景》（20.12.49 - Paysage jaune）

1949年，布面油畫，50.5 × 59.5 cm

蓬皮杜藝術(shù)中心，國家現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)博物館/工業(yè)創(chuàng)造中心藏，法國巴黎，1976年藝術(shù)家捐贈，? Adagp, Paris

Art historians and experts with a taste for periods and classifications sometimes minimize the complexity that lies behind the work of an artist. In the case of Zao Wou-Ki, it is striking to note at both ends of his life, more than forty years apart, corresponding to the time of youth and maturity, that the same guiding principle is asserted, the one of "wonder". At the start of his journey in Hangzhou, it is striking to note how everything is in place in its paintings, in a pre-established order with nothing threatening, neither the man who is lounging under the sun, nor the wild animal, deer or wolf, in the middle of the forest. Each figure tells the harmony of beings and things and everything matches, in harmony with nature.
有些時候，藝術(shù)史學(xué)家和喜歡劃分時期和分類的專家有時會將藝術(shù)家作品背后的復(fù)雜性降到最低。值得注意的是，在趙無極人生的兩個階段，即相隔40多年的青年期和成熟期，他都將“驚奇“作為指導(dǎo)創(chuàng)作和生活的核心信念。我們可以看到，在他初到杭州時創(chuàng)作的畫作中，無論是沐浴在陽光下的人，還是森林中的鹿、狼或其他野生動物，一切都井然有序，彼此協(xié)調(diào)。每個形象都訴說著萬物的和諧，營造出一種自然和諧的感覺。

《向我的朋友亨利·米修致敬，1999年4月-2000年8月——三聯(lián)畫》（Hommage à mon ami Henri Michaux, avril 1999-ao?t 2000-Triptyque）

1999-2000年，布面油畫，200 × 750 cm

Likewise, in the works of the end, color takes center stage, each time different depending on the location: Ibiza, Biarritz, Gaudigny, “La Lanterne”, “La Cavalerie”... Wherever city or place he goes, wherever he paints, he draws the same thread of wonder. So the heart of his work, from the late fifties to the early 2000s, takes on its full meaning, that of a long and difficult quest for the artist to weave his link with life and give his art its indispensable truth and magic. His approach is one of conquest at every stage: when he understands that he must go beyond visible reality with the help of the sign which gives him both the strength of distance and the help of mediation to enter into the depth of the canvas. As you can see, there are so many keys, so many pillars that will encourage and support him on his way. Armed with new landmarks in space and time, able to play on all the variations of color, painting becomes his battlefield where he can wage the battle of a new modernity, instructed by the lessons of the Ancients and the Moderns, Delacroix, Manet, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, educated through the violence of History, in his native land as in Europe torn apart by fascism and the rise of communism.
同樣，在他最終的作品中，色彩占據(jù)了中心位置，每次根據(jù)不同地點都會有所變化，無論他走到哪一個城市，無論他走到哪里，他都可以繪制出同樣的奇跡。從50年代末到21世紀(jì)初，他的作品核心都有著完整的意義，即藝術(shù)家在漫長而艱難的探索中編織自身與生活的聯(lián)系，并賦予藝術(shù)不可或缺的真實性和魔力。他的創(chuàng)作方法在每個階段都是一種征服：當(dāng)他明白必須借助可見的符號來超越現(xiàn)實的時候，符號就賦予他力量，能夠使他進(jìn)入畫布深處。他有如此多的要訣和信仰核心來支持他不斷前行。憑借對時空新的認(rèn)識，他能夠在色彩的各種變化中游刃有余，繪畫成為了他的戰(zhàn)場，他能夠借鑒德拉克羅瓦、馬奈、塞尚、馬蒂斯、畢加索等古今中外著名畫家的經(jīng)驗，吸取歷史教訓(xùn)，在自己的國家或者被法西斯主義和共產(chǎn)主義分裂的歐洲發(fā)起一場新的現(xiàn)代性斗爭。
He uses his brush as an instrument to tame horror, to tame the violence between men and in the heart of every single man. To better confront it, to better neutralize it, he will inscribe it on the canvas itself, distributing his own forces until harmony is reached.This is why Zao Wou-Ki’s art, modern from the outset, has become a humanist art placing human consciousness so high that it becomes capable of taming History. The Taoist philosophy of the East, made of continuous flows and precarious balances, meets the dialectic of Western History, with its impetuous?and mechanical movements.
他用畫筆來克服恐懼，化解或減輕人際關(guān)系中的沖突和內(nèi)心的矛盾。為了更好地面對這種內(nèi)心，更好地壓制這種心理，他在畫布上展示自己的力量，最終達(dá)到一種和諧。正因如此，趙無極的藝術(shù)從一開始就具有現(xiàn)代性，他將人類意識置于高位，使其能夠超越歷史的束縛，因此已經(jīng)成為了一種人文主義藝術(shù)。我們可以在作品中看到東方道家哲學(xué)與西方歷史的辯證法的融合。前者強調(diào)事物的不斷變化以及事物之間的微妙平衡，后者則強調(diào)事物迅猛、按部就班的變化。

《向弗朗索瓦茲致敬-23.10.2003》（Hommage à Fran?oise- 23.10.2003）

2003年，布面油畫，195?×?324 cm

攝影：Dennis Bouchard

To prevent beauty from fading and freezing, it must constantly replenish itself in the movement of life and the passage of time. Zao Wou-Ki therefore wants to welcome on the canvas the vibration of opposing forces onto the canvass, aware that in his place, the painter can repair and correct the destiny of our chaotic world. But to do this, the artist must be willing to descend into himself, as one goes down to the mine, to embark on a dangerous journey of exploration. And it is only at the end of the road, at the end of a long process of recreation, a violent hand-to-hand combat with the canvas, that he can restore a balance that we will find in Zao Wou-Ki’s great tributes,?Homage to Claude Monet,?Homage to Cézanne,?Homage to Fran?oise.
美麗之物需要適應(yīng)變化的環(huán)境，隨著時間的推移不斷發(fā)掘內(nèi)在美感，以此保持活力和煥發(fā)生機，避免消逝或凍結(jié)。因此，趙無極也希望在畫布上表達(dá)對立力量的沖突和相互作用。他深知作為畫家能夠通過藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作給予人們希望和重新找回平衡的可能性。但是要做到這點，藝術(shù)家必須要回歸本身，回歸內(nèi)心。只有在旅程結(jié)束、經(jīng)歷了漫長的再創(chuàng)造過程、與畫布進(jìn)行激烈的搏斗之后，他才能真正地找回平衡。趙無極的《向塞尚致敬》、《向莫奈致敬》、《向弗朗索瓦致敬》等作品也展現(xiàn)了這種的平衡。

This is the second part of Dominique de Villepin's keynote speech delivered at the forum, "The Way Is Infinite: Zao Wou-Ki's World of Art", on September 19, 2023.

本文為2023年9月19日，多米尼克?德?維爾潘在“大道無極——趙無極的藝術(shù)世界論壇”上的主旨演講的第二部分。

Some illustrations of Zao Wou-Ki's works in this article are slightly different with those in the speaking script due to copyrights.

由于作品圖版權(quán)限制，文中部分配圖與講稿提到的相應(yīng)作品圖略有出入。

All works by Zao Wou-Ki : ? Zao Wou-Ki-ProLitteris, Zurich.