Reborn as a great painter, with a system, you can be willful

Jiang Zhe walked along the left bank of the Seine, and recalled what Maupassant said in his novel: in his time, the people living on the left bank of the Seine were actually those who were not doing well. Those who were doing well lived on the right bank. As time went by, the left bank has become synonymous with French romance and petty bourgeoisie.

Let his imagination run wild and make him feel relaxed.

After walking a short distance, I saw a familiar figure in the distance - Jacques.

He walked quickly towards him and waved to Jacques.

After lunch, the two talked on the phone.

Jacques heard that he had finished his visit and rushed over to meet him.

"What do you think of visiting the Academy of Fine Arts?" Jacques asked after the greetings.

Jiang Zhe spoke frankly about his feelings.

Jacques had an expression that said he had finally discovered something: "Your feeling is very accurate. I don't understand why you still want to receive that kind of traditional painting education when you can already support yourself by selling paintings and even have a certain degree of fame.

France used to lead the art fashion, but since the emergence of the academic school, it has become a conservative and eclectic force. When new artistic ideas emerge, this contrast is particularly obvious. "

The two began to stroll along the river, chatting as they walked.

"What are your plans for the afternoon?" Jacques asked.

Jiang Zhe said, "There is no plan."

Jacques said, "This place is very close to the Musee d'Orsay. Let's go to the Musee d'Orsay and take a look at the works that were not recognized by the academic school at that time."

Jiang Zhe readily accepted the suggestion.

The two walked to the art gallery.

There were not many tourists, and the two entered the art gallery quickly.

This is Jiang Zhe's second visit here.

The interior decoration here is modern and the layout is very similar to the shops in a large shopping mall. In addition, the tour route design is not smooth.

This feeling is very similar to the feeling when he visited the Academy of Fine Arts. I didn't beg you to visit, but you insisted on coming.

Jacques led Jiang Zhe to admire, or rather complain about, the Statue of Liberty.

"This sculpture is exactly the same as the one in Manhattan, New York, except it's a little shorter. France was very wealthy at the time, and it built the Eiffel Tower and was showing off its power everywhere."

Walk around the Statue of Liberty and enter Hall 1, where you will see Ingres’ famous work – The Fountain.

Jiang Zhe has copied this work before, and when he saw the original again, he still admired the painter's ability to create beauty.

"This is classical beauty." Jacques commented quietly: "Ingres was the director of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. If you actually went there to study, you would have been connected with him.

This dean set an example for all students in the art academy. Many painters hope to be recognized and achieve success. In the next few exhibition halls, you can see academic painters who carry forward this style. Beautiful women, perfect proportions and postures, marble skin, at the same time, the content of the paintings comes from ancient books and allusions, implying poetic and philosophical connotations.

The style advocated by Ingres is collectively called academicism, or neoclassical aestheticism. It was also the mainstream aesthetic in the second half of the 19th century. However, this dean is almost the highest level of academicism, and no one can surpass him in this range.

However, some painters quickly broke the shackles of this mainstream aesthetic in the following period of time.

We can see the whole subversion process at the Musee d’Orsay.”

Jacques became more talkative after coming here. After commenting, he asked Jiang Zhe.

"You once studied classicism. Can you talk about the problems of this style?"

Jiang Zhe said: "Classicism strives for perfection. The ultimate beauty also has a weakness, that is, it can easily become unreal.

Some people feel happy when they see a picture that seems too beautiful to be true, but after watching it, they will feel like they can’t remember anything. If you watch it too much, you will get aesthetic fatigue. Moreover, it is difficult for people to empathize with pictures that are too perfect. "

Jacques nodded: "Humans like beautiful things, but they are also curious. For example, is there any real content besides this kind of painting?"

After viewing the academic works, the two walked along the passage and up the stairs, where they could see two large oil paintings, one called The Painter's Studio and the other called The Funeral at Ornans.

The author of both paintings is Courbet.

Jiang Zhe and the other man stopped at the same time and looked at the screen.

"The author of this painting was the first person to challenge the academic school. This painting is a heavyweight work both in terms of its position in art history and its influence." Although Jacques made such an evaluation, there was still some sarcasm in his words.

“Courbet had a small studio in the Montmartre area of ​​Paris, and The Painter’s Studio was created in this studio.

The content of the painting is straightforward, but perhaps it contains some metaphors. Perhaps only the French at that time could understand it. What do you think? "

After saying that, he looked at Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe shook his head to show that he did not understand. In addition to feeling the visual impact of the picture, he also focused on analyzing the work rationally.

At the centre of the collection is a large, light-filled studio, the walls of which are covered with a variety of drawings, from sketches to paintings, covering a wide range of styles and subjects.

There is a painter in the corner of the studio. He is wearing work clothes and is concentrating on painting. He is immersed in his own creative world and does not care about the people and environment around him.

Furthermore, the painting is large, measuring nearly 3 meters by 6 meters, and each person in the painting is nearly life-size.

He also often creates large-scale works and knows the difficulty involved. He is using this work to compare it with his own works and analyze their advantages and disadvantages.

When he heard Jacques' question, he did not answer directly, but asked back.

“I was thinking that the studio gathers all kinds of characters, representing different social roles and ideas, including artists, scholars, workers, soldiers, etc. These images may cause the audience to think.

There is also the question of who would buy a work of this size and subject matter.”

Jacques said: “Your angle of entry is unique.

Those who could afford such large paintings had to have ample display space, and were usually nobles or wealthy merchants.

The nobles at that time were very particular about the subjects of paintings they purchased, and usually chose historical or religious themes.

Jiang Zhe nodded, indicating that he agreed with him. Historical paintings had the highest status in the painting world in the 19th century.

Jacques continued: “Buyers don’t normally buy this kind of subject matter.

And for a painter to complete such a large painting, he needs a considerable amount of money.

The artist’s dedication to this painting shows that he had a clear goal when he started the work, which was to participate in an art salon exhibition.

At that time, Paris held an official art salon every year.

At the Salon of 1850, many people heard that someone had submitted a large painting to the Salon. The content of the painting was still a funeral in the countryside.

Many people treated this as a joke.

However, no one expected that Courbet would become famous overnight at the Salon exhibition.

Chatting about the art salon, the two continued walking forward and stopped in front of a portrait.

(End of this chapter)