Page 113 - 亚洲二十世纪及当代艺术
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ה၈ٙj݅ϞГ˙ᎉ෧ٙኑࠠeཱིတdɰ Hsiung Ping-Ming, who lived in France for 50 years, was a master of sculpture,
Ϟʕᖵஔෂ୕ɽ˙eᆇe҃ᒪٙᎉ෧ poetry, and calligraphy. He was born into a literatus family in 1933 in Nanjing and
ช fɽԂˬλЧɓЗᄱ࢙ϾᑹჅe௹ኪϾ showed a talent in art from an early age. After graduating from the Department of
ᄿᗆeۍ͚މႏ͛ւᘠٙёɿd݊ɪ˰ߏʕ Philosophy at Southwestern Union University in 1939, he went on to study in the
Ϟᗆʘɻٙᐵᅂf Department of Philosophy in the University of Paris on a public scholarship. In 1948,
he was profoundly impressed by the work of Marcel Gimond, having visited his
νဤˤІԊdவԬ௴Ъࣛගڗ༺ɤϋٙᎉ studio, and was determined to switch to studying sculpture. Since then, his works
෧ேʔ݊މə͛ࠇႡЪٙd׳ίʈЪ܃ٙ have been repeatedly shown in the major art salons in France, winning him the
ɓԉdʔࣛ՟̈ࡌҷ͂ጋdᜫிۨနနટڐ bronze medal of Le Salon des Artistes Français in 1952. He received the Chevalier
ᝈׂfவ݊ɓ၇߮Бཾɓছٙࡌdˀ dans l’ordre des Palmes académiques from the French Ministry of Education in
݈Ъۜɪɷᒣϵٙ༦fɽԂˬা 1983 and became a tenured professor in 1984. In 2001, he was offered the title of
əڗ༺ 30 ቱϋٙ௴ЪΈdʔШ݊ዝ̦ٙ Honorary Professor by Nanjing University.
ᗇd͵݊ᖵஔɛ͛ሾϓఱٙၝሞfዝ Although long immersed in the Western art milieu and inspired by masters such
نeᜧࣚऎ̮̒ࡈε˰ߏdဤ٢הዝ as Auguste Rodin, Hsiung Ping-Ming maintained his lineage of traditional Chinese
ٙ֘߮ᑙԔІʔ̀ԊႭdШ˼Ԩ͊ܤ˂ˈ culture, and was a master in calligraphy, Chinese philosophy, and Buddhism. His
ɛdϾ݊ᎰᎰ˸ɽԂˬٙၚग़dऎॶϵ Cow series that began in the 1960s is a signature expression of Eastern aesthetics
ܠซd֛ːҳɝ௴ЪfϤЪዢᐵəՉଭ͛ using Western forms. This bronze sculpture in the autumn auction, A Cow with a
ςٙɛ͛ࡪኪձ੶डٙᖵஔᆠҝdɠۂ״ Big Belly, took more than three decades to make during the years between 1962
ᝤٙிۨᒚᜰ̈༨൳ࣛ˾ٙܠซӐዠd˿ɛ and 1997, as the artists worked to polish the spirit and form of the cow. The work
was not only showed in the retrospective exhibition of the artist, but, seen as an
ชԽf
important work of his career, another version of it also entered the collection of
National Art Museum of China in Beijing.
With Maitreya’s Modest and Open Mind, Standing Upright
between Heaven and Earth
A Cow with a Big Belly is a work that embodies
Buddha-nature – retrained and gentle, persevering
and accommodating. With four hooves standing
firmly on the ground and head raisind in a way that
is neither servile nor overbearing, the cow seems
to be singing a spirited song to the sky. Its squared
body is enlarged in exaggerated proportions so that
it almost bears the form of Buddha himself, which
echoes the name of Hsiung Ping-Ming’s ancestral
hometown, Mile (Maitreya Buddha) County in Yunnan
Province. Furthermore, the bony and overall rugged
torso of the cow, while being robust and voluminous,
bears the marks of the artist’s sculpting hands and is
reminiscent of how the soil in his hometown is filled with
warmth and signs of cultivation. Like a tolerant, humble,
and knowledgeable gentleman who is willing to devote
himself to the greater mankind, the big-belly cow is the
epitome of the twentieth-century literati of China.
A Cow with a Big Belly documents three decades of artmaking. Not
only is it a historical proof, but also a comprehensive view of artistic
achievement. It is imaginable how much solitude and hardship
Hsiung Ping-Ming has felt having experienced more than half a
century of warfare and living overseas, but he neither complained
nor showed grievance. Instead, he absorbed various schools of
thought and injected into his art the spirit of the big-belly cow. The
sculpture is a condensation of a life-long pursuit of his philosophy
of life and fervor for art, and its chiseled and knifed form shows the
concentration of his thoughts that transcend time.
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