Flower Lover He Shuifa
In the early autumn of 2021, contemporary flower and bird painting master Mr. He Shuifa asked me to write a preface for his forthcoming painting collection. I was flattered upon his invitation. Though Shuifa and I are bosom friends, we are specialized in different professions and I am afraid to be a laughingstock of the experts.Nevertheless, it is hard to resist such an honor as I have known him and admired him for a long time.
Red top, white beard, twinkle in his eyes, Shuifa is energetic and talkative. When talking about paintings, his comments are clear and to the point; when discussing art, he would point out the advantages and disadvantages straightforwardly and even make a showy display of his knowledge；when heated with passion, he would be quite emotional. Some people say that Shuifa is bold and unrestrained, but I know that he is also prudent; some people say that he is proud, but I know that he is also modest; some people say that he is tough, but I know that he is also gentle; some people say that he is passionate, but I know that he is also calm; some people say that he is flaunty, but I know that he broad-minded. Shuifa's painting is as graceful, proud and critical as his personality!
Shuifa's ancestral home is in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province and he was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.Influenced by Wuyue culture (now Shanghai, south Jiangsu province, Zhejiang province, south Anhui province and northeast Jiangxi province), he has been fond of calligraphy and painting and determined to be a painter since he was a child. Thus, he has been working hard over the decades in pursuit of his dream and has made outstanding achievements.
Shuifa loves flowers so much that he has devoted himself in observing, perceiving and painting flowers for years. For him, being with flowers feels like meeting old friends, "the flowers are looking at me as I look at the flowers, suddenly, I feel like losing myself and becoming one of them". Flowers differ in thousands of ways as they bloom and fade, in winter and in summer, in the morning and in the evening. Before painting, the image is already in his mind. When the painting is done, the flowers are as vivid as real.
Shuifa learns from tradition for flower painting and develops his own style. In his early years, he learned from Lu Yifei, Wu Fuzhi, Liu Haisu, Zhu Lesan, Xie Zhiliu, and Tang Yun and studied flower and bird paintings of the Song Dynasty. At first, he studied fine brushwork and learned from Xu Xi and Huang Quan, tracing all the way to the Song and Yuan dynasties. His brushwork is clear, bright and elegant. After years of study, he has gained the essence of fine brushwork and turned to study freehand brushwork. Later, his painting is getting better and better in ink-splash and design, featuring fine brushwork and freehand brushwork. Mr. Lu Yanshao praised that Shuifa's painting was "free and unrestrained, overcoming the rootless and branchless weakness of modern painting". Shuifa keeps studying and making progress after he became famous. The ancient masters prefer painting from a near view with the accompany of stones or rock, but Shuifa abandons this method and paints from a panoramic view with pure flowers, branches and leaves as the main object. In addition to the application of block design, he also tries to use gorgeous colors and complementary colors to counteract the abrupt effect of single color. Thus, his painting is free but refined, colorful and vivid, powerful and grand as ink and color blending.
Shuifa's painting of flowers is unique and catching as he entrusts his feelings to his paintbrush. Abandoning the seclusion culture of traditional flower and bird painting, every stroke of his flowers is fresh and energetic.Mo Yan once commented that Shuifa's painting was warm, "it is the overwhelming wave of life and the passion of the painter vividly revealed on the paper." With full expression of brush and ink, strong and splendid color and carefully designed composition, Shuifa creates pictures of beautiful and fragrant flowers containing his perception and love of life. These flowers embody his personality as a lover of flowers and master of flower and bird painting art.
Shuifa's painting of flowers reveals the pursuit of dreams in a grand pattern. For him, writings are for conveying truth, and so are paintings. Artists should pay close attention to current politics and people's wellbeing so that they can illustrate the world freely with their brush and ink. Over the years, Shuifa has been working wholeheartedly and tirelessly to present excellent Chinese culture to the world and held painting exhibitions in Japan, Germany, Ukraine, Spain, Poland, Italy and other countries. He travels all the way to countries along the Belt and Road for the exploration of their cultures and creates paintings of their national flowers with gorgeous brush and ink, thus building a bridge of art for the communication of Chinese and foreign cultures. He even dedicates himself to the establishment of Baohualou Traditional Chinese Painting Research Institute and the cultivation of young painters, promoting the inheritance and communication of traditional art. After the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, he is deeply touched by the cruelty of the virus and people's indomitable spirit in face of the disease, so he paints flowers and trees embodying good wishes, such as plum blossom, pine tree and carnation.
In September next year, the Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou. Shuifa concentrates himself to the creation of national flower paintings of the forty-five member countries and regions of the Olympic Council of Asian, which will be compiled into an album entitled "Floral Emblems in Asia". These flowers are either national flowers or representative flowers of these regions. These paintings are all exquisite and vivid masterpieces of the painting master.
The Asian Games is not only a sports event, but also a grand meeting of culture and spirit. The full bloom of"Floral Emblems in Asia" represents good wish for the success of the Asian Games. This is the wish of both He Shuifa and hundreds of millions of Chinese people.
Written in Hangzhou in September, 2021