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(huì)名譽(yù)主席

It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you for this triple celebration:It is a celebration of the largest exhibition in China around Zao Wou-Ki, here in Hangzhou, at the China Academy of Art where he studied in his youth. It is a celebration of one of the giants of the 20th century. One of the rare artists to have participated in the adventure of art on its three main scenes: The European scene, the American scene and of course the Asian scene, Finally, it is a celebration of the friendship between France and China through this special tribute to Zao Wou-Ki, such an important figure, of whom we are all proud, on the eve of the anniversary of sixty years of diplomatic relations between our two countries.

此次活動(dòng)有三大意義。首先，慶賀展覽的舉行。此次展覽是在中國舉辦的亞洲最大規(guī)模趙無極回顧展，展覽設(shè)在中國美術(shù)學(xué)院，前身即趙無極先生早年就讀的國立杭州藝專。其次，頌揚(yáng)趙無極先生。趙無極是20世紀(jì)的一大卓越人物，也是少數(shù)幾位活躍于歐美及亞洲舞臺(tái)的藝術(shù)家之一。最后，歌頌中法友誼。在即將到來的中法建交60周年之際，我們通過向趙無極這位我們引以為豪的重要人物致敬，共同慶祝中法之間60年的友誼。

Today is a key moment: For the world, facing tensions and crisis everywhere on our planet, For China, dealing with major responsibilities in terms of peace, in terms of stability and developing multilateralism, But also, it is a key moment for culture because through such exhibitions, we can expand the dialogue between countries and civilizations. Zao Wou-Ki is always looking for understanding, friendship and reconciliation, fighting to put art at the center of our lives, while being deeply rooted into the Chinese culture and tradition.

當(dāng)今世界正面臨百年未有之大變局，中國肩負(fù)著維護(hù)和平、保持穩(wěn)定和發(fā)展多邊主義的重要使命。文化界也正處于關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻，通過此次展覽，我們能夠進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)大不同國家和文明之間的對(duì)話。趙無極先生深深根植于中國的文化和傳統(tǒng)，同時(shí)不斷尋求理解，建立溝通橋梁，調(diào)和差異，讓藝術(shù)成為生活的核心。

A mediatorbetween cultures

文化的協(xié)調(diào)者

I often had opportunity in different countries to express the admiration and friendship I felt for Zao Wou-Ki, both for the man and for the artist. On the occasion of this major exhibition in Hangzhou, I would like to evoke before you this afternoon, the figure of Zao Wou-Ki as a Chinese painter who is part of a thousand-year-old tradition. He succeeded, by opening up to another tradition, European and Western, to establish himself as a bridge between cultures, as a link between tradition and modernity.

我曾在不同的國家和場(chǎng)合都表達(dá)過我對(duì)趙無極本人及其藝術(shù)家身份的欽佩并頌揚(yáng)我們之間的友誼。值此杭州展覽開幕之際，我想讓大家重新回想起趙無極作為一名承襲中國千年文化的中國藝術(shù)家的身份。他通過接納歐洲和西方傳統(tǒng)，成功扮演著不同文化之間的橋梁，以及傳統(tǒng)與現(xiàn)代之間的紐帶。

Because, if in 1948, he left for France, China never left him, always alive in his heart and in his mind. All those who, ever, have had the chance to visit him in his house-studio and his garden in the heart of Montparnasse have been able to witness the strength of this Chinese presence. All his life, his ambition was to strive to hold both ends together, in between two worlds, the East and the West, in between two cultures, in between two traditions of painting, with the philosophy of adding without ever renouncing, to confront without ever subtracting, to seek to understand without ever humiliating, to reconcile without ever obscuring contradictions and conflicts. You can see and almost touch this truth in all the great paintings of the end of his life.

盡管趙無極1948年就前往法國，中國從未離開過他，始終在他的心中。多年以來，所有曾去過他在法國巴黎蒙帕納斯中心位置的工作室和庭園的人都能感受到中國在他心中的分量。他秉承加而不減的理念，直面困難，毫不退縮，不顧一切尋求理解，調(diào)和差異而不掩蓋矛盾，窮盡一生，努力貫通東西方文化和繪畫傳統(tǒng)。這在他晚年的所有偉大畫作中體現(xiàn)得淋漓盡致。

《09.03.65》

1965年，布面油畫，130 × 162 cm

In The wind pushes the sea (Le vent pousse la mer), a 2003 triptych where a fragile junk in the middle of the immensity of the sea faces a threatening sky, as if it was in a last voyage. In this painting, he frees himself from perspective, from Western geometric subjectivity that dissects space and time, to embrace the whole landscape at once, in a glimpse, true to that lesson of Chinese art, which consists in bringing together all points of view. However, the drawing of the boat reveals, another lesson learned during his countless visits to the Louvre upon his arrival in Paris and from his many trips across Europe. So we better understand his ambition to hold the two ends of Eastern and Western tradition, as if to make compatible the two artistic heritages, the two visions of the world and of the art.

在2003年的三聯(lián)畫《風(fēng)推海浪》中，在那無際的大海中央，在陰沉的天空下，懸著一葉孤舟，好像是這孤舟最后的一次航行。在這幅作品中，他運(yùn)用中國藝術(shù)的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，擺脫了獨(dú)立視角，集所有視角于一體，摒棄了西方幾何主義對(duì)空間和時(shí)間的主觀剖析，將整個(gè)景觀一覽無余地融入其中。畫中的孤舟也融入了他在抵達(dá)巴黎后通過無數(shù)次參觀盧浮宮以及多次歐洲旅行收獲的體悟。我們可以通過這幅畫作更好地了解他的理想，即貫通東西方傳統(tǒng)，將東西方藝術(shù)遺產(chǎn)、世界觀和藝術(shù)觀相容。

《向塞尚致敬》（Hommage à Cézanne）

2005年，布面油畫，162 × 260 cm

攝影：Dennis Bouchard

This ambition is echoed in another painting, in the Homage to Cézanne of late 2005, where the space is now held together by color alone. The green dominating the full painting is why, we can barely make out the sketch of a tree in the left foreground and the Sainte Victoire mountain in the background. It’s easy to understand why Zao Wou-Ki once said “It was Cézanne who taught me to find myself a Chinese painter ” His commitment to crossing cultures is also obvious in one of his last major canvases, also from 2005, the Temple of the Han, He returns to his roots, drawing inspiration from a mural painting of a tomb from the Han dynasty. But You can see how he purifies, simplifies the lines, universalizes his subject turning it into a kind of ark of alliance of our common humanity, you can find a memory of the pagoda and the memory of acropolis where balance and harmony dominate. It’s easy to understand why Zao Wou-Ki once said: “Everyone is tied to one tradition, but I am tied to two different ones ”

他的這種理想在2005年末的《向塞尚致敬》中再次得到了呼應(yīng)。這幅畫作中，空間僅靠色彩來維系。由于整幅畫都是綠色，我們只能勉強(qiáng)辨認(rèn)出前景左側(cè)的一棵樹和背景中的圣維克多山。這就不難理解為什么趙無極曾說：“是塞尚讓我重拾中國藝術(shù)家的身份”。他對(duì)于跨文化交流的投入在2005年創(chuàng)作的最后一幅大型油畫《漢代寺廟》中也表露無遺。在這幅畫作中，他回歸本源，從漢墓的壁畫當(dāng)中汲取靈感。你可以從這幅畫作中看到他如何簡化線條，升華主題，傳遞凝聚力，你還可以在畫作中找到塔和城堡等記憶中的東西方建筑元素，這些元素呈現(xiàn)出和諧且平衡的氛圍。這就不難理解為什么趙無極曾說：“每個(gè)人都有一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)，我則有兩個(gè)”。

The crystallization of an identity

身份的升華

The affirmation of Zao Wou-Ki's Chinese identity is the result of a heritage, of an apprenticeship and a conquest that have enabled him to express this unique creative energy. His legacy is threefold. First of all, that of China, of a way of life, of a culture, of a history in a country which, at the beginning of the 20th century, is going through troubled times. Dark times of violence and misery in a country weakened by a century of looting and humiliation, subject to the Japanese yoke, torn between 'warlords'. It was also for him a time of wandering when, after the Japanese invasion, the Academy of Art was transferred from Hangzhou to Chongqing and he had to reach this city by foot, with his fellow students.

趙無極通過傳承、學(xué)習(xí)和創(chuàng)作探索，掌握了具備獨(dú)特創(chuàng)造力的技法，這使得他中國藝術(shù)家的身份得到認(rèn)可。我們可以從三個(gè)方面剖析趙無極所取得的成就。首先，趙無極出生于20世紀(jì)初，當(dāng)時(shí)中國遭受了長達(dá)一個(gè)世紀(jì)的掠奪和屈辱，國力衰弱，處于被暴力和苦難籠罩的黑暗時(shí)期?？谷諔?zhàn)爭(zhēng)爆發(fā)之后，趙無極也經(jīng)歷了一段漂泊歲月，當(dāng)時(shí)中國美術(shù)學(xué)院從杭州遷到重慶，他不得不和同學(xué)們一起徒步前往重慶。

His heritage is also that of a family of scholars from his father, going back to the Song dynasty, and whom transmitted to him the passion for painting and a taste for collecting, while with his grandfather, he learned reading and writing, as well as loving poetry. Finally, he also inherits a critical eye, an appreciation for a certain quality of light and landscapes. For him, faithful to classical teaching, the landscape is not unity, but means polarity, coexistence of opposites and clash of contradictions, as evidenced by the designation 'Shan-shui' Mountain on the one side and Water on the other side , which expresses a moment of tension in reality with the duality between vertical and horizontal, between what stays and what undulates, between hard and liquid, as Shitao emphasizes in his Philosophy of painting. He will also remember the lesson of the Song landscapes, the struggle between figure and background, when he discovers certain Italian primitives like Cimabue, during visits to museums in Europe.

其次，趙無極來自書香世家，家族歷史可追溯至宋朝，他繼承了父親對(duì)繪畫的熱情以及對(duì)收藏的愛好，他跟隨祖父學(xué)習(xí)讀書寫字，鑒賞詩歌，他還繼承了先人的批判性眼光，對(duì)光線和山水有著獨(dú)特的欣賞能力。他堅(jiān)持古典教義，認(rèn)為山水不是統(tǒng)一的，而是對(duì)立、矛盾、沖突的。正如“山水”一詞本身所體現(xiàn)的那樣，一邊是山，一邊是水，山水體現(xiàn)了現(xiàn)實(shí)中垂直與水平、靜止與起伏、固定與流動(dòng)的二元對(duì)立，這也和石濤的繪畫理念一致。在歐洲博物館參觀時(shí)，他了解到契馬布埃等意大利原始派藝術(shù)家，但他也不會(huì)忘記宋代山水畫的精髓，即人物與背景之間的對(duì)比。

《我在杭州的家》（Ma maison à Hangzhou）

1947年，布面油畫，65 × 80.7 cm

版權(quán)保留（Reserved rights） 

But this heritage does not go without difficult choices, without questions, inner debates and questioning that mark his apprenticeship in painting. Let us not forget that when he was introduced to art as a young teenager, the vision of painting here in China was dominated by the imitation of the ancients or the model of socialist realism. In this respect, his entry into the School of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in 1935 was a real opportunity. There he meets teachers who are more open to Western culture, such as Lin Fengmian who plays a decisive role for him and who spent seven years in Paris and Berlin while others are trained in Brussels.

趙無極并不是沒有經(jīng)歷艱難的抉擇、懷疑、內(nèi)心的掙扎和質(zhì)疑，這些都是他繪畫生涯的一部分。我們不要忘記，在他十幾歲剛剛開始接觸藝術(shù)時(shí)，中國的繪畫還是以模仿古代藝術(shù)或者社會(huì)主義寫實(shí)主義風(fēng)格為主。1935年，他入讀國立杭州藝專（中國美術(shù)學(xué)院前身）是一次轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)。他在這里遇到了更包容西方文化的老師，如對(duì)他有著舉足輕重影響的林風(fēng)眠老師。林風(fēng)眠曾在巴黎和柏林待了七年，而其他老師則是在布魯塞爾接受培訓(xùn)。

He understands also how fortunate he is to discover Hangzhou, a place of learning, dreaming and meditation, with its sumptuous landscapes of lakes and hills that will remain in his memory as an image of paradise. From the outset, he chose to study Western painting at the Academy, his curiosity having been aroused by magazines and postcards featuring reproductions of paintings by artists such as Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso. He thus rejected the prevailing Academicism and the weight of tradition, especially since he turned to oil painting early on, with a technique and materials that underlined his spirit of research and independence.

他也明白自己有多么幸運(yùn)能來到杭州，一個(gè)能夠追逐夢(mèng)想的地方，這里美麗的湖光山色將永遠(yuǎn)留在他的記憶中，就像天堂一樣。雜志和明信片上塞尚、馬蒂斯和畢加索等藝術(shù)家的畫作復(fù)制品引起了趙無極的好奇心，因此他從一開始就選擇在學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)西方繪畫。他摒棄了當(dāng)時(shí)盛行的學(xué)院教條和陳舊傳統(tǒng)的束縛，很早就轉(zhuǎn)向油畫創(chuàng)作，所運(yùn)用的技法和素材凸顯了他的獨(dú)立探索精神。

Finally, beyond the heritage and the choices he makes, his identity as a painter is constituted by the willingness of digging deep within himself to reconnect with three major dimensions of Chinese art marking his desire for an eternal return to China.First, and this is the first return, the rediscovery of the sign, through the Swiss painter Paul Klee, on the occasion of an exhibition in 1951. This is why he could say that “Paul Klee taught [him] to become a Chinese painter”. For him, it is a question of using Chinese characters, to find living signs, in harmony with the spirit. So he goes back to the very sources of the signs to find the vestiges of ancient writings, drawing inspiration from Shang oracular characters or archaic bronzes. The aim is to shake up the meaning, of making the sign waver in order to encourage it to be reborn, each time, ephemeral but alive. Numerous canvases in the mid-1950s bear the trace of this exploration, in particular the Homage to Chu-Yun, the second painting, Stele for a friend and the Homage to Tou-Fou. Each time,you will find the same signs which are constituting, organizing the spaces in the painting.

《我父親的花園》（Jardin de mon père）

1955年，布面油畫，38 × 46 cm

最后，除了堅(jiān)持傳承傳統(tǒng)，堅(jiān)定每一次選擇外，趙無極的成就也與他對(duì)回歸中國的渴望密不可分。作為畫家，趙無極愿意深入探索內(nèi)心世界，并與中國藝術(shù)的三個(gè)主要維度重新建立聯(lián)系，這也表明他渴望永恒地回歸中國。1951年，他在一次展覽上通過瑞士畫家保羅·克利第一次回歸到符號(hào)的概念。難怪趙無極會(huì)說：“通過保羅·克利，（我）學(xué)會(huì)了如何成為一名中國畫家?！保▽?duì)他來說，這是使用漢字的問題，尋找一個(gè)能夠與精神世界交相呼應(yīng)的鮮活符號(hào)，所以他回歸本源，從商代甲骨文或者古代青銅器中汲取靈感，通過符號(hào)尋找古代文字的痕跡。他全身心地投入，重建脆弱、波動(dòng)、轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝但始終鮮活的符號(hào)。20世紀(jì)50年代中期他的許多畫作都帶有這種探索的痕跡，尤其是《向屈原致敬》、《友人之碑》以及《向杜甫致敬》。我們?cè)谶@些畫作中都可以看到構(gòu)成畫面空間的這種類似符號(hào)。

There is then, and this marks second return to China, the rediscovery of gesture, when Zao Wou-Ki, in the early Seventies, re-appropriates the delicate art of ink and brush. The experience is twofold, the projection of the body in the work and of the transmission of the spirit’s breath. He is encouraged by his poet friend, Henri Michaux, on the death of May, his second wife, when, overwhelmed with grief, he struggles to get back to the easel. And he will pursue this practice until the end of his life, finding in this return to tradition, a source of audacity, freedom and happiness, which he had refused until then for fear of being criticized for the temptation of the easy and the exoticism.

接下來就到了趙無極的第二次回歸。趙無極在70年代初期重新采用了細(xì)膩的水墨藝術(shù)。這種體驗(yàn)是雙重的，畫家需要身心投入，內(nèi)在精神通過筆墨一氣呵成。詩人朋友亨利·米修也激勵(lì)了趙無極。這個(gè)時(shí)期的趙無極剛剛痛失第二任妻子，當(dāng)時(shí)他悲痛欲絕，在朋友的鼓勵(lì)下，他重拾繪畫。直到生命的最后一刻，他仍在堅(jiān)持創(chuàng)作。在回歸中國傳統(tǒng)的過程中，他感受到了愉悅，他自由大膽地進(jìn)行創(chuàng)作，在此之前，他一直拒絕這些，因?yàn)樗麚?dān)心作品被貼上灑脫與異國風(fēng)情的標(biāo)簽。

《無題》

1975年，紙本水墨，54.5 × 53 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，? Adagp, Paris 

Finally, there is a third return, with the rediscovery of the void at the heart of Chinese painting. Thanks to the void, reality becomes structured, becomes visible, capable of receiving and inhabiting light. By seeking a balance between the two opposite forms, space comes to life in contact with fullness and emptiness emerges, populated by breaths - clouds, mists, rain - linking the visible and the invisible. According to Mifu's principles, this is how the reciprocal relationship between Mountain and Water is articulated, via the Void: 'Clouds are -he says -the recapitulation of the landscape, for in their elusive Void, we see many features of mountains and water reserves hidden there ' In the concept of the Void, we find all the wisdom and skills of China as the monk-painter Shitao still reminds us: 'The one Brushstroke is the origin of all things, the root of all phenomenons; its function is manifest to the mind and hidden in man, but the vulgar do not know .(it)” And he further adds, it is “the absence of rules that begets the rule. ”

第三次回歸趙無極重新審視了中國畫的精髓——留白。留白構(gòu)建起現(xiàn)實(shí)，讓畫面能夠吸收、容納光線。虛實(shí)的精妙平衡加強(qiáng)了空間感，留白貫穿呼吸、云、霧、雨，將可見與不可見相互連接。正如米芾所言，山水之間的關(guān)系是通過留白來體現(xiàn)的，他說：“云是對(duì)山水景觀的濃縮概括。在模糊隱秘的留白里，你能看到無數(shù)山的特質(zhì)與水的性情”。留白這一概念是中國智慧和技藝的一種體現(xiàn)形式。正如畫僧石濤所言：“一畫者, 眾有之本，萬象之根；見用于神, 藏用于人，而世人不知。”他還補(bǔ)充道：“無規(guī)矩，不成方圓”。

In the game of perpetual exchanges between East and West, Western painting shares Chinese thinking, at the time of freeing itself from conventions and academicism, like Matisse. All these rediscoveries by Zao Wou-Ki are made, step by step, following a thousand tricks and crossroads, following in the footsteps of great intercessors, such as Paul Klee or Henri Michaux.

東西方藝術(shù)不斷交匯，我們也看到馬蒂斯等西方畫家的畫作擺脫了陳舊傳統(tǒng)和學(xué)院教條，展現(xiàn)了中國繪畫的思想。趙無極追隨保羅·克利或亨利·米修等偉大藝術(shù)家的腳步，通過探索和選擇不同的技法，最終開辟出一條新藝術(shù)之路。

This is the first 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”上的主旨演講的第一部分。

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.

 文字整理 ｜胡心云

 編 輯 ｜倪義臣

 責(zé) 編 ｜劉   楊   胡心云  薛佳音

 審 核 ｜徐   元

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