永锡难老——陳浩星序言
序
晝壇喧騰，世人莫不知有藥翁矣，藥翁畫筆清雋，凌躐古今，天下知名，顧不謂其精鑑；既知其精鑑矣，然未當稱其負奇癖，耽風雅，收藏迴不猶人。
溯近世中國畫壇風起雲湧，傳派蠡起，華北曰京津，白下曰金陵，嶺表曰嶺南，而勢莫盛於滬壘，名曰海上。藥翁為近世海派高手，山水小景、花鳥竹石、道釋人物，無不工妙。山水得濟山僧之疏宕而去其沉鬱花鳥法乳新羅，化委婉為蕭疏；偶效八大，敢與其人同肝膽；道釋人物瓣香金吉金，不學而似。今人未嘗見古人，或訝其筆墨與古合，風致特高，可證斯道未絕。藥翁遍交當世俊彥，切磋琢磨，藝事相攜。予獨賞藥翁之善學，師古而不泥古，跳脫而不失法度。玩物養志，舉凡金石碑版、法書名畫、圖書典籍、泉布紫砂、竹木銅刻，皆深契之，博洽多聞，故能變化氣質，融之於腕底，甚蒼勁近古而觸類多變。譬如喬木放逸於自然，曠野閒靜，挹山川風露，風雷雨電， 一一收貯於胸次，適成其拔峭挺健。發之為書畫詩文，其質益璞，其氣益壯，其辭益盛，其神益暢。海不辭水，故能成其大‘吾固未聞藥翁以善學自矜，然由是觀之，一藝之成，蓋知有其自然而然者矣。
藥翁以丹青酬世，然予尤擊賞其書法。趟子昂論畫云： “石如飛白木如籀，寫竹還於八法通‘”藥翁可得真解‘其書濫觴倪雲林，乃以金錯刀而開八法新貌，雋拔若斯玉鏤金，洵鄭板橋、金壽門、楊己軍之流亞歟。
歲月如流，人生何幾。歲次癸酉，藥翁春秋八十有四矣，夏初成山水、花鳥十三幀，以備歲末偕其哲嗣逸覽赴澳聯展，旋因心疾突作，遽歸道山，澳人間者歎息，咸歎濠江之於先生情深而緣淺，藥翁別人間十七載，太歲在上章攝提格，為藥翁誕生百齡紀念，得逸覽先生之助，台公私庋藏藥翁珍秘於澳門藝術博物館，固知藥翁與濠江結後緣，非前緣也，《詩 魯頌 泮水》："既飲旨酒，永鍚難老。”鄭《箋》： “已飲美酒，而長賜其難使老；難使老者，最壽考也‘”藥翁騰聾於千古，百年之後世人尤重其筆墨，栩栩如生，長存天壤，是為長賜其難使老，展覽故以“永錫難老”為名。
藥翁姓唐氏，初諱俠塵，更名雲，號藥翁。浙江杭州人，抗戰時避兵富陽大石山，猶在蓬艾，幸得煙雲供養，與大癡同夢，畫境日進，故號大石居士，顏所居曰大石齋。壯年旅食滬瀆而不忘故里，畫成輒署杭人唐雲，晚歲喜得曼生壺凡八把，移人尤物，天下希罕，寶若球圖，又以八壺精舍為名，人老矣，思將收藏之大部返里，杭人為報其恩德，於西子湖畔築唐雲藝術館善藏之。今將藥翁書畫珍玩陳於一堂，願世之好藥翁書畫者，觀其大略，庶知其人治藝之所成就焉。
陳浩星
澳門藝術博物館館長
preface
Tang Yun si renowned thoughout flourshing painting circles.His fresh and beautiful brushwork has withstood the test of time and is known to all but he never emphasised his expertise in art appreciation.Despite his high level of connoisseurship,his notably distinguished interst in-and applied in-art collection are often overlooked.
Amid the turbulenr times of contemporary Chinese painting circles ,a number of painting schools meerged in barious parts of China-including the jing jin(Beijing and Tianjing)School in Northern China,the jinling School ,Tang Yunexcelled in painting landscapes,flower and bird images and Taoist and buddhist figures.Tang’s landscapes are moddled on Shi Tao’s unrestrained way of expressing his melancholy,while his flower and bird creations resemble Hua Yan’s gentleness in desolation.
He excelled at following the style of Ba Da Shan Ren and also admired the style of Mu Jinnong,hence his Taoist and Buddhist figure paintings are often put on a .one same par with Mu’s,One may also be surprised to discover thesimilarity shared by Tang and the ancient masters,whose art rules endured over time.Tang liked to befriend notbales of his time and exchange knowledge with them,a quality I particularly admire.Taking inspiration from ancirent masters,he was neverthless not restricted to their style.
Tang’s wide variety of collections,including stone inscriptions,calligraphy,painetings,ancient books and coppers,zisha teapots,bamboo,wood and bronze craving,undoubtedly nurtured his temperament and widened his scope of knowledge,which is reflected in the ubtlety of his paintings and calligraphy.Rchoing those of near ancienr times,Tang’s oainting and calligraphy style is as rain storms and lightning strikes…such subtle qualities wewe deep rooted in his mind and enabled him to achieve a high perfection in the arts.
When applying these qualities to painting,calligraphy,poetry and literature,he endowd his works with a simplistic quality,strong vitality,enchanting words and vigorous spirit.The ocean never despises a single drop of water because the little drops can become a vast expanse.It is worth noting that Tang Yun never boasted of his knowledge but remained humble inhis personal artistic accomplishments,which is believed to be a natural accumulation of his hard work over time.
TangYun contributed to the world with his numerous excellent paineting and calligraphy,of which I particularly admire his calligraphy .The renowned painter and calligrapher Zhao Mengfu(1254-1322)once made this observation on painting:’Rock like the “flying white”(brushstroke),terrs like the great seal script,to sketch bamboo also demands conversance with the “eight rules”(ofcalligraphy).’Tang had a thorough understanding of this principle and fully practiced it.On the basis of Ni Zan’s(1301-1374)calligraphy style,Tang Applied it to bamboo painting and developed his own unique style,featuring beautiful,elegant brushwork as delicate as jade and gold engraving.Hence,Tang is often put on a par with renowned painters and calligraphers such as Zheng Xie(1693-1765),Jin Nong and Yang Fa(1696-?)
Time flies and life is short.In 1993,when Tang Yun was 84years old,he planned to organise a joint exhibition in Macao with his son,Tang Yilan,by end of the year,in order to display the 13 flower and bird paintings and landscapes he had produced during the early summer of that year.The joint exbihition,however,was not to be as Tang Yun died of a sudden heart attack.Upon hearing of this bad news,Macao citizens bemoaned that Macao had strong sentiments for Tang Yun but wasunable tu develop further bonds with the great master.In 2010 – seventeen years after Tang Yun departed this world,and with the support of Tang Yilan – the public and private collections of Tang Yun will be exhibited in Macao Museum of Art in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the great master’s birth.
This,in turn,will realise the unfulfilled wish of Tang to aranise such a meaningful exhibition in Macao after his death.It is said in the Parise Odes of Lu:pan shui in book of poetry:’He si drinking the good spirits;and may there be given him the old age that is seldom enjoyed!’This echoes Zheng Xuan’s Jian Commentary:’Those who have drunk good spirits will be given unfading life;and those who are given unfading life are endowed with longevity’.
Tang Yun enjoys a great reputation throughout the nation and his posthumous works are still widelycherished by many,even after his death.People appreciate the vividness of his works and believe that such masterpeices will remain beloved forever. This is the concept of enjoying 'unfading life', and for this reason the exhibition is titled 'Unfading Memory'.
Tang Yun, whose formal riame at school was Xiachen, was also widely known as Yaoweng,. During the War of Resistance against Japan,he moved to Mt. Dashi near Fuyang City in Zhejiang Province to escape the flames of war. In taking refuge, Tang Yun drew inspiration from the surrounding Fuchun River, penetrating the same wonders as Huang Gongwang (1269 - 1354), who a/so established close ties with the river. Tang Yun's artistic sense scaled new heights thanks to the green hills and clear waters of the river; hence, one of his pseudonyms was Dashi Jushi, and he also named his den Da Shi Zhai.
He earned a living in Shanghai middle age.Nevertheless,his thoughts never strayed far from his hometown,as evidenced by the postscript ‘Tang Yun,person of Hangzhou’which regulary appeared in his paintings.During the latter part of his life,Tang fortunately obtained eight zisha teapots inscribed by Chen Mansheng(1768-1822).The teapots –such as Tian Qiu(Celestial Jade Chime)and He Tu (yellow River Chart)were world treasures as precious as ancient and once owned by the emperors of ancient times.Tang Yun subsequently renamed his den the ‘Studio of eigght Great Teapots’.
In his old age, Tang Yun decided to send most of his collections back to his hometown. In order to repay Tang’s kindness,the people of Hangzhou built the Art Museum of Tangyun next to the West Lake to preserve his collections.It is hoped that by exhibiting Tang Yun’s creations as well as his precious collection of cultural relics people appreciative of Tang Yun’s calligraphy and painting can come to know more of his artistic achievements.
Chan Hou Seng
Director
Macao Museum of Art
