| During the middle and late period of the Northern Song dynasty, Chinese landscape painting stepped into the way of restoring , which is manifested in the restoring of Green landscape painting which was popular during the Tang dynasty. Tracing this phenomenon , we can easily find that Wang Shen was one of the founders who created this tendency in the Northern Song Dynasty.Wang Shen learned from Li Cheng, and also mixed with traditional Green landscape painting , thus formed his own painting features. This feature mainly reflects on three aspects: the first is its retro style. Wang Shen didn't continue Li Cheng's painting ways of ink landscape painting which was popular at that time. On the contrary, he lasted the painting style of Li Si xun of Tang dynasty, begining to draw Green landscape painting. The second is his quaint artistic conception. Wang Shen's landscape paintings do not only depict natural sceneries objectively, but also convey an ideal state ,and reflect a quaint charm of"thought harmonious with the nature". The third is that the retro ways is accompanied with innovation.Wang Shen's innovation is based on restoration, he mixed up Li Cheng's painting skeleton diagram with Li Sixun's methods of coloring, creating a new painting style.The appearance of retro ways in Wang Shen's landscape painting, was mainly affected by the retro artistic trend at that time and his own experience. Since the early Northern Song dynasty. The retro spirit in literature gradually penetrated into art field, Wang Shen was also influenced. Meanwhile, Guo Xi's landscape paintings were repelled and"ancient paintings"were popular during Song Zhezong period; which resulted in the development of Green landscape painting. Lastly, Wang Shen's tortuous life experiences enriched his inner feelings and offered artistic materials. His personal hobbies, for example, collecting painting and calligraphy antique and communicating thoughts with friends, raised his artistic taste and helped him forming his own unique painting style.Wang Shen was famous as Guo Xi in the Northern Song dynasty. Although his landscape paintings with the retro feature didn't establish an affiliation, his landscape paintings had enormous value. This unique style influenced Zhao Boju, Li Tang, Qian Xuan and so on. Though Wangshen has made great contribution to the development of Chinese landscape painting, evaluation of him in the history of art got worse and worse since Song Dynasty. His historical position didn't meet with his achievement of art. It is mainly because of Wang Shen didn't have his own theory works which can represent personal painting ideas, additionally the prevailing view of"Painting should be divided into the north and south"and the development of drawing tools and materials after Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Wang Shen's paintings are excluded from the mainstream. |
