The Evolution Of Characters' Sprits In Chinese Realistic Paintings

Art is an important token of different existence states and time spirits of mankind at different periods. Realistic art can reflect the social characteristics of various historical periods more directly than abstract art. In the development of Chinese realistic oil paintings, the sprits of the characters in the works can most manifest the time spirit of each development phase and mirror the progress of Chinese realistic oil paintings.Ai Zhongxin, a famous oil painter, once said,"China is a great power of oil paintings."The history of Chinese oil paintings is also a history of Chinese realistic oil paintings. Oil painting, a traditional and classic drawing language of European art, was introduced to China in the Ming Dynasty in a form of realistic painting. In the 300 years after its introduction to China, China has experienced different social changes from a feudal society, semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, a capitalist society to a socialist society, involved in the national independence war, the socialist revolution construction and the ten-year Great Cultural Revolution and the execution of the reform and open policy . As a result, the spirits of the characters in Chinese oil paintings have taken on different looks, reflecting the social changes of different periods.In the Ming and Qing Dynasty, realistic oil paintings, as a political tool of manipulation by the emperors, presented a strong flavor of palace decoration. This is the embryonic stage of realistic paintings in China. At the end of the 19th century or the beginning of 20th century, a lot of oversea students began to learn western realistic oil painting techniques on own initiative. Thus, the characters in Chinese realistic paintings were relatively enriched, but the language was rough and Chinese oil paintings were at its embryonic stage. After the foundation of the People's Republic of China, realistic oil painting entered a new phase of development, taking on a monotonous pattern under the influence of the former Soviet Union. Though it developed rapidly, the themes and characters were monotonous and conceptualized. This is the preliminary stage of Chinese realistic paintings. With the execution of the reform and open-up policy, Chinese people are wakened from the political fantasy and their minds are changing. Artists begin to learn from the western realistic oil paintings. Therefore, Chinese realistic oil painting began its transition from the sole pattern to multi- patterns. In the recent decades, Chinese realistic oil paintings have made rapid progress toward multiplication of art and the characters in the artworks have gradually presented more cultural connotation of Chinese people.The reason why I choose realistic oil painting rather than abstract painting to conduct the research lies in its significance, as an old art form, in different stages of art development in China after it was introduced to China. Compared with abstract oil paintings, realistic oil paintings can manifest society more directly and more vividly. From the spirits of the characters, we can learn clearly about the society depicted in the works. I choose portraits analysis rather than still life or landscapes, because the former can embody the artists feelings and souls. The analysis of characters in the artworks is an important way to analyze the people and society. Hence, character analysis can reflect the artists'feelings and experiences better than still life and landscapes.After a process of historical development, Chinese realistic paintings nowadays are becoming mature and taking on a flourish and multipolarization. Chinese artists use realistic oil paintings as a visual language to grasp the characteristics of traditional culture,reflecting the innate cultural spirit of Chinese tradition. Human spirits have conveyed the harmonious character of Chinese people. Today, with the rapid development of economy, the spirit of characters has also become an important parameter, reflecting the existence quality of people in a society. Therefore, I choose to e research on the evolution of characters'spirits in Chinese realistic oil paintings.This article aims to outline the evolution of characters'spirits in the development of Chinese realistic oil paintings in a cultural background of Chinese tradition on the basis of research of many reference books and pictures, highlighting the evolving process from s stress on the creation of outer features to the emphasis on the feelings of psychological characteristics so as to make a preliminary analysis and interpretation of the development tendency of Chinese realistic oil paintings. Meanwhile, this study is expected to be a feasible reference and model to my oil painting creation and art practice.