The Analysis Of Aesthetic Thought Of Xu Wei's Painting

Xu Wei is a famous litterateur,dramatist,calligrapher and painter in Ming dynasty.He wrote a lot,and left a large number of works of art and literature.In the aspect of painting,Xu Wei created a new Impressionistic Painting of Flower and Bird which was not only innovative,but also was remembered as a model of learning.Presently,academia pays more attention on techniques and style of Xu Wei's painting,but pay less attention on the aesthetic thought of Xu Wei's painting.Although techniques of his painting are prominent,his aesthetic ideas of painting have great value.His aesthetic ideas of painting can be seen in his inscription,so we try to analyze his painting and inscription to sum up his aesthetic thought.Based on Xu Wei's painting and inscription,this thesis will explore his aesthetic thought of painting from three aspects.The first chapter introduces causes of Xu Wei's aesthetic thought of painting,including his personal experience,the thought of Ming dynasty and the inherited study of his painting.Xu Wei was erudite and arrogant who had a unique life experience.So he had extraordinary insight and aesthetic standard in painting.From the view of ideology at that time,“Yangming's Mind Subject” emphasized individual liberation which affected the life and thought to Xu Wei.At the same time,Xu Wei was fond of Taoists' s books which shaped his aesthetic thought of painting.Besides,from the inherited study of Xu Wei's painting,we could see how his aesthetic thought appear and transform.The second chapter introduces the basic content of Xu Wei's aesthetic thought which is the core of the thesis.Firstly,in the aspect of creator,Xu Wei built painting's principles by himself.He affirmed the value of creator and proposed to paint by himself.He advised to learn with other people,but against learning rigidly.He shown his free pursuit of painting through “drawing plum blossom without seeing the formof plum blossom”.Secondly,in the aspect of image,Xu Wei looked forward to drawing lively and vivid image via “does not seek to shape survival rhyme”.He liked the vivid image of painting but paid attention to the shape of the image.In order to achieve this effect,Xu Wei created a method which is “abandon the shape then pay attention to the romantic charm”.This method was that through the surface phenomenon to grasp the deep connotation.Thirdly,in the aspect of function of painting,Xu Wei regarded the painting as a tool to express personal feeling and thought “the painting is the same as the poetry conveying a great deal”.The personal feeling which took part in the creation of painting would let the painting become more infective.His feeling of painting could be seen in the image,inscription,color and line.The third chapter introduces the value and impact of aesthetic thought of Xu Wei's painting.The aesthetic thought including personal expression and authentic feeling which broke the atmosphere of restoration in painting.And as the pursuit of self-expression became the fundamental motivation,so the authentic feeling in painting became stronger and stronger.Shi Tao,Zheng Banqiao and Qi Baishi who admired Xu Wei's painting greatly.They learned techniques and aesthetic thought from Xu Wei's painting and formed their own aesthetic ideas.