From Life Experience to Artistic Representation: On the Experiential Logic and Imagery System of the "People's Nature" Narrative in the Huangtu Painting School
Abstract
As an important school with distinct regional characteristics in the history of modern and contemporary Chinese art, the Huangtu Painting School takes the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi as its cultural field and people's life as the narrative core. Adhering to the artistic tenet of "understanding people, emphasizing form, valuing brush and ink, and pursuing innovation", it has constructed an artistic expression system of "people's nature" with realistic warmth and humanistic depth. The formation of its narrative structure not only originates from the theoretical tradition of "taking the people as the center" in Chinese literature and art, but also is deeply rooted in the unique natural ecology, agricultural civilization and red revolutionary cultural context of the Loess Plateau. Through field sketching practice, thematic structure of parallel realistic and historical narratives, and painting language integrating realism with brush and ink, the Huangtu Painting School embodies the subjectivity of the people in visual images, forming an imagery system with regional symbolism and contemporary spirit. As an important part of Chinese realistic art, the Huangtu Painting School has not only promoted the modern transformation of figure painting in traditional Chinese painting, but also undertaken the important social and cultural functions of recording the times, uniting values and shaping collective memory.
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