In creation of fine arts，the scenery is a theme very difficult to process. Its difficulty lies in: Every piece of grass and tree totally connecting with emotion. What a pity that very many scenery painters do not know this principle by heart, who either draws a flower is just a flower, draws a tree is just the tree; or thinks himself as a wise man, pursuing an ideal that to draw flowers unlike the flowers and to draw trees unlike the trees, finally falls an embarrassing situation with condescending or sickly sentimentality. Not long ago I wrote this article, I was invited to visit a painter’s extravagant studio, certainly also watched a big landscape painting. Looked and listened, finally I was actually confused. Why? Just because these landscape paintings looked like chewing wax. Chewing the wax and also having to endure salesman’s -like babble, really let me angry as “If this can be tolerated, what cannot?” Drawn such paintings shows precisely the painter lacks a mood as an artist. Yuan Mei, a poet from Qing Dynasty, once said: “To write poetry, is easy to describe the scenery, difficult to describe love.” “Poetry Talks”(Sui-yüan shih-hua). Yuan Mei further elaborated: “Scenery from external, touched by sight, just needed to pay attention; sentiment from heart cannot be felt sorrow and handsome, if there’s no a feeling of sweet and hopelessly romantic.” Drawing is rightly so, but landscape painting is especially rightly so. The “feeling of sweet and hopelessly romantic” is a kind of mood, a landscape painting without mood is just like to fill rotten grass and mud in the viewer’s mouth. Unfortunately, very many scenery painters only lack such kind of “feeling of sweet and hopelessly romantic”.
Therefore, I always believe that, drawing scenery is very difficult, but drawing city scenery is more difficult. Why? The mountains and rivers in rural scenery are full of the spirit of natural life, there are thousands of ways of natural character in its own images. Such as mountain, either meandering, either steep; as water, either bubbling, either flashy; as tree, either dancing, either sturdy; as cloud, either soaring, either dreary. These natural forms exactly are the personification psychological intentions, easy to have the sympathetic chord with human, with expression for the emotion and the taste which the human cannot express in other way. If the first nature supports the rural scenery drawing, then what the city scenery faces is the man-made nature, or said the second nature. Although the curving streets, the different scale of buildings packed side by side, also have endless esthetic implications, but to excavate these esthetic implications is actually difficult. Superficially, these artificial product change dully, horizontal even vertical are its main characteristic. The modern constructions are briefer, in other words, this kind of horizontal even vertical characteristic are even more prominent. Its colors are also difficult to contend with the bright and colorful of nature. Therefore, from the images to the colors, looking from the reappearance angle, the city landscape painting has big difficulty. In addition, although we live in the city, but often with the weary feeling to the city, people just evade the city as far as possible while enjoying its convenience. People in the city like picnic or settling down in the suburb, which reflects such kind of weary and helpless to city this second natural. So-called “Madding crowd and heavy traffic, people are disgusted usually.” (Guo Xi from Song Dynasty “Refined Forest and Streams · Model of Mountains and Rivers”). In addition, “One can never discern the truth about the matter, if one can only look out from within it.” The distance is too close to make rich poetic and artistic flavor. This is the difficulty to draw city scenery.
It cannot say Ma Bing is pressing forward in the face of difficulties, it should say there is a intimate feeling naturally between the city and Ma Bing. The theme of city, exactly unfolds the melodious mood in Ma Bing’s painting. This is really rare in creation of current Chinese oil painting about scenery. Because its rare, it shows the enchanting style of Ma Bing’s painting about city landscape.
Looking from the creation of Chinese landscape painting at present, Ma Bing’s work has very strong characteristic. This characteristic comes firstly from artist’s mood. His mood is not inexpensive and vulgar or false expressing as the painters this article mentioned at the beginning, but is from his profound understanding to the civic culture and even the artistic expression. City is a cultural complex appeared in process of humanity development, which is not only the hardware combination with artificial constructs as buildings and facilities. In the origin and developing process of city, the development of productivity as well as the improvement of mode of production and relations of production, is acting the important role. The initial demand of commercial and military, finally melted factors of politic and culture. Therefore, the city is not a simple man-made and cold stubborn body, but a carrier full of exciting culture and spirit. A section of destroyed building could extend the far and quiet thoughts; a building being constructed could make vigorous anticipation; a building with commemoration significance, could exceed the material to transmit spirit. Any artist can read the civic culture and understand its spirit, will make outstanding expression. It’s a pity that such artist is very few. Ma Bing is one of the minorities.
Someone interested in the city scenery, is firstly a civic culture viewer, especially a survivor living in the city and feeling its cultural spirit. In the 50’s of 19th century, Camille Pissarro ( 1830-1903), rush purposefully in Paris’s main streets and small alleys with his sketch book, besides paying attention to this city’s scenery, he experienced sincerely and observed carefully to people’s living condition from various social classes. When he described this city’s scenery, he treated the city as a living organism. There were the workers in poverty, the unemployed living on the dead line and the women walking the streets as a result of poor, at the same time were scene of debauchery in mansions. All of these were received by Pissarro’s eyes. He lived in this city; he was not only a survivor, but also the watcher. Dropped in from house to house to sketch enabled him to understanding this city profoundly. Although Pissarro’s interest still regarded the city by the angle of rural scenery, but his clear experience to Paris, was the foundation Corot and Delacroix praised for his real quality. After Pissarro, another painter named Maurice Utrillo (1883-1955) has been written into the history. The Utrillo’s interest was the Montmartre area of north Paris, where also the place he was born and grown. Utrillo lived in the bustling streets but appreciated greatest tranquility, his extensive painting technique and brief colors without noise of city actually, presenting a peace approaching solemn and respectful feeling. This artistic feature, benefits from Utrillo’s original comprehension to the civic culture. Ma Bing once wrote: “I like raising my camera on the avenue at will, to shot things others possibly will not pay attention; sometimes also make some flash while driving; even more willing to take photos at the rainy and foggy day on the street.” (Ma Bing: “My State of Being”, on “Practice Together but Different Features”) As a sensitive watcher to civic culture, Ma Bing has his own observation way to the city.
Ma Bing’s experience to the civic culture or spirit is the observation full of classical esthetic. When many painters pay attention to the so-called concept connotation, Ma Bing is sucking carefully the tranquility of bustling streets like an old-style literati. In the contemporary art, in order to indicate the concept the painter wants to express, the object images are taken to use as symbols by getting rid of the connotation, so called “the concept”, then it will be mystery beyond others. The theme of scenery is not exceptional. Therefore, the real intention of many landscape paintings is not to display the scenery, but indicate this “concept”. Ma Bing disregards this kind of creation method as “turning a blind eye to” at “the contemporary age”, still devotes faithfully in realistically technique to objects. This devotion reflects the Chinese spirit in Ma Bing’s heart. In the early period of 20th century, the American painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) has said: “In general it can be said that a nation’s art is greatest when it most reflects the character of its people.” Hopper created scenery works which reflected the unique culture spirit of American after traveling Europe with his own experience, and became an important painter of the 20th century. Comparing with Hopper’s cold and breakaway, Ma Bing’s work have a blend of human and objects. This blend is a fusion of the subject and the object, but not an opposition. Different with Hopper’s opposition, Ma Bing’s esthetic interest pays attention to the Chinese classical culture and philosophy spirit. One hand, Ma Bing’s work reflects the so-called “inactivity” and the “wandering” spirit of Chuang Tzu; on the other hand, it also demonstrates the spirit of “to sit in meditation and become unaware of this world” which means the subject and object containing mutually and mixing together in “inactivity” and the “wandering”. Thoroughly speaking, Hopper and Ma Bing’s landscape painting reflects two different philosophy and cultural spirit from the East and West.
The outstanding scenery painters can all express their own emotions from the object they described, in a sense, emotions sufficient or not and whether there is representation, decided the influence of a landscape painting to the viewers. Emotions from Corot’s landscape painting, is different with Pissarro’s work, and the emotions reposed in the works by Utrillo and Hopper are also different. The individuality demonstrated in the emotions, is the artistic individuality, and also the first reason to form the styles. Corot’s poetic sentiment always lets us appreciate the memorization and auspicious saddness for the time gone with the wind. The bright of Pissarro, the plainness of Utrillo, and the cold and still of Hopper, the unique emotions of these scenery painter’s always arouse the viewer’s sentimental feeling.
Ma Bing’s painting also has such special characteristic. The “Lost Paradise” series is the description to classrooms in the Central Academy of Fine Arts before it moved. In 1995, moving the Central Academy of Fine Arts was an important event in the fine arts field, many teachers and students all created works for it. This series of “Lost Paradise” by Ma Bing was created under this background. Ma Bing’s work is extremely accurately to the color and mood of the former site of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the mottled white wall turning yellow, the green wainscots, the grey cement ground and wood floor damaged to be rugged, all are aroused memories from those who studied, lived and worked in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The silence of near-empty following with water-logging on ceilings, light sunlight, pipelines lying in disorder, worn-out windows and doors and the mutilated glass, the viewer’s thought walks in these internal spaces along with the artist’s emotions as a ghost. A critic wrote: “Standing in front of his paintings, experiencing from the vision to the sense of touch, from the feeling to the memory, is a kind of enjoyment.” (written by Kong Xinmiao on “Chinese Fine Arts Today· Exhibition Volume”) This series of work shows the artistic style of Ma Bing to the in-depth certainty of scenery and the fairly control to the mood expression, bringing out the deep cultural power of the artist.
The “Psychology” series created by Ma Bing in 2003 concertantes heartily through metonymy his mood to the Beijing city. This series work compared the “Lost Paradise” series is more skillfully. If the “Lost Paradise” is with extremely plain emotion, the “Psychology” enables this simplicity as distillation technically. Thus these two series of works shine together with each other with fully expression. Ma Bing has a very important telling which may take as an important key to understand this series work and even other works:
The assorted tall walls on the avenues in Beijing, tranquility and composure, red and ash, all calmly stand there, the wall ashes flaking from the wall, just like time changing to be unrealized. The grasses and the plants on the wall are the testimonies of changing, as if telling something to the people. I started to note the wall and what behind the wall, I wanted to do something, but did not know where to start, and had to touch the paintings to understand the wall, to let it speak out its own strength and mystery.” (Ma Bing “My State of Being”, from the above)
Ma Bing is good at capturing or catching a section in the city scenery, this section is partial, even detailed, but the partial or the detail in specific time is displayed exceptionally touched by Ma Bing. This is the key of Ma Bing’s way to create. a section of staircase in the “Lost Paradise”, a corner, a section of moat fence in the “Psychology”, a section of viaduct’s concrete construction, a section of parapets, the western-style building and the sentry box in the “Psychology · Dongjiaominxiang”, the transportation indicating lamps, and so on, as if all are refracting the ancient and also modern historic course of this old city and its vicissitudes of life.
In Ma Bing’s other works, the description to snow and rain shows a remarkable angle of view, as the statement from himself: “I’m more interested in taking pictures in the streets at the rainy and foggy day.” (“My State of Being”) The rain and the snow are extremely easy to arouse people’s emotions, the “Booking of Songs” has a famous phrase “Snow bends the bough”, just because of it, the writer and literati usually use it as a media of metaphor and initiation to stimulate people’s emotions. But, also because of this characteristic, rain and snow are used frequently to be conventional and sweet vulgar. When Ma Bing describes these sceneries, he always maintains a consistent factor simplified without garish charming. Whatever lightly drizzle, or heavy pouring rain; whatever snowflake all over the sky dancing in the breeze, or snow and ice congealing together, they are all displayed exceptionally tranquilly in singing of memories. The mood or the emotion here contains actually the artist’s understanding with rich characteristic to the civic culture and the historical vein. “Thunder shower · Airplane”, “Raining” and “Rainy Season” and so on are representative works take the rain as theme; “Remnant Snow”, “Moat”, “Ice-skating” and “Qian Men” and so on are representative works take the snow as theme. The “Rainy Season” is full of strong moisture; the floating rain fills in the air on the background of ancient gate tower and courtyard walls. A famous phrase of Wang Wei from Tang Dynasty: “Over the quiet marsh-land flies a white egret, and mango-birds are singing in the full summer trees.” (“In lodge at Wang Chuan after a long rain”) Although Ma Bing’s painting is about rain scenery in the city, its idea actually matches Wang Wei’s ideal condition. In the modern traditional Chinese painting, the rain scenery painted by Fu Baoshi has already become the classic, the instinct of Ma Bing quite resembles him.
Ma Bing’s understanding to the city is not only regarding to the city scenery, the character series he started with the erotic, deepening his understanding. In the “Psychology” series, the description of character in the room leads us into the internal of city another kind of city taste. It is interesting that Ma Bing often uses the angle of peep to describe these characters, which are the instants of the characters captured unconsciously. What we saw is only some legs, as most as the body. Whatever the characters rest or awake, they always in a moment of carelessness. The carefree and at will lets us enjoy the serenity and the tranquility of Ma Bing style. These works reflect his astonishing sensitivity and the excellent skill of source material selection. Looking at Ma Bing’s work always feel as no matter, it perhaps shows the artist’s wisdom. Ma Bing created some erotic works recently, our joking as the “bad cat” series. The reason is beside the characters one’s side, there is always a cat echoing the movement of its owner. This cat’s movement and the look act the imitation as tease to the character, or the personification coordination as plot. This theme has continued the mood of Ma Bing’s city landscape painting, and has made thought-provoking extending. There is a discussion about poem, “The intention of poem must be profound, the language spoken should be light”. Regarding this theory, Yuan Mei approved deeply: “Nothing will exceed in taking advantage alone but the profound, nothing will make everyone understand but the mild.” (“Poetry Talks”) Although the intention of mild is “making everyone understand”, we should regard it as a style and spirit. Looking at Ma Bing’s works, the profound and mild are both displayed, which is the essence and charm of Ma Bing’s art.
American Super Realism painter Richard Estes (1932-) attracted by the refraction of light from the glaze surface of buildings in New York, making modern annotation for the modern city scenery in the silence. In his works, the light refracting and shining upon and the solid construction products a sharp and also splendorous contrast, it may be described as a moving symphony of light perception. Comparing with Estes to his processing method of preciseness, Ma Bing looks old-style with more experience, but the literati spirit or complex containing in his work actually exceeded such simple label -like limit of modern and tradition, because any art with outstanding humanity spirit is always eternal. Estes is given the fame as “the poet with New York characteristic”, (Edward Lucie-Smith: Art today, Phaidon London 1986) then I think, Ma Bing is also a “poet”, a splendid city poet. Finally, I still borrow his own speech as conclusion of this article, which may be helpful to understand the origin of Ma Bing’s “feeling of sweet and hopelessly romantic”, and enlighten us by this:
I am always paying attention to the environment and the people living in it, catching things looking as tranquility, excavating the inner world behind tranquility. I have sensitivity approaching nervousness to the survival condition, paying all special attention to the sense of touching, of hearing, of tasting, of looking. I am bustling continuously for the senses. (“My Psychology”)
