倪端 錢印:倪端之印 鑑藏印:水繪庵(冒襄)、蕉林鑒定(梁清標)
賞析
The scroll Su Dongpo's Visit to the Red Cliff (below: Su Dongpo's Visit) is a fifteenth-century take on the famed story of a boat trip that literary prodigy Su Shi (aka Su Dongpo, 1037–1101) did to the Red Cliff along the Yangzte river. The poet and his friends had visited the purported location of a historic battle. Su Dongpo's Visit thus shows a steersman carefully navigating the boat in which Su Shi and his friends sit hurdled together among the agitated river waves on their way to the cliff. Compelling as this foreground scene is, its gripping power is further enhanced by the mountain cliff rising on the other side of the river: interspersed by a waterfall, the mountain is painted in a brush technique referred to as “ax-cut strokes” derived from the Song dynasty painter Li Tang (b. ca. 1050). Such strokes allow to depict the mountain in great depth while using ink economically. In contrast, the painting’s background is painted in light ink washes, indicating ranges and ranges of receding mountains. The result is an expansive and arresting view of the turbulent Yangtze river as it passes the Red Cliff as well as of the dangers that Su Shi and his companions are exposed to while trying to reach the site.
Since the Song dynasty (960–1279), Su Shi's trip had been commemorated in paintings. Indeed, Su Dongpo's Visit is an excellent example of how artists from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) learned from and continued the artistic legacies of and styles developed by Southern Song court artists. The painted album leaf The Red Cliff by Li Song (1190–1230), today in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, must have been the immediate inspiration for Su Dongpo's Visit. But in comparison to Li Song's small-scale and somewhat intimate composition, Su Dongpo's Visit shows monumentalized mountains and dramatizes the tumultuous nature of the river. This, in fact, is an important change: while Su Shi's Ode to the Red Cliff emphasized Daoist ideals of naturalness and eternity which are seemingly mirrored in Li Song’s calmer waters, Su Dongpo’s Visit dramatizes the visit and, by extension, the emotions that historical memory can evoke.
The painting bears a signature of the Ming court artist Ni Duan about whom little is known apart from the fact that he entered the imperial painting academy during the reign of the Xuande emperor (1426–1435). During his life-time, he was known for painting figure paintings and landscapes that followed the traditions established by eminent Southern Song (1127–1279) court painters such as Ma Yuan (1160–1225) and Xia Gui (1195–1224). His two most famous works can today be found in the collections of the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Palace Museum in Beijing. Based on a comparison with the figures in these paintings, it may be questioned whether Su Dongpo’s Visit is really by Ni Duan or not. However, this question of authenticity does not diminish the compelling aesthetic force of this painting.
《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》是15世紀的作品，講述了文學奇才蘇軾（蘇東坡，1037-1101）乘船前往長江畔赤壁的著名故事。蘇軾和他的朋友們遊歷了一場歷史戰役的地點。《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》顯示一個舵手小心翼翼地駕駛著船，蘇軾和他的朋友們坐在船上前往懸崖的途中，在激蕩的河水中行進。儘管這個場景引人注目，但對岸聳立的山崖進一步增強了扣人心弦的力量：在瀑布的穿插下，山峰採用了宋代畫家李唐（約1050年生）的 「斧劈皴」繪制。這種筆法可以在節省用墨的情況下對山石的肌理進行寫實的描繪。相比之下，這幅畫的背景是用淡淡的水墨所畫，顯示出不斷後退山脈的範圍。其結果是，在經過赤壁時，洶湧澎湃的長江以及蘇軾和他的同伴們，在試圖到達赤壁時遇到的危險，都是一個廣闊而令人矚目的畫面。
自南宋（1127-1279）以來，蘇軾的赤壁之行就一直在繪畫中被描繪。事實上，《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》是明朝（1368-1644）藝術家們學習和延續南宋宮廷藝術家的藝術遺產和風格的一個很好的例子。李嵩（1190-1230）的《赤壁圖》（納爾遜-阿特金斯藝術博物館收藏），肯定是《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》的直接靈感來源。但與李嵩的小幅團扇構圖相比，《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》顯示了不朽的山峰和戲劇化的河流的動蕩性質。這是一個重要的變化：蘇軾的《前赤壁賦》強調了道家的自然和永恆的理想，這似乎反映在李嵩平靜的水面上，而《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》將它戲劇化，並延伸到歷史記憶所能喚起的情感。
這幅畫有明朝宮廷畫家倪端的簽名。除了知道他在宣德年間（1426-1435）進入宮廷畫院之外，我們對他的生平知道甚少。在他的一生中，以人物畫和山水畫聞名，遵循了南宋著名宮廷畫家如馬遠（1160-1225）和夏圭（1195-1224）的傳統。他最著名的兩件作品藏於台北故宮和北京故宮。根據與這些畫中人物的比較，可能會覺得《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》非倪端典型風格。然而，這樣的差異並沒有削弱這幅畫引人注目的美學力量。
Henning von Mirbach, Research assistant, HCS Calligraphy Arts Foundation
米翰寧 何創時書法基金會 副研究員
The scroll Su Dongpo's Visit to the Red Cliff (below: Su Dongpo's Visit) is a fifteenth-century take on the famed story of a boat trip that literary prodigy Su Shi (aka Su Dongpo, 1037–1101) did to the Red Cliff along the Yangzte river. The poet and his friends had visited the purported location of a historic battle. Su Dongpo's Visit thus shows a steersman carefully navigating the boat in which Su Shi and his friends sit hurdled together among the agitated river waves on their way to the cliff. Compelling as this foreground scene is, its gripping power is further enhanced by the mountain cliff rising on the other side of the river: interspersed by a waterfall, the mountain is painted in a brush technique referred to as “ax-cut strokes” derived from the Song dynasty painter Li Tang (b. ca. 1050). Such strokes allow to depict the mountain in great depth while using ink economically. In contrast, the painting’s background is painted in light ink washes, indicating ranges and ranges of receding mountains. The result is an expansive and arresting view of the turbulent Yangtze river as it passes the Red Cliff as well as of the dangers that Su Shi and his companions are exposed to while trying to reach the site.
Since the Song dynasty (960–1279), Su Shi's trip had been commemorated in paintings. Indeed, Su Dongpo's Visit is an excellent example of how artists from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) learned from and continued the artistic legacies of and styles developed by Southern Song court artists. The painted album leaf The Red Cliff by Li Song (1190–1230), today in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, must have been the immediate inspiration for Su Dongpo's Visit. But in comparison to Li Song's small-scale and somewhat intimate composition, Su Dongpo's Visit shows monumentalized mountains and dramatizes the tumultuous nature of the river. This, in fact, is an important change: while Su Shi's Ode to the Red Cliff emphasized Daoist ideals of naturalness and eternity which are seemingly mirrored in Li Song’s calmer waters, Su Dongpo’s Visit dramatizes the visit and, by extension, the emotions that historical memory can evoke.
The painting bears a signature of the Ming court artist Ni Duan about whom little is known apart from the fact that he entered the imperial painting academy during the reign of the Xuande emperor (1426–1435). During his life-time, he was known for painting figure paintings and landscapes that followed the traditions established by eminent Southern Song (1127–1279) court painters such as Ma Yuan (1160–1225) and Xia Gui (1195–1224). His two most famous works can today be found in the collections of the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Palace Museum in Beijing. Based on a comparison with the figures in these paintings, it may be questioned whether Su Dongpo’s Visit is really by Ni Duan or not. However, this question of authenticity does not diminish the compelling aesthetic force of this painting.
《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》是15世紀的作品，講述了文學奇才蘇軾（蘇東坡，1037-1101）乘船前往長江畔赤壁的著名故事。蘇軾和他的朋友們遊歷了一場歷史戰役的地點。《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》顯示一個舵手小心翼翼地駕駛著船，蘇軾和他的朋友們坐在船上前往懸崖的途中，在激蕩的河水中行進。儘管這個場景引人注目，但對岸聳立的山崖進一步增強了扣人心弦的力量：在瀑布的穿插下，山峰採用了宋代畫家李唐（約1050年生）的 「斧劈皴」繪制。這種筆法可以在節省用墨的情況下對山石的肌理進行寫實的描繪。相比之下，這幅畫的背景是用淡淡的水墨所畫，顯示出不斷後退山脈的範圍。其結果是，在經過赤壁時，洶湧澎湃的長江以及蘇軾和他的同伴們，在試圖到達赤壁時遇到的危險，都是一個廣闊而令人矚目的畫面。
自南宋（1127-1279）以來，蘇軾的赤壁之行就一直在繪畫中被描繪。事實上，《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》是明朝（1368-1644）藝術家們學習和延續南宋宮廷藝術家的藝術遺產和風格的一個很好的例子。李嵩（1190-1230）的《赤壁圖》（納爾遜-阿特金斯藝術博物館收藏），肯定是《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》的直接靈感來源。但與李嵩的小幅團扇構圖相比，《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》顯示了不朽的山峰和戲劇化的河流的動蕩性質。這是一個重要的變化：蘇軾的《前赤壁賦》強調了道家的自然和永恆的理想，這似乎反映在李嵩平靜的水面上，而《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》將它戲劇化，並延伸到歷史記憶所能喚起的情感。
這幅畫有明朝宮廷畫家倪端的簽名。除了知道他在宣德年間（1426-1435）進入宮廷畫院之外，我們對他的生平知道甚少。在他的一生中，以人物畫和山水畫聞名，遵循了南宋著名宮廷畫家如馬遠（1160-1225）和夏圭（1195-1224）的傳統。他最著名的兩件作品藏於台北故宮和北京故宮。根據與這些畫中人物的比較，可能會覺得《蘇東坡赤壁圖立軸》非倪端典型風格。然而，這樣的差異並沒有削弱這幅畫引人注目的美學力量。
Henning von Mirbach, Research assistant, HCS Calligraphy Arts Foundation
米翰寧 何創時書法基金會 副研究員
