立足世界前哨 弘揚丹青國魂

立足世界前哨   弘揚丹青國魂

——記旅泰國際實力派華人藝術家謝天鴻

為慶祝泰皇八十壽誕，旅泰國際實力派華人藝術家謝天鴻現代彩墨畫國際巡迴展覽在泰國曼谷國際商城SIAM PARAGON  M樓大廳拉開圍幕。這次畫展展出謝天鴻二十年來集累的部分原創精品共89幅，有油畫、國畫、彩墨畫，工筆寫意、潑墨潑彩，給人以展新的藝術觀念、藝術思想和藝術理論。作品展現出謝天鴻不同凡響的藝術才華。其中有一幅絹本工筆畫（如意吉祥頌泰華）孔雀牡圖，將呈獻給泰國詩琳通公主。並在畫展開幕式上向CCF詩琳通公主慈善基金會捐助善款20萬泰銖。中華人民共和國駐泰王國特命全權大使張九桓博士為謝天鴻畫展主持開幕剪綵大典，畫展盛況空前。

在名家巨匠燦若星河的中國畫壇，謝天鴻是一顆耀眼的新星，也將可成為畫壇一代巨星。

謝天鴻1960年出生在河南襄城汝河之畔一個貧苦的書鄉之家，和古代畫聖吳道子隔鄉壁鄰，可能是由此緣故，天鴻自幼穎悟過人、酷愛書畫。在蹂躪善良的年月，他家造到衝擊。難有容膝之安，一肉之味。天鴻靠要飯、撿拾破爛換來紙筆塗鴉。八歲時他拜當地名士盛北斗、李明輔先生為師，學繪工筆虎和山水、人物、花鳥。顯露出穎異的繪畫才能。為了生活他16歲被迫浪跡天涯，拼搏於茫茫藝海，賣藝至蔽戶蓬門，困苦艱辛，砥礪意志，他壯遊名山大野，足跡遍及五嶽、三山、青城、桂林、白山黑水、長江大河。17歲在流浪賣藝途中考入武漢畫院研修班，得恩師曹立庵、鄧少峰、黃亮等名家教誨，逐窺中國畫藝術之堂奧。在遠足遊歷的同時，常常是半肩行囊，數卷詩書，然而，天鴻絲毫未改丹青之志，依然沒有疲憊的追求美的飢餓靈魂。他愛畫虎，常以枯枝為筆，虛地為紙，將虎之情、虎之戀、虎之悲、虎之善繪於大地上，繪於心田中。在武漢動物園獅虎山，他常常浸淫與虎山下，觀察虎起、虎卧、虎行、虎坐、虎飲、虎食、虎親、虎鬥，虎虎生威，耳不旁聽，目不雜騖。緬情畫虎如徐悲鴻之於天馬，潘天壽之於雄鷹。93年謝天鴻應邀到加拿大講學，旅遊於猛虎經常出沒的原始山林。築棚於參天大樹上，數月之久。不懼獸困鳥啄，不畏生命危險，認真觀察吊睛白額大蟲的一剪、一撲、一騰、一躍拍攝錄取了許多珍貴資料，為今天描繪出惟妙惟肖、細膩工整、神韻灑脫、虎虎生威的精美圖畫。形成謝天鴻自己獨特的藝術風格，在當今畫壇形成了他虎畫藝術的特有符號。悲智良善的虎子佛性。

藝術也是一種宗教，沒有殉道者的精神，是難以叩開那神聖殿堂之門的。書畫之道，資貴聰穎，學尚浩淵。古今畫虎，流派紛呈，置身國畫藝術變革的時代，謝天鴻的藝術皆得益於他皈依佛門后頓悟宇宙人生空有不二的般若妙意。廣博無量的般若慧海滋養他無量的藝術才華。

藝術是人生與自然交融的結晶體，是主體與客體交媾的新生兒。詩人文豪給了他詩的情、畫的意。宇宙萬物給了他不執著的無量精神，生命與萬有妙空的悲與智，造化又給天鴻美、善的韻律和妙有真空的慧思。《五富鴻運圖》《大愛永恆唱戀歌》《真情溶化萬年雪》《大千福音護娑婆》等巨幅工筆虎作，有表現威中不失仁厚，猛中帶有安祥，勇中含著溫柔。謝天鴻用他特有的虎畫藝術符號，宣告世人，三界六道有情皆有善良佛性。虎象人類一樣，既有七情六慾，亦有天倫之樂，更有慈悲佛性。謝天鴻的藝術參透著他對自然萬物的靜觀、默察、深入、所獲得心靈愉悅的過程結出的智慧之果。

謝天鴻不但畫虎，而且還畫孔雀、山水、人物、及花鳥、蟲魚、他的虎和孔雀並駕馳名海外。虎作為獸中之王，具有一種威懾的力量，壯美的形象。因此，世人常常以虎作為威嚴無敵的象徵。虎的威嚴凌厲，虎的所向披靡，與謝天鴻藝術家的胸懷和追求的博大意境相契合。從他筆下的那些呼嘯、奔躍、厚道、高趣、雅情、磅礴的形象里，感受到了凝聚在崇山峻岭宇宙萬物之間的昂揚開闊的無量精神。

謝天鴻筆下的孔雀，盛隆嫵媚，光華燦然，金羽輝灼，冰清玉潔，猶如仙子起舞一般。虎與孔雀在他的筆下並駕齊驅。這大概是由於虎為獸中之王，孔雀亦堪稱鳥中之魁的緣故吧。同時，這也體現出一種藝術的辯證法。剛到極致則折，因此，需要一種有韌性的剛，剛柔相濟。如果說，虎體現出陽剛之美的話，那麼孔雀所包含的陰柔之美正是謝天鴻藝術家對宇宙人生、悲智雙運頓悟的之高境界。

謝天鴻筆下所繪的花卉，無論是工筆還是寫意，都有一種與眾不同的新意，飄灑俊逸，給人以透明和生命感。他筆下的荷花、牡丹、梅花、竹子葡萄等，似散發著的天國清香。前法國總統希拉克稱讚他為「富有才華的藝術家天才」並重金收藏數十幅精品；美國總統柯林頓及夫人希拉里蒞臨訪泰期間，緣遇謝天鴻畫展。喜不自禁重金收藏《墨竹圖》《萬里清香》和平鴿等六幅珍品。泰國前總理川、立沛也收藏了謝天鴻的藝術作品《萬山紅遍》並給以至高的讚譽。

四十歲后，謝天鴻客居泰國，皈依佛門，研究宇宙人生、哲學、倫理、文學藝術之真諦，融會貫通。其藝術境界，高古拙撲、渾厚華滋、飄逸閑適、意趣天成、超凡趨聖。他不喜攀附、深居簡出、不趣時媚俗，為人直語、樸實可親、聲名遠揚。2008年他的數幅精作參加由中國美術家協會、中國文聯、泰國國家美術館、泰中藝術家聯合會、泰國文化廳聯合舉辦的中泰當代美術展，中國美術家協會副主席劉大為、中國文聯副主席馮冀才對謝天鴻的作品高度評價、肯定、和讚揚。

謝天鴻不僅長於寄情山水、花鳥、獅、虎、豹以揚國魂。而且時有表現英雄、偉人、古賢等英姿浩氣的傑作問世。2008年春節他應中國駐泰王國大使館特命全權大使張九桓博士的邀請，為大使館貴賓廳創作巨幅人物、山水、墨竹《竹林七賢圖》，深得張大使讚譽，稱其為「多才多藝、全才的實力派藝術家」。並欣然作詩一首，題寫於《竹林七賢圖》畫卷上，成為當今藝壇一段佳話。

此次謝天鴻個人畫展，值泰國詩琳通公主華誕之際，謝天鴻藝術家以大師之風采，凝聚出世入世如如不動的般若妙筆，為公主殿下精心繪製的絹本工筆《如意吉祥頌泰華》孔雀牡丹圖，畫中蘭綠孔雀加金鉑繪製，典雅風韻，灑脫華滋，畫面孔雀傲立盤石，昂首前視。牡丹國花綻放，春意盎然，象徵中泰兩國欣逢盛世，前程似錦。雌雄兩隻孔雀互為對映，以美相竟，生機無限。欣欣向榮，五彩繽紛的新美景象，充滿著對生命的熱愛和幸福生活的美好嚮往，孔雀開屏喻示國運昌盛，國泰民安，瑞氣祥和，呈獻此圖再次為中泰文化藝術的交流譜寫新的篇章。

謝天鴻是一位國際文化型的實力派藝術家，他眾藝兼長，精而無華，是中國當代彩墨畫創新型藝術家的典範。生活是源泉，情感是立場，是觀點。謝天鴻矢志不渝地緊跟著時代。立大志，發大願，為人類世界的和協美好，用神馳不執不染的妙筆，繪出無量般若的藝術作品，開啟人類祥和的無量悲智，揚丹青國魂與般若慧海。願謝天鴻藝術家的藝術之松長青！為人類世界創造的藝術才富無量！！！！！！（國際在線泰國首席記者：陸永江）

Stand on the front of world art and carry forward the Chinese national spirit in painting

The story of Xie Tianhong, a masterful Chinese artist of international fame sojourning in Thailand

To celebrate the eightieth birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand, Mr.Xie Tianhong, a masterful artist of international fame sojourning in Thailand, held his global touring exhibition of modern watercolor painting on floor M at Siam Paragon (Bangkok). Dr.Zhang Jiuhuan the Chinese ambassador in the Kingdom of Thailand presided over the opening ceremony and the exhibition turned out to a huge success. On the exhibition there were total 89 excellent pictures presented, which were created in the past twenty years including nearly all types in painting such as oil painting, traditional Chinese painting, watercolor painting, painting of fine brushwork, painting of freehand brushwork etc. Audience can sense the brand-new artistic idea, thought and theory in these paintings which display Xie Tianhong』s outstanding talent in art. Among the paintings exhibited there was one picture of peacocks and peonies, drawn through fine brushwork on silk scroll, titled A pleasant and auspicious future will embrace Thailand and China, was specially dedicated to Her Highness Princess Sirindhorn and on the opening ceremony two hundred thousand Baht was also donated to the charity funds under Her Highness Princess Sirindhorn.

Xie Tianhong is a dazzling star out of the galaxy in the Chinese painting world and will be a super star in the near future.

In 1960 Xie Tianhong was born into a poor scholar』s family by River Ru at Xiangcheng county of Henan province，and in his neighboring towns  there is one town happens to be the hometown of Wu Daozi, an ancient saint in Chinese painting art, it might be for this reason, Tianhong was amazingly clever since his childhood and had strong passions for calligraphy and painting. During the dark times in which the goodness of Chinese people was overrun and Tianhong』s family also could not escape from the national disaster. At that turbulent time it was hard for him to find a narrow place to live and his tasting of meat could only be expected in dreams. In order to get paper and brush to practice painting Tianhong had to beg and collect trash. When he was eight years old he learnt painting landscape, figure, flower, bird, and tiger through fine brushwork from his tutors Sheng Beidou and Li Mingfu, both were locally well-known scholars. He then showed his extraordinary talent in painting. When he was sixteen he was forced to leave his hometown for making a living. Therein he began his struggle in the boundless sea of art, selling his paintings along the way he was wandering. Extreme poverty and hard times steeled him to be a high character. He traveled extensively in China and left his footprints in many famous mountains, rivers, and places of interest such as Moutain Tai，Moutain Taihang,Moutain Emei, Guilin, Yangtze River and etc. During his roaming around China for selling his paintings he passed the entrance examination and was admitted into a research class of Wuhan Painting Academy, that year he was seventeen. In this outstanding academy he was guided by his beloved tutors Cao Lian, Deng Shaofeng and Huang Liang who were all master painters in China, and it was at that time that he got to know the mystery of traditional Chinese painting. Tianhong is an avid reader too. While he traveled around China bags of books always accompanied him. However, his interest in Chinese painting had never faded and he kept seeking the beauty in art aggressively. He loves drawing tigers and often took a dried branch as his brush drawing tigers on the ground，expressing tigers』 rich feeling and character to the world, such as tigers』 emotion, love, sadness, kindness and so on. At Wuhan Zoo he frequently sat beside the mountain where the tigers played, observing them with full attention on every single activity in which the tigers stand up, lie down, walk, sit, drink, kiss, fight, and show their fresh prestige. We can say his addiction to drawing tiger equals to Xu Beihong』s intoxication in drawing horse and Pan Tianshou』s love in drawing hawk. In 1993 he was invited to have lectures in Canada. He traveled to the primitive forest where the tigers usually turned around and he set up his tent among the large trees, for quite a few months he disregarded the hurt from wild animals and the attack from insects, and even risked his life in concentrating on the tigers』 daily activities in every detail, even a skip, a rush, jump and leap. He took many precious photos and collected a lot of first hand information based on which today we can see his beautiful paintings of tiger: as vivid as live, subtle and neat, free and easy, forming his unique characteristic in art and leaving his distinctive mark in drawing tigers. Under his brushwork a tiger is bestowed with some natures of Buddha: sad, wise, kind and charitable.

Art is also a kind of religion demanding the spirit of martyr without which it is difficult to find the way to the holy world of arts. To understand the truth of calligraphy and painting a high intelligence is most valuable and an extensive learning is a must. There are many of ancient and contemporary schools when it comes to painting of tigers. In the transforming time for Chinese painting art Xie Tianhong benefits a great deal from his devotion in Buddhism through which he comprehended the true meaning of universe and life. Tremendous wisdom from Buddha brings endless artistic energy to his creation.

Art is the crystal of nature and life, and it is also the newborn baby by marriage between subject and object. He got poetic and artistic flavor from great poets and men of letters, and at the same time he obtained immeasurable creative power from the universe. The charity and wisdom in lives of the universe equipped Xie Tianhong with beauty, mercy and inspiration. Among his large-size paintings of tigers, such as Affluent Blessing and Fortune, Buddha』s eternal love to humans will be eulogized forever, True tenderness can melt down snow mountain of ten thousand years, and The human world is under the shelter of Buddha』s great blessing, we can see rich characteristics in tigers: august and kindhearted, fierce and composed, brave and gentle…，With his special art code in drawing tigers Xie Tianhong declares to the world that everything in the universe has the nature of Buddha in different degree. The tigers, like human beings, have emotions and sensory pleasures and they also have family happiness, not to mention they have the nature of Buddha such as mercy and charity. The calm observation, silent watching, and profound thinking are deeply rooted in his works, which are actually the fruits of wisdom from the happiness in his soul during the creative process.

Xie Tianhong』s paintings cover not only tigers but also peacock, landscape, figure, flower, bird, insect and fish. His painting of tiger enjoys the same fame as his painting of peacock abroad. Tiger, as the emperor of the beast, has something of deterrence as well as a sublime image, for this reason, tigers often stand for a dignified and invincible being. Some character seen in a tiger, such as a tiger』s dignity, invincible spirit, and the style as head of the beast world, goes well together with his broad mind and artistic conception of a painting master. From the vivid images of tiger created under his pen we can feel the vastness of the universe which is widely open and immeasurable.

Peacocks under Xie Tianhong』s brush are charming, brilliant, pure and noble, like fairy maidens dancing in the heaven. The tigers weigh the same as the peacocks in Xie Tianhong』s paintings, and we may attribute this to the general opinion of the public: the tiger is the emperor of the beasts and the peacock is the king of the birds. At the same time we see some kind of dialectics in the art world: tough things will break when they reach their limit, so the tough things need to be aided by something soft and they go side by side. If we say Xie Tianhong displays the masculine beauty through his paintings of tiger, then he describes the feminine charm in his paintings of peacock.

Xie Tianhong』s paintings of flower, no matter by fine brushwork or freehand brushwork,  appear to be transparent and full of life and always make you feel a kind of fresh idea which distinguishes him from the common painters. Under his pen lotus flower, peony, plum blossom, and bamboo are all so lifelike that seem giving off delicate fragrance from the heaven. The former French president Chirac appraised him as 「A talented artist」 and paid very high price for collecting his tens of excellent paintings. When Xie Tianhong held his painting in Thailand several ago it happened that the former USA president Bill Clinton and the first lady Hillary paid a visit and the couple could not help loving his paintings at the first sight and offered a lot for collecting Ink bamboo, Delicate fragrance spread ten thousand kilometers, Pigeon of peace and other six choicest paintings. The former prime minister of Thailand Chuan Leekpai spoke highly of Xie Tianhong』s art works and took Thousands of Mountains thoroughly in Red as one of his treasured collections.

When Professor Xie was forty he sojourned in Thailand and was completely converted to Buddhism. Since then he has engaged himself in exploring the essence of life, universe, philosophy, ethics, literature and arts，well digesting it and completely soaking into his head. His artworks reach a point which displays elegance，primitive simplicity like a jade in the rough, vigor and splendor，transcendence and purity，grace and calm，in a word, his works bring us into a supernatural realm created in a quite natural way. Master Xie lives a secluded live. He neither has any interest in social climbing nor follows the fashion to curry favor with the secular world. He is frank to everyone he meets and very easy going. He has been received as a masterful painter internationally and praised and respected worldwide. In the beginning of 2008 quite a few excellent works were presented at the Art Exhibition of Contemporary Thai and Chinese Artists and received very high comments from Liu Dawei, vice chairman of Artists Association of China, and Feng Jicai, vice chairman of Federation of Chinese literature and Arts, also spoke highly of Xie Tianhong』s works and appraised with tremendous enthusiasm. This art exhibition was jointly organized by Artists Association of China, Federation of Chinese Literature and Arts, Thailand National Art Gallery, League of Thai and Chinese Artists, and Thailand Cultural Department.

To promote the Chinese national spirit in arts Xie Tianhong expresses his feelings not only through painting landscape, flower and bird, lion, tiger and panther but also often through painting heroes and great men of the current time and saints in the history to depict their charming image and eulogize their noble spirit . In spring of 2008 at the invitation of Dr.Zhang Jiuhuan the Chinese ambassador in the Kingdom of Thailand Xie Tianhong created for the Chinese embassy a large–size painting of multiple styles including landscape, figure and ink bamboo. This painting was titled Seven Virtuous Gentlemen gathering in the Bamboo Forest. Dr.Zhang Jiuhuan was attracted by this painting so much that he improvised a poem on the painting and appraised Xie Tianhong as a masterful and versatile artist. This has become a much-told story in the contemporary art circles.  

This time Xie Tianhong held his painting exhibition during the birthday of Her Highness Princess Sirindhorn and Xie Tianhong dedicated to Her Highness a elaborate painting called A pleasant and auspicious future will embrace Thailand and China, a picture of peacocks and peonies in which the blue green peacocks are drawn with gold and platinum powder, the peacocks display their elegance and grace in a carefree way and their brilliance is overwhelming. The peacocks stand proudly on rock and look straightly forward; the peonies, national flower of China, are in full bloom to usher in a beautiful spring, resembling Thailand and China are in prosperous times and will have a bright future. The two peacocks, one is female and the other is male, stand side by side showing their beauty in a competitive way. The peacocks spread their tails implying that Thailand and China will enjoy a prosperous time and people live in peace and fortune.

  As a masterful artist of international culture Xie Tianhong is gifted in many ways and is regarded as a paragon of contemporary artists who bring forth new ideas in water color painting. When it comes to the quality of art works we always hold that life is the source of artistic creation and the feeling is the standpoint and opinion. Xie Tianhong will decisively keep up closely with the time and will make an ambitious plan to create excellent art works for the peace and harmony of the world.

May his pine of art remain green forever!

(By Lu Yongjiang CRI online Chief reporter in Thailand)