论西洋绘画色彩的进展
On the progress of Western painting color,

在西洋绘画史上，自古以来就有重视形体的画派，和重视色彩的画派之分。文艺复兴时期，意大利的绘画是滥觞于佛罗棱斯派（Florence），经威尼斯派（Venice）的振起而大成的。佛罗棱斯派是重视形体的结构，威尼斯派是倾向于绚烂色彩的感觉。到十九世纪，这种分野更因古典主义与浪漫主义的对立而明显化了。古典主义是以线条为艺术的本质，偏重形体的均整，追求古雕刻的趣味；而浪漫主义是偏重于色彩的表现，认为色彩是画中的生命与灵魂。到了印象派，色彩在绘画上的表现更呈繁复了，此派画家废除轮廓线，以光与色作为表现的中心。从塞尚Cezanne,，哥更Gauguin，梵高 Van gogh 起，便开始脱离了十九世纪的视觉桎梏，展开了现代的绘画，奠下“二十世纪新派画的基石”。这三位大师都是注重色彩表现的画家。塞尚曾经说过：“绘画，只是色彩感觉的训练，没有外线与模型，只有反映色彩的富丽及形体的丰满……。”这几句话就成了二十世纪绘画艺术的定义。哥更则喜欢用未经调练的纯色，减少色阶而趋单纯，力求广大的统一。所以他的画面上，色彩的表现有特异的情趣，富于原始的风味。梵高运用那焰火般的狂激丰富的色彩，在画面上创造形象。他曾经这样预言：“未来的绘画，色彩一定在布局上占有独立的新空间，画面上一定是以音乐性的色彩为主，雕塑性的结构为辅，将来的画家，一定是色彩主义的画家，是我们所不曾见过的……。”果然，到十九世纪与二十世纪之交，马蒂斯Matisse的出现，把那些持续了一世纪的绘画技巧，传统惯例以及客观的现象一笔抹煞了，把绘画从象征的途径解放出来，色彩在画面上占有压倒性的优势。如果说这是色彩的革命，毋宁说是色彩的进展。现代生活的颜色，可以说完全是马蒂斯的成果，他画面的光彩与颜色，使全世界都灿烂辉煌了。

到了二十世纪，抽象绘画更是风行于整个艺术界，这种绘画作品，只将结构和色彩的纯粹元素传达给我们，在画面上固然具有线条的建筑，惟对色彩还是特别强调，抽象派画家，认为许多复杂的色，就好象各种乐器的音色一样，画家使用一笔笔的色彩，正如音乐家使用音符，必须使画面构成一幅色彩交响乐的阶调。对这论调致行最力的当推抽象派表现主义的始祖康定斯基Kandinsky了。他以色彩的心理学的研究为基础，主张把形式和色彩以适当的配置组织成一个有感情的抽象画面。在平常人看来，色彩仅不过是色彩，但在一个艺术家看来，艺术上的色彩世界，除了形式以外，还充满了自己的感情，必须要两者融合后才能具有新的生命。因为无“色”难得有完整的形体，无“情”就不能有跃动的精神，所以画家对于大自然的情色，必须要先有深刻的体验，然后才能完成“造形极致的创造境界”！

新派画家必须要用锐利的观察，明晰的思惟，从森罗万象的宇宙里去从事新的形式发现。将繁剧的事象，简化洗鍊，存其精华，再以主观的形式与色彩来表现出情感的内涵，不必顾虑到有关自然的“真实相貌”，画家可以创作出他自己的“真实感”，运用自由谐和的形式，透入物象的核心才能表达自我深刻的意趣。色彩的表现，更须根据创作者的要求，使感情与思想得到有效的发挥。必要时得舍去绘画上用色的忠实，我们在那些震撼一代人心的名画家的作品内，可以看到红的树木，绿的花朵，这种超现实的用色方法，完全就是要提高色彩表现的效果，达到画面上色彩感觉的谐和。这不仅是西洋绘画如此，就是在中国画里有何尝没有“朱行”，与“墨海”的制作呢？

色彩是随着时代而进展的，西洋绘画自印象派后一世纪以来，已展开了一大片色彩的世界，画家们对于色彩的联想更是五光十色。今日的美术工作者，更应努力于美术理论的涵育，色彩技巧的运用，创作技法的锻鍊，高超品格的培养，以求得自由奔放的创造境界，为新艺术开拓一片色彩感情的领土！苏东坡 论画亦曾说过：“不求形似”，唐代大批评家张彦远也说：“拘其形似，则失其气韵。”这无非是说明不要受旧形式的约束，拘泥物象的外貌而阻碍了新内容的发展。所以艺术是创新的，永远创新！

In the history of Western painting, there has always been a division between schools that emphasize form and those that emphasize color. During the Renaissance period, Italian painting originated from the Florence school and flourished through the rise of the Venetian school. The Florence school focused on the structural form, while the Venetian school leaned towards the sensation of brilliant colors. By the 19th century, this division became more pronounced due to the contrast between Classicism and Romanticism. Classicism emphasized the essence of art through lines, emphasizing the harmony of form and pursuing the aesthetic of ancient sculpture, while Romanticism emphasized the expression of colors, considering color as the life and soul of painting. With the Impressionist movement, the expression of color in painting became more complex. These artists abolished outlines and focused on light and color as the central elements of expression. Starting from Cezanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, modern painting began to break free from the visual constraints of the 19th century, laying the foundation for the "new school of painting in the 20th century". These three masters were painters who focused on color expression. Cezanne once said: "Painting is merely the training of color sensation. Without outlines or models, there is only the reflection of rich colors and the fullness of form..." These words became the definition of 20th-century painting art. Gauguin liked to use untrained pure colors, reducing the gradation of colors to simplicity, striving for a broad unity. Therefore, his paintings exhibit a unique charm in color expression, rich in primitive flavor. Van Gogh used vibrant and intense colors to create images on the canvas. He once predicted: "In the future of painting, color will certainly occupy a new independent space in composition. The color scheme on the canvas will definitely be dominated by musical colors, with sculptural structures as the background. Future painters will definitely be colorists, a type we have never seen before..." Indeed, by the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the emergence of Matisse wiped out the century-old painting techniques, traditional conventions, and objective phenomena, freeing painting from symbolic approaches. Color dominated the canvas overwhelmingly. If this is considered a revolution in color, it is more accurately described as progress in color. The colors of modern life can be said to be entirely the result of Matisse's efforts, the brilliance of his paintings illuminating the entire world.

In the 20th century, abstract painting became increasingly popular in the entire art world. This type of artwork only conveys the pure elements of structure and color to us. While there may be architectural lines on the canvas, the emphasis is particularly on color. Abstract painters believe that many complex colors are like the tones of various musical instruments. Artists use strokes of color just as musicians use notes, aiming to create a symphony of colors on the canvas. The pioneer of abstract expressionism, Kandinsky, advocated for the psychological study of color as the basis for organizing form and color in an emotionally abstract composition. While colors may seem trivial to ordinary people, to an artist, the world of color in art is filled with emotion, and the fusion of form and color is essential to give birth to new life. Without "color," it's difficult to have a complete form, and without "emotion," there can be no lively spirit. Therefore, artists must have profound experiences of nature's colors before they can achieve the "ultimate creative realm of form."

Modern artists must employ sharp observation and clear thinking to engage in new form discoveries from the vast universe of phenomena. They must simplify the complexities, distill the essence, and then use subjective forms and colors to express the emotional content. There is no need to worry about the "real appearance of nature"; artists can create their own "sense of reality" by using free and harmonious forms to penetrate the essence of objects and express their profound meaning. The expression of color must be based on the creator's requirements, allowing emotions and thoughts to be effectively expressed. When necessary, fidelity to color in painting may be sacrificed. In the works of those artists who have shaken the hearts of generations, we can see red trees and green flowers. This surreal use of color is intended to enhance the effect of color expression and achieve harmony in the visual perception of colors. This phenomenon is not unique to Western painting but can also be found in traditional Chinese painting, with its use of vermillion and ink.

Color progresses with the times. Since the Impressionist movement, Western painting has unfolded a vast world of color over the past century, with artists' associations with color being incredibly diverse. Today's artists should focus on nurturing art theory, mastering color techniques, refining creative methods, and cultivating superior qualities to achieve a realm of free and unrestrained creation, opening up new territories of emotional color for new art! Su Dongpo once said, "Do not seek resemblance," and the Tang dynasty critic Zhang Yanyuan also said, "Restricting resemblance leads to the loss of vitality." This simply underscores the need not to be constrained by old forms and hinder the development of new content. Therefore, art is about innovation, forever innovating!