China, and calligraphy and painting
Painting
Pottery and porcelain art has a lot in common with ancient Chinese
painting in terms of artistic essence, characteristics, and expressive ways.
The principles for good painting - heavy emphasis on both appearance and spirit
-- also apply to making good ceramics. Both art forms require the artists to
delve deep into life and reflect it in an artistic way.
It is not only painted ceramic works that are closely linked with traditional
Chinese painting; common ceramic sculpting works also share similarity in the
basic notions of creation with painting.
Traditional figure painting, especially realistic painting characterized by
fine brushwork and close attention to details, has very strict standards about
the artistic conception, figuration, dynamics, and even clothes texture.
Therefore, the works are realistic yet exaggerated, lifelike yet decorative.
Traditional ceramic figure sculpting was deeply influenced by figure
painting. The latter was originally the base of the former, but the two later
mutually influenced and borrowed from each other.
The Gongzai figures from Shiwan Kiln in Foshan
of South China's Guangdong
Province are characterized by their vividness, primitive simplicity,
vigorousness, and boldness. The Avalokitesvara or Guanyin figures from Dehua
Kiln of Southeast China's Fujian
Province are elegant and kindly; the clothing line of Guanyin is especially
very fluent. Jingdezhen
(East China's Jiangxi
Province) sculpting ceramics are known for their colorfulness, magnificence,
simple form, and decorativeness. All these works have derived their artistic
characteristics from that of the painting works.
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