Studio Ni Zan Rongxi

Ni Zan Rongxi Studio

Ni Zan Rongxi Studio

Ni Zan Rongxi Studio is an arts education community in China that provides classes and events for students and adults interested in painting, drawing, calligraphy, music, and other related arts. The painting Rongxi Studio, by Ni Zan, is a landscape depicting the autumn scenery in Northern China. It has a wide range of colors and employs minimalism to create the effect viewers feel as if they are present in the cascading leaves.

The painting is based on Ni Zan’s recollection of his view from his studio window. As he wanted to depict seasonal beauty, he used bright colors to express this idea(Ione, 2017). The pear trees and maples are all surrounded by red leaves as they change color, thus, creating a sense that everything is heading towards death. Even the wind’s little grey and yellow feathers are smaller than their originals.

Ni Zan made use of his childhood experiences to create the painting. To depict the characters’ emotions, he included a variety of brush strokes and lines in his composition. He also copied a tiny mirror on top of a poplar tree and placed it in the bottom-right corner to focus on his studio while painting this piece.

This mirror reflected light onto his face and gave him the courage to continue working on such an emotionally intense piece. Therefore, this paper analyses how Ni Zan Rongxi Studio uses painting to communicate the message of Chinese culture and heritage. By tapping into Chinese culture’s rich history, Ni Zan Studio strives to promote a better understanding of this fascinating country through its art form.

Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio painting

Ni Zan was inspired by Shao Yong, who had written about the pleasure of painting and the life of creating. Although Shao Yong did not practice painting himself, he wanted to experience the bliss of art creation by having artists work in his home and inviting painters to visit him. These visits were recorded in writing by Shao Yong’s student Liu Yuyi (Najung, 2018). These writings were influential for Ni Zan and his contemporaries; they expressed their love for painting and other art forms.

Ni Zan created many paintings that dealt with old themes, such as landscapes or flowers. He also made paintings of scenes from the stories of the Chinese Warring States (Najung, 2018). He eventually abandoned these themes that others had already rendered, painted flowers or people in idyllic scenes, or painted many subjects of little interest to others.

Ni Zan’s painting attracted many followers, with some schools specializing in his style and other artists emulating his works. Examples include Fang Yuhe, Fan Hoi, Zhu Shilin, and Zhang Yongfa. Ni Zan was one of the few artists who could paint well with brushes and ink. He also enjoyed copying calligraphy styles in Quanzhou, such as Zhou Shaoyi.

Ni Zan’s paintings were created using different types of ink at other times. He sometimes used ink from stone pears or tree chestnuts, which were difficult to obtain. Sometimes his work was done on paper yellowish in color; he used this paper for paintings intended for decoration or for writing on the back of his paintings with words of advice.

He also used paper gold in color, with the back of the paper being used as a gold-colored background. Although he painted in Quanzhou around the same time as his contemporary Shitao, Ni Zan’s style is very different (Yang, 2020). In terms of technique, he used ink and brush to create balanced works. He admired a painting by Song Dynasty painter Guo Xi. Guo Xi influenced him, but Ni Zan’s paintings were bolder than Guo Xi’s. Ni Zan would only be satisfied with a painting if it seemed to have an endless ink flow (a quality known as “spring tide”).

Ni Zan’s calligraphy was good enough to be sought after by officials later in his life. As a result, he could leave his native Fujian and travel to several other places, such as Beijing, where he painted portraits of court officials and Ma Zhan’ao (Zou, 2018). The best example is the painting of Admiral Zheng Chenggong (also known as Koxinga). He also went on a trip to the Tang Dynasty capital Chang’an, where he painted portraits of the emperor and high government officials. One of his paintings had been selected to be added to the collection of imperial paintings. Ni Zan’s efforts to leave Quanzhou were not successful. He returned after a short while and finally passed away.

Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio argument

The idea behind Rong Xi Studio is that when looking at a painting, you look for its characteristics to appreciate it more; it does not have to be realistic. This style was popular in China because people usually considered these paintings more important than real ones (Najung, 2018). Ni Zan was an artist who lived during this period and used this type of style to paint his landscapes.

Another argument about Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio was that he used this style to show the contrasts between ink and color. He did not want his work to look too realistic because the viewers would not be able to understand them. Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio was quite famous during the late Ming Dynasty.

It showed people that even a painting of nature could be strictly evaluated by its characteristics without needing a background story about the image. Ni Zan’s style was called “Wu-Shu” or “Five Styles,” along with Xie Zhicai, Dong Qichang, and Wu Weiye (Najung, 2018). These four painters established a school called “The Four Masters of Jiangnan” to promote Chinese painting, poetry, and calligraphy.

Another argument about Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio was that his works are prevalent and that most people think they are genuinely great art pieces. People started to appreciate Ni Zan’s paintings more when they were shown in a museum in London, England. Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio is still supported by many people, even though the style has changed. Some of his paintings are still preserved in Song dynasty temples.

They have unique characteristics. One argument about Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio is that “The sense of space and atmosphere surrounding each tree or rock is made clear by its proximity to the other rocks or trees and their relative size.” People do not realize this technique because the style has changed so much since Ni Zan was alive.

Ni Zan’s Rongxi Studio Historical Circumstance.

Ni Zan studied art in his childhood. He studied painting in ancient China and practiced the traditional style of Wu’s painting. Looking at his brushstrokes history, In painting, thick brushstrokes were seen on his picture, and it is general knowledge that he used a student’s brush to paint in this style. He used the brushstrokes because many students’ brushes have bent bristles and are stiffer than artists’ brushes (Naren., 2022). Many art historians hailed Ni Zan’s painting “Rongxi Studio” expressive style as one of the all-time greats in both this form and Xing-Li calligraphy.

Ni Zan continued to improve his painting style. He worked on many canvases with subjects ranging from landscapes and human figures to animals, trees, flowers, and insects (Li, 2020). His style was trendy, and he continued to develop himself as an artist and added some small personal touches here and there.

An example is his bamboo flute and empty pavilion lying on its side and the table beside him. History of Ni Zan’s “Rongxi Studio” two inscriptions was that in the painting, there is a poem called “Rongxi Studio,” written by Ni Zan (Naren., 2022). The author represented himself in the image as a poet, which is why so many people mistook it for a self-portrait. Ni Zan’s poetry is heavily associated with the story of Zhong Kui, and “Rongxi Studio” seemed to be an allegory for what he did with his life as a painter.

Another inscription on Ni Zan’s “Rongxi Studio” painting was found on the side of the image. “The paint has been removed; the wall is still here.” People who lived in Rongxi Studio had been forced by their landlord to leave before completing their housework (Xizhi, 2017).

In conclusion, Ni Zan’s painting style is, at the time but not one specific style of painting. It has a sense of the scale of Western painting and Chinese painting painted with a brush. It is like a combination of both. The most obvious element is the etching in his paintings, which Western painters often use to add contou.