A Gardener in An Idle Garden

By Yuan Yunfu

Five years ago, when asked to write a preface to Leng BingChuan's collection of works, I started with the following sentence, " Leng Bingchuan came from Nantong of Jiangsu Province and he taught by himself." This summer, he returned with a great deal of paintings after studying in Spain . These delicate works of engravings in black and white made me very happy. He did not disappoint me. In the works, I sensed the taste of Leng Bingchuan's style. That's what we like and feel happy. The works contain the love for home with which I am familiar, and the character of a country boy: seemingly aloof, but self-satisfying and leisurely.

In these years, he experienced much hardship in his areer and once even ran into a dead corner, but now he has returned to the right track. I still remember that he sent me many letters and photos of paintings when he first went to Netherlands, but I did not reply. The reason was that I found that it was so difficult for me to express my puzzle about the changes of his art style and I did not want to comment too early on his persistence in Western modern art. I always see modernity not as only belong to the western world. And the artists in the East, without doubt, should take their due responsibility. Of course, studying abroad does not necessarily mean to stick to the golden rules blindly and we should learn the good points of the Western world, which can only be achieved through long term research and comparison. Confined within the rules of classic can make one successful in some sense, but his works will be doomed to be lack of enthusiasim. Actually, Leng Bingchuan has a strong ability of distinguishing good from bad. His maturity is not only reflected in his works but also in his verification ability after comparison between Chinese and Western arts. To obtain the ability in artistic sense requires artists' own cerebral involvement. In his latest works, I can easily feel his precious confidence and independent pursuit for identity.

I once told him that one character is just like one's name, cold glacier, silent but steady. He has a strong physical body and never knows tiredness in creation. Like silent fire in a deep valley in winter, he appears aloof but in fact full of passion, like his works. He is insightful into the true life, bringing vitality to his emotional and tranquil style. The efforts revealing from his recent broad-sheet works of black and white engravings are visible. Taking a serious attitude towards art is fundamental for improving the quality. From this viewpoint, one must get rid of the bad habit, namely, the over-accentuated passion. The height of art exploration is always guided by the artist's emotion and mis-endeavor thus takes place very often . However, Learning from tradition is important for prevent one from mis-conduction. Leng Bingchuan and his paintings possess such a spirit. He always throw himself into art creation, day in and day out. I believe he will make a greater achievement on this starting point.

August 12, 1997

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