从艺术史和艺术理论的角度出发，我曾对我们的国粹——国画发表达自己一种大胆的看法。国画，几千年以画山水、花鸟、人物而激荡国人的精神世界，画家们以“两个一”(一支笔笔、一张纸)改变着这个尘世，提升着这凡间的点点美好。

　　今天，这支毛笔仍然在挥洒，在泼墨;在细描，在勾勒。然而，千篇一律的画面不得不让人产生疑窦，国画非得沿袭传统画草寮，画水榭，画云中阁，画梅、兰、竹、菊，喜鹊、芭蕉和长袖怨女?从史的发展来看，一代代大师都曾为国画这一艺术品种的至善至美立下过汗马功劳，他们在技法上不断创新，表现内容上不断丰富，使后人敬而仰之。

　　大约在乾隆年间，中国出现了西洋建筑，万园之园的皇家园林北京圆明园也矗立了一栋西式小洋房。然而，有多少个画家曾经问鼎?清朝末年出现在国土上的火车、租界，有哪个画家的笔曾点染过?在西风渐入的中国，致力于国粹的精英们还不是捧着“过去”画“过去”?、依着名家画葫芦?为什么欧洲能随时代的变迁出现相应题材和流派的大家，他们遇山得山，逢水得水;画古绘今，纵横驰骋。而我们为何如此艰难?是绘画材料工具的局限，传统“笔墨方法”的局限，还是画家素质的差异所致?

　　时至今日，我们的国粹主流仍在画唐宋、复明清。这种古怪的现象不只存在于画坛，在文坛亦如此。中国改革开放带来了社会形态的变化，而这种变化外在表现得十分真切的是城市的扩张和中国工业经济的发展，然而我们看到过多少描写当代工人和工业题材的巨著?看到过多少反映城市生活的惊人力作?评论家王光明认为，中国社会发展无论在空间感还是在时间感上，都是十分明显的。面对现代化的步伐，要明确我们应用一种什么样的心灵去感受和想象。他认为艺术家必须学会让坚硬的东西和柔软的心灵对话，充分显示现代化的力量。写现代题材的不仅仅需要表现一种建设的速度，还要表现与生命更复杂的关系，写得更深邃、博大，旷远，写出更高的境界。

　　王光明先生道出了当今艺术食古不化，不能与时俱进的本质原因——艺术家精神的缺失。

　　曾几何时，我感叹，要是有人用国画的材质表现出当代城市和城市生活，而非传统纸上的草堂、土寺、牧童和僧人，这就是对中国国画创作的突破，这个突破是惊天动地的，这人可以大大方方地站在吴齐黄潘之后，与中国画的顶级大师齐名!

　　当我看到王秋童先生送给我的都市水墨，我服了。他的《大都会》、《雾》、《香港中环》、《不夜城》、《都市闲情》、《夜香港》等一系列描绘他生存、活动的家园——香港这座国际超级大都市的水墨画，给人一种从未有过的新鲜感和亲近感，他画面如麻的高楼、拥堵的交通、斑驳的灯光以及与之不相对称的蝼蚁似的城市人所传达的城市生活的压抑、瞬变、不确定的情绪和对大自然的吝啬回报，让人产生难以平息的复杂。他对自身生活的负责，和对所表现对象的深入研究，对西画传统写实派焦点透视，体、面构成技法的大胆引入“使他的现代都市水墨画在艺术上取得令人为之瞩目的卓越成就，从而成为开创此画派的一代大家”(美评家苏东天语)。

　　王秋童是善于与坚硬的城市执著地进行心灵对话的中国画家，当我们问及为何选择国画家躲避不及的都市水墨时，他谦逊地说：“我生活在城市，不是生活在田园，我不能放弃她而去追溯遥远的古人生活和古代社会环境。”这是他对题材的执著。在技法上，他说：“我偏向于解除束缚，无法中法，从多角度去观察、分解、碰撞及重组，把自然中的都市变成意念中的都市，更转化成抽象潜意识中的都市，这就是我所要绘画的都市。”

　　在我的视野中，他可是执当今中国画牛耳的大师。

　　Wong Chau Tung: A Great Master of Art

　　Han Licheng

　　From the historical and theoretical perspectives of art, I have once expressed a bold view on Chinese painting—the ‘quintessence of Chinese culture’. Chinese painting, for thousands of years, has expressed and stirred people's spiritual worldwith the depiction of landscapes, flowers and birds. With a brush and a sheet of rice paper, artists capture and amplify the beauty of this earthly world.

　　Today, the brush is still in motion: sketching, shading, splashing. However, the stereotyped images raise doubts in people’s mind:does Chinese painting have to follow the traditions and draw nothing but cottages, pavilions, plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos, chrysanthemums,magpies, plantains and melancholy women in long-sleeved dresses? Of course I am not denying the development of Chinese painting. In history, generations and generations of artists have made substantial contributions to the innovation and enrichment of Chinese painting, both in terms of technique and content.

　　Roughly during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty, Western-style architecture began to emerge in China. Even in the Old Summer Palace stood a Western-style house. However, how many artists have ever painted them? How many have painted the trains and foreign concessions? In a land growingly influenced by the West, why are Chinese painters so committed to the past and obsessed with ‘replicating the works of famous masters’? Why Europe can nurture various painting themes and genreswith the changing of times, while it is so difficult for us? Is it because of the limitation of painting materials and tools, the limitation of traditional ‘brushwork’, or the differences in the capacity of artists?

　　Today, the mainstreamChinese painting is still the replicas of ancient painting styles. And this strange phenomenon exists not only in painting, but also in the literary world. China's reform and opening up has brought drastic changes in social patterns, which are manifested by the rapid urbanisation and fast-growing industrial economy, but how many masterpieces about industrial or city life have we made? How many amazing works about urban life? The art critic Wang Guangming believes that China's social development is obvious both in the sense of space and time. Faced with modernisation, we must be clear what kind of mind we need in order to feel and imagine. He believes that artists must learn to initiate a conversation between the hard truth and the tender heart, and to fully demonstrate the force of modernity. Works on the modern world need not only to present the speed, but also the more complicated relationship between speed and life, written in a deeper, broader, and granderway.

　　Wang Guangming points out the essential reason whymodern art blindly clings to the old conventions and fails to keep up with the times:the lack of the artist’s spirit.

　　Once I sighed, if only someone could use Chinese painting media to depict modern cities and urban life instead of the conventional cottages, temples, shepherds and monks!That would be such a historic breakthrough that whoever achieves it will undoubtedly be the next Chinese painting master after the four top masters—Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong and Pan Tianshou!

　　And then, I saw Wong Chau Tung’s works and they blew my mind. His series of paintings, such as Metropolis, Mist, Central of Hong Kong, Sleepless City, Leisure City, and Hong Kong at Night, all feature Hong Kong, the city wherehe lives and paints. It gives viewers a strong sense of freshness and closeness like never before.In his paintings, the jungle of high-rise buildings, congestedtraffic, dots of light and disproportionally small city dwellers conveyed the complexity of modern city life: depressing,bustling, uncertain and stingy to nature. Withreflection on his own life,in-depth study of the painting objects,and bold introduction of focus perspectiveand compositional techniques, ‘His modern urban ink painting has great made great accomplishment in artistic excellence, thus making himthe founding master of this school of painting’(Su Dongtian, art critic).

　　Wong is so good at and committed to having a spiritual dialogue with the seemingly relentless city. When asked why he chose urban ink, which other Chinese painters normally shun, he simplysaid: ‘I live in the city, not the countryside. I could not give her up for the distant life and strange society in ancient times.’ It truly indicates his dedication to the subject. About the techniques, he said: "I tend to break free from all the rules and shackles, and try to observe, decompose, mix and restructurefrom multiple angles. I want to make the city in front of me into acity of ideas, and even a city in abstract sub-consciousness. This is the city I want to paint. "

　　In my view, he is truly a leading master in contemporary Chinese painting.