Truly not often do you get to upstage Andy Warhol. And with an exhibition about flowers of all things. For there are very few exhibitions, if any, of floral still lifes on a scale that match that now on display in Nanjing.
确实，你很少能抢过安迪·沃霍尔的风头。还有一个关于万物之花的展览。因为，规模能与南京目前展出的花卉静物画展相媲美的展览（如果有的话）也非常少。
Those behind, “Nothing Still About Still Lifes: Three Centuries of Floral Compositions”, now on in the Deji Art Museum have put in to it what they call, “10 years of systematic acquisition”. And then put it all together in such a way and with an attention to detail that suggests a lot longer was taken to do so. But this is China. And we move fast. A lot of people have also been very hard at work. It shows too.
目前在德基美术馆展出的《静物静物：三个世纪的花卉构图》背后的创作者投入了他们所说的“十年的系统采集”。然后以这样一种方式将所有内容放在一起，并注重细节，这表明这样做需要更长的时间。但这是中国。我们行动迅速。很多人也都非常努力地工作。也表明了。
Curated by by Dr. Joachim Pissarro, Professor Emeritus at Hunter College of the City University of New York, herein over one hundred works of floral compositions by both Chinese and Western masters. That means San Yu, Wu Dayu, Zao Wou-Ki, Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, the aforementioned Mr. Warhol, and star of the show, Claude Monet.
由纽约城市大学亨特学院名誉教授约阿希姆·毕沙罗博士策划，展出百余幅中西大师的花艺作品。这意味着常玉、吴大羽、赵无极、巴勃罗·毕加索、达米安·赫斯特、前面提到的沃霍尔先生，以及剧中的明星克劳德·莫奈。
But before we get to all that, let’s be honest; floral still life sounds a bit dull. And that’s why no one bothers. But Deji has breathed new life into the genre with an approach that is both transcultural and transdisciplinary.
但在我们讨论这一切之前，让我们说实话；花卉静物听起来有点沉闷。这就是为什么没人打扰的原因。但德吉以跨文化和跨学科的方式为这一流派注入了新的活力。
Drawing upon nearly 300 years of Chinese and Western history, the exhibition aims to contextualise changes in artistic style within the narratives of flower species’ circulation through global trade. Thus, this exhibition anchors the artistic production of still lifes within the greater landscape of political, economic, scientific, technological and cultural development that has nurtured rich dialogues between China and the Western world over the centuries.
展览借鉴近300年的中西历史，旨在将艺术风格的变化融入花卉品种通过全球贸易流通的叙述中。因此，本次展览将静物艺术创作置于政治、经济、科学、技术和文化发展的更大视野中，这些发展在几个世纪以来孕育了中国与西方世界之间丰富的对话。
Through the dialectical relationship between “stillness” and “movement”, the exhibition looks back upon the special significance of floral still lifes in Chinese and Western art history, exploring the vital force within these works that inspires our perception and imagination today.
展览通过“静”与“动”的辩证关系，回顾花卉静物在中西艺术史上的特殊意义，探讨这些作品激发我们今天感知和想象的生命力。
Such is exemplified by a brief examination of the two of the most prominent Chinese artists whose works are on display.
对展出作品的两位最著名的中国艺术家的简要考察就证明了这一点。
Wu Dayu brings us “Flower in Vase”, painted sometime in the 1950s. Wu belonged to the first generation of Chinese artists to study abroad in France and was one of the founders of modern Chinese painting, known as the “father of Chinese abstract art”. Wu combined schools of modern Western painting with traditional Chinese painting styles, and still lifes depicting flowers in a vase were a recurring subject matter throughout his entire life. The brushstrokes in “Flower in Vase” are both pure and expressive, blurring the border between realism and abstraction, and this work bears important witness both to the artist’s stylistic shift to abstraction in the 1950s, as well as to the nascent stage of modern Chinese abstract art.
吴大羽为我们带来了20世纪50年代的《瓶中花》。吴冠中属于中国第一代留学法国的艺术家，是中国现代绘画的奠基人之一，被誉为“中国抽象艺术之父”。吴氏将现代西方绘画流派与中国传统绘画风格相结合，瓶中花卉静物画是他一生中反复出现的题材。 《瓶中花》的笔触既纯粹又富有表现力，模糊了写实与抽象的界限，这件作品既是20世纪50年代艺术家风格转向抽象的重要见证，也是中国现代抽象艺术萌芽阶段的重要见证。
Then there is Zao Wou-ki with “The Lillies” from much the same time. Zao was among the second generation of Chinese artists to study in France. The Lillies, while carrying on the traditional Chinese use of lines, reflect even more his continuation and revival of traditional Chinese bird and flower motifs. It can be considered a work representative both of Zao’s harmonious blend of Chinese and Western aesthetics, and his combination of traditional elements and modernism.
还有几乎同时期的赵无极和《百合花》。赵无极是第二代赴法留学的中国艺术家之一。 《百合花》在继承中国传统线条运用的同时，更体现了他对中国传统花鸟图案的延续和复兴。它可以说是赵无极中西美学和谐交融、传统元素与现代主义结合的代表作。
Hence, if there’s anything this exhibition teaches us, it’s that in art there are no absolutes. There is no Chinese art, or French art, or Renaissance, or Impressionism. There is only a blurring of the lines in between. And that’s what makes this expansive exhibition all the more compelling.
因此，如果说这次展览教会了我们什么的话，那就是艺术没有绝对性。没有中国艺术，没有法国艺术，没有文艺复兴，没有印象派。只是两者之间的界限变得模糊。这就是使这个规模宏大的展览更加引人注目的原因。
Deji, terribly terribly proud of this opus (and rightfully so), is also surprisingly humble. And as a result, cagey when it comes to money. And The Nanjinger supports that sentiment. But there is obviously ridiculous value attached to many of the pieces within the exhibition. Star of the show, Claude Monet’s “Fleurs dans un pot”, for example, was sold at Sothebys in New York in 2021 for US$10,375,200. To whom we don’t know…
德吉对这部作品感到非常自豪（这是理所当然的），但他也出奇地谦虚。因此，在金钱方面，他很谨慎。 《南京人》也支持这种观点。但展览中的许多作品显然都具有荒谬的价值。例如，该剧的明星克劳德·莫奈的《Fleurs dans un pot》于 2021 年在纽约苏富比拍卖行以 10,375,200 美元的价格售出。对于我们不知道的人…
One of only four still lifes made by Monet in 1878, this is the work that shows Monet relying upon colour and light effects to depict the dynamic life force of flowers.
这是莫奈 1878 年创作的仅有的四幅静物画之一，这幅作品展示了莫奈依靠色彩和光效来描绘花朵的动态生命力。
And it doesn’t stop there. Also housed within, another Monet, “L’Escalier”, worth a bit less, is to be found in the exhibition’s sophomore chapter, “Avant-Gardening”, where Monet portrays the results of him moving to the small village of Vétheuil that same year.
而且它还不止于此。展览的第二章“前卫园艺”中还展出了莫奈的另一幅作品《阶梯》，其价值稍低一些，其中莫奈描绘了他同年搬到维特伊小村庄的结果。
And as for that Andy Warhol, “Flowers” from 1964 is significant for it becoming the symbol of Warhol’s pivotal shift towards nature-based themes. Indeed, each spring, critics are reminded of the influence that this element of Warhol’s cannon of work continues to have on the art world, long after it was fashionable in the “flower power” era.
对于安迪·沃霍尔来说，1964年的《花》具有重要意义，因为它成为沃霍尔向自然主题的关键转变的象征。事实上，每年春天，评论家都会想起沃霍尔作品中的这一元素在“花的力量”时代流行很久之后仍然对艺术界产生的影响。
“Nothing Still About Still Lifes: Three Centuries of Floral Compositions”, runs indefinitely in the Deji Art Museum on 8F of Deja Plaza Phase II. Admission is ¥180.
“静物无物：三个世纪的花卉构图”在德嘉广场二期八楼德基美术馆无限期展出。入场费为180日元。
