Travel and exploration vs. exotic painting 旅行&探索vs異國繪畫

旅行和探索

文藝復興時期的旅行和探索「被視為嚴格而無恥的商業和探索目的」。 （後殖民研究，第89頁）隨著時代的變遷，殖民統治和航海技術的進步，新的旅行者開始尋找新的地理和生物訊息，或宗教信仰的傳播。 不同群體的探索旅行，由此產生的旅行記述，逐漸以小說的形式運用在作品中。 探索和旅行的目的也逐漸明顯地運用到繪畫創作中。 例如，其中一位藝術家是美國著名畫家約翰·辛格·薩金特，「他的作品記錄了世界各地的旅行，從威尼斯到蒂羅爾、科孚島、西班牙、中東、蒙大拿州、緬因州和佛羅裡達州。” 

 

這裡我想表達的是，異國繪畫，除了幫助美術館或畫廊賺取豐厚的財富和收藏家之外，在國外繪畫、在畫室畫異國風景，其實非常值得被視為「跨文化」的發展和交流。去鑽研。 例如，我們可能想了解藝術家為什麼以及如何喜歡在異國環境中創作藝術？ 藝術家在改變這些異域體驗方面有什麼挑戰或意圖嗎？ 此外，由於不對稱的文化關係，畫家和觀眾之間是否存在任何挑戰？

幸運的是，今年我有機會參加AAU在佛羅倫斯的暑期留學。 我們花了七個星期的時間在當地各個著名景點作畫，參觀了許多文藝復興時期留下的美術館、大教堂和紀念碑。 這幅畫主要描繪了佛羅倫薩山上米開朗基羅廣場的日落、城市和河流景觀。 以簡化的圖像形式漫步，沒有非常複雜的顏色。 畫作展現了在這一天即將結束的佛羅倫薩，一座承載著延續和發展文藝復興文化精神的城市，一場跨越600多年前至今的時空衝突與妥協。 看似平靜的日落山水畫，其實背後的故事是來自世界各地的純真的旅人湧向山上的梯田，在日落的那一刻，他們一起欣喜若狂，歡呼鼓掌。 我很驚訝異國日落的令人驚嘆的吸引力竟然能讓人們暫時忘記彼此的差異並共同讚美它。 同時，也不禁感嘆思考佛羅倫斯旅遊業未來的發展，將走向何方。

然而，在十九世紀，異國情調、外來事物在整個帝國中越來越多地獲得了刺激或令人興奮的差異的內涵，可以（安全地）為國內增添調味品。 這裡的關鍵概念是將國外的異國情調引入國內經濟。” （後殖民研究，第87頁）如果大都會的異國情調是國家展示權力和財富的重要組成部分。 不可否認，許多異域繪畫，在某種程度上，除了充當文化之間的橋樑之外，還應該讓人去探究這些繪畫中所隱藏的故事或影射。 這就像我的畫在旅行和探索佛羅倫薩異國日落時想要表達的那種富有想像力的構建和內省。

Renaissance travel and exploration, "Was seen as strictly and unashamedly commercial and explorative in purpose." (Post-Colonial Studies, p.89) As times changed, colonial rule and seafaring technology advanced, new travelers began to look for new geographic and biological information, or the spread of religious beliefs. The exploratory travels of different groups, the resulting travel accounts, are gradually used in works in the form of novels. The purpose of exploration and travel is also gradually and obviously used in painting creation. For example, one of those artists, is the famous American painter, John Singer Sargent, “His oeuvre documents worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, Spain, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida.” (Wikipedia) 

What I want to express here is that exotic paintings, in addition to helping art museums or galleries to earn abundant wealth and collectors, painting abroad and painting exotic landscape in studio are actually very worthy of being regarded as "cross-cultural" development and communication to delve. For example, we might like to understand why and how artists love doing their arts at exotic environment ? are there any challenges or intentions for artists to transform these exotic experiences? furthermore, are there any challenges between the painters and viewers due to asymmetric cultural relationships?

Fortunately, I got a chance to participate in AAU Summer Study Aboard in Florence this year. We spent seven weeks painting in various well-known local attractions, visiting many art galleries, cathedrals and monuments left in the Renaissance. The painting mainly depicts sunset, city and river views from Piazzale Michelangelo on the hills of Florence. Wander in simplified figurative form, without very complex colors. The painting shows that in Florence, where this day is coming to an end, a city that carries the spirit of continuing and developing the Renaissance culture, a time-space conflict and compromise that spans more than 600 years ago to the present. The seemingly peaceful sunset landscape painting, in fact, the story behind it is that innocent travelers from all over the world flock to the terraces on the mountain, and at the moment of sunset, they are ecstatic together, cheer and applause. I was very amazed at how the breathtaking attraction of an exotic sunset can make people temporarily forget their differences and praise it together. At the same time, I can't help but sigh and contemplate about the future development of tourism in Florence and where it will go.

“During the nineteenth century, however, the exotic, the foreign, increasingly gained, throughout the empire, the connotations of a stimulating or exciting difference, something with which the domestic could be (safely) spiced. The key conception here is the introduction of the exotic from abroad into a domestic economy.” (Post-Colonial Studies, p.87) If the exoticism of the metropolis is an important part of countries' displays of power and wealth. It is undeniable that many exotic paintings, to a certain extent, in addition to acting as a bridge between cultures, also should make people delve in stories or insinuations are hidden in these paintings. It's like the kind of imaginative construction and introspection that my paintings want to express in traveling and exploring exotic sunset of Florence.

Works Cited

 

Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. (http://staff.uny.ac.id/sites/default/files/pendidikan/else-lilianissmhum/postcolonialstudiesthekeyconceptsroutledgekeyguides.pdf ), 2022

 

Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singer_Sargent, 2022

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