Modern touch
现代手法
Exhibition showcases an artist's lifelong endeavor to inject modernity into classical paintings in 20th-century China, Lin Qi reports.
画展上，一位艺术家花费毕生功力，在20世纪中国的传统绘画中注入现代元素。
The late master of classical Chinese paintings Qi Baishi once said he often felt that one of his hands had been "stolen" by his student Wang Xuetao (1903-82).
已故的传统国画大师齐白石曾经说，他时常感觉自己的一只手被他的学生王雪涛（1903-82）给“偷走了”。
Qi was known for his accurate depictions of insects such as butterflies, crickets and dragonflies, and the vivid details of the insects' wings and heads stand out in his paintings.
齐白石以其对蝴蝶、蟋蟀以及蜻蜓等昆虫的精细描绘而闻名，昆虫的翅膀及头部这些惟妙惟肖的细节在他的画作中熠熠生辉。
While Wang was studying at the Beijing Fine Arts School in the early 1920s, he picked up Qi's excellent brushwork. The school is now known as the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
王雪涛在20世纪20年代初期于国立北平艺术专科学校求学时，就继承了齐白石卓越的绘画风格，该学校现在就是大名鼎鼎的中央美术学院。
Wu Hongliang, head of the Beijing Fine Art Academy, says Qi joked that Wang had such good skills that it was as if Wang used his fingers to paint.
北京画院院长吴洪亮表示，齐白石曾经开玩笑说王雪涛的绘画技能相当精湛，仿佛是在用自己的手指绘画。
Decades later, Wang followed his teacher's footsteps to become one of the leading artists in the flower-and-bird genre of classical Chinese paintings, and also became head of the Beijing Fine Art Academy.
数载之后，王雪涛追随老师的脚步，成为中国传统花鸟画大家之一，而且成为北京画院院长。
Wu likes the portrayal of small insects in Wang's work. "The subtle way he administered the brush and the refinement in how he completed the strokes－it all feels so gorgeous. Not overly done, but quite appropriate," Wu says.
吴洪亮喜欢王雪涛作品中对小昆虫的描绘。“他细腻、精炼的笔触简直精妙绝伦，恰到好处，”吴洪亮表示。
The lingering charm of an animated world under Wang's brushstrokes is the center of Vitality and Joy, an exhibition at Beijing's National Museum of China until June 30.
王洪涛笔下的生动世界在“生趣盎然”画展中展现得淋漓尽致，其风采让人回味无穷，该画展在位于北京的中国国家博物馆举办，持续至6月30日。
During Wang's years at the Beijing Fine Arts School, oil paintings and watercolors were gaining widespread popularity.
王雪涛在国立北平艺术专科学校求学时，油画和水彩画一度风靡。
In that same period, classical Chinese art was losing touch due to its confinement to rigid rules throughout the centuries.
而与此同时，传统国画却因其几百年来囿于死板的规则而与时代产生隔阂。
Wang, who majored in oil painting, also took courses by great ink painters like Qi and Wang Mengbai.
王雪涛当时专攻油画，也会学习齐白石和王梦白等水墨画大师的课程。
He was drawn to the beauty and poetry sense of the classical art and gradually established fame in the realm of Chinese paintings.
他被传统艺术的优美和诗意所吸引，逐渐在国画领域声名鹊起。
Wang revived the art by preserving the best of it while adopting elements of Western art.
通过去粗取精、西为中用，王雪涛使该艺术焕发了生机。
"His brushwork is alive and clean. He was able to capture the lively moments of an animal, or a flower.
“他的绘画生动简洁，能够刻画出到动物或花卉的生动瞬间。”
It is as if these subjects became animated on paper," says Liu Wanming, deputy director of the National Museum of China and curator of Vitality and Joy.
这些物体都跃然纸上，栩栩如生，”中国国家博物馆副馆长兼“生趣盎然”策展人刘万鸣表示。
"We can see from these works that Wang loved life and all things in the universe.
“从这些作品中我们可以看出王雪涛热爱生活以及天地间的一切。
His paintings present an atmosphere, a high spirit－above all figurative depictions－which is considered superior in Chinese paintings."
比那些所有形象的描绘更为重要的是，他的画作呈现出了一种氛围、一种抖擞的精神，这在国画中是出类拔萃的。
