8th Yada Academy Lecture & Talk Successfully Held

On the afternoon of March 28th, 8th Yada Academy Lecture & Talk was held at Life Bookstore of Yada Yangxian Xishan. The famous painter Mr. Yang Mingyi recalled his experience in painting of 60 years under the theme of “Draw Jiangnan for A Lifetime”. He explained “what to paint” and “how to paint”, and expressed his deep affection to the water town in the south of the lower reaches of Yangtze River Delta (Jiangnan).  

Mr. Yang Mingyi was born and grew up in Suzhou that were full of water town landscape. He started the painting learning journey from drawing Jiangnan water town when he was a teenager. In his works afterward, he continued to draw Jiangnan for his nostalgia.

Mr. Yang is called the First One to Find Zhou Zhuang. During the Lecture & Talk, he told with strong emotion about the past that he led Mr. Wu Guanzhong, Mr. Chen Yifei and other people to paint at Zhou Zhuang, and recalled his teachers and friends, including Mr. Lin Fengmian, Mr. Huang Yongyu and Mr. Chen Danqing, by many lovely details in relationship. In his eyes, Jiangnan featured simplicity and elegance. He stressed out that, a painter should not only draw the traditional Jiangnan, but also follow the pace of time to describe its transformation.

During the event, Mr. Yang also exchanged with painters from Xu Beihong Art Academy. He pointed out that, basic skill was key to painting. In the sense, it was important that both learning the essence of Chinese traditional culture and paying attention to acquire excellent western culture. Observation deserved more attention. That meant to find the beauty of life and display it by painting. It was not suggested to be anxious for success. Only art that could stand the test of time had the real value.

The Lecture & Talk was hosted by the co-founder of Yada Academy and the writer Mr. Yang Kui. He concluded the event by the comments of Mr. Chen Danqing on Mr. Yang Mingyi, “he is at leisure, neat and elegant, natural and unrestrained, without any noise of metropolitan. This comment was not only a description on Mr. Yang, but also the understanding of Mr. Yang Kui on Jiangnan.

Yada Academy is a key cultural facility of Yada Yangxian Xishan Town. With the aspiration of spreading Jiangnan Culture and gathering talented elites who devote themselves to carry forward Jiangnan Culture, Yada Academy launches a series cultural activity - Yada Academy Lectures & Talks. On December 15th, Yada Academy Lecture & Talk was listed in Yixing Public Reading Promotion Demonstration Projects.