Articles about bridges

The Beauty of Bridges

Wu Guanzhong

"The bridge I have walked is longer than the road you have walked." Nowadays, few people use this tone to teach young people a lesson. Boy! Naturally, we will pass through countless bridges in our lifetime. Apart from the engineers who build bridges, painters probably see the most bridges.

Most artists like bridges, and I always look for bridges wherever I go. Bridge, how beautiful! "Small Bridge and Flowing Water with Houses" certainly has the beauty of poetry, but in fact it is more formal beauty of painting: houses - houses, which are blocks; flowing water, which are long lines and curves, and lines and blocks form a contrasting beauty; bridges Intersecting with flowing water brings more formal changes, and it is also a medium between lines and surfaces. It is a bridge that communicates the transformation of forms between lines and surfaces! If the scenery is ruined and all the stone bridges in the Jiangnan water towns or Venice are demolished, although the green water will still surround people's homes, it will completely destroy the structural beauty and formal beauty in the eyes of the painter.

The structure of the stone arch bridge itself is very beautiful: round bridge openings, square stones, and curved bridge backs. The square and round sides get along harmoniously and appropriately. The laws of mechanics often coincide with the laws of beauty. combine. However, my love for bridges does not focus on appreciating bridges as large handicrafts, nor does it focus on the development of bridges since Li Chun’s Zhaozhou Bridge, but on the various forms of bridges in different environments. effect.

Both sides of the river in Wuzhen, Mao Dun’s hometown, are covered with dense reeds, which are really airtight. Whenever a stone bridge appears in the middle, it seems that the stuffy reeds took a deep breath and let out a comfortable breath. gas. The strong arc of the arch bridge or the simple straight lines of the square bridge are in sharp contrast to the reeds. In the early spring weather, the thin willow threads fluttering at the head of the stone bridge in the Jiangnan countryside. The slender hairsprings are blowing against the hard stones of the bridge. Even if the dawn wind and the waning moon cannot be seen, the artist is ecstatic! The lake is vast and the water and sky are the same color. In front of a pure and bright background, a long bridge suddenly appears, like a crouching dragon. It is alive and often hundreds or thousands of years old. People cherish the beauty of the Long Bridge. The imitated Marco Polo Bridge in the Summer Palace only has 17 holes, while the Baodai Bridge in Suzhou has 53 holes. If you take a boat and watch it slowly along the bridge, you will feel as satisfied as reading an epic poem. Wind and rain bridges are often encountered in mountainous areas in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces. The bridges are covered with corridors and pavilions to protect them from the rain. They are ideal locations for embellishment of figures in ancient landscape paintings. Because there are mostly rapids under the bridge, people always stop to admire the waterfalls and springs, and painters and photographers must have a battle here.

Zhang Zeduan used the bridge as the climax of the painting in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" because the people on and off the bridge, as well as all kinds of boats, will inevitably show lively scenes, and the strong life sentiments of the streets on both sides of the strait are also captured. Bridges are connected to form a condensed drawing. The development of contradictions leads to the climax of the drama. The overlapping and interlacing of images form a rich picture. Bridges often play the role of connecting the overlapping and interlacing of images. No wonder bridges are often encountered in paintings and photography works. As far as the eye can see, there is a crop field, which is a bit monotonous. A small bridge suddenly appears at the end of the path. The reflection of the bridge is reflected in the river under the bridge, and the reflection is often pierced by duckweeds and weeds. Whether it is a wooden bridge or a stone bridge, the vertical and horizontal shapes of the bridge and the water waves under the bridge create music of shape and color. The fields are silent, and painters love to listen to the singing of bridges in silent places. They look for bridges, just like children looking for excitement. Transportation between the mountains and canyons is carried out by iron cable bridges and bamboo cable bridges. I have painted many rope bridges in Tibet, Xishuangbanna, Sichuan and other places. Human rope bridges are dangerous, but in the eyes of painters, rope bridges are just a line, a flexible line! It is difficult to say that an isolated line has any vitality. It is the precipitous environment that gives birth to the life of the bridge. It is the diverse lines of mountains, rocks, trees and rapids that set off the rope bridge to achieve the effect of a line with unique vitality.

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge looks like a straight line from a distance. Is the straight line beautiful? Are straight lines more consistent with the new aesthetic? It is not appropriate to ask general questions or give general answers. In the processing of artistic forms, there are often slight mistakes and huge differences. In order to draw the Yangtze River Bridge, I once climbed up the Lion Rock in Nanjing, just to find points, lines, and surfaces that contrast, echo, and extend the straight lines of the bridge! In order to draw the Qiantang River Bridge, I climbed up to the hillside behind the Liuhe Pagoda twice, but I could never handle the relationship between the huge Liuhe Pagoda and the long bridge, so it didn't form a picture. Although there are many weeping willows along the riverside and peach blossoms bloom all over the mountain, the color of the makeup can’t influence the beauty of the structure! There are many straight bridges on Chengkun Road, and trains are constantly crossing bridges, entering holes, exiting holes, and crossing bridges, almost connecting bridges to holes and holes to bridges. Every time we pass through the circular valley, looking forward and backward, we see the straight lines of many bridges cutting through the steep slopes from time to time. Sometimes they appear dangerous and beautiful, and sometimes they are dangerous but not beautiful. Beauty and danger are not the same thing.

Photographers and painters continue to explore the beauty of bridges. Both large bridges and small bridges have their own beauty. Someone painted a magpie bridge. The bridge composed of magpies not only has a good meaning, but also has a free and lively form.

Any image that plays a key role in composition and connection actually possesses the beauty of a bridge!