他的脸，唤醒了一代人的内心记忆 ——《美术里的中国》展现农民艺术家笔下的“民族脊梁”

他，泥土般的皮肤，渗出点点晶莹；他，古铜色的脸庞，被炙热打亮。深陷的眼窝、扯开的嘴角、受伤的手指、闪烁的汗珠…… 他的目光饱含情感，脸上依旧带着希望。

在1980年第二届全国青年画展上，画家罗中立以巨幅油画《父亲》参展，轰动整个美术界。这幅画也将他的名字写进了中国当代美术史。中央广播电视总台纪录片《美术里的中国》通过讲述罗中立青年时期在四川大巴山的生活经历，展现了《父亲》的创作历程，表达出画家想为饱经沧桑的农民们说句老实话的深切愿望。

油画《父亲》创作于1980年。它以纵2.16米、横1.52米的巨幅尺寸和令人惊叹的细节处理将一位朴实的农民呈现在观者眼前，被业内视为中国美术史上具有里程碑意义的作品。

画中的这位“父亲”头裹白布，皮肤在阳光的照射下显得黝黑；他的脸上，布满了艰苦岁月留下的皱纹；他的眉弓上，附着着闪烁欲滴的汗珠；干裂、焦灼的嘴唇似乎已被风干许久，仅剩一颗牙齿的嘴里不知尝过多少辛酸；粗糙的大手端着一只破旧的粗瓷碗，深陷的眼睛被对面一位熟悉或陌生的来客所吸引。这样一幅人物肖像特写，如雄壮的山峦一般鼎立于画布之上。

罗中立著名油画作品《父亲》

《父亲》是罗中立的成名作和代表作，但并不是他第一次画农民。上世纪六十至七十年代，罗中立在四川大巴山度过了十余年的知青生活。青葱岁月里，农民的朴实与坚韧在他心中留下深深烙印。罗中立回忆道，《父亲》这幅画构思的产生是从他在当地看到一位守粪农民开始的。1975年除夕夜，罗中立在公厕旁看见了一位叼着旱烟、神情呆滞的守粪农民。在那个年代，农民进城主要是淘粪作肥料。为了肥料，生产队和公社之间经常发生斗争，以致许多农民会日夜守在厕所，以防其他生产队偷抢。他们的神态和境遇令罗中立内心受到极大震动，他决定创作一件抒写农民的绘画作品，为他们呐喊。于是，素描手稿《守粪的农民》诞生了。

素描手稿《守粪的农民》局部

罗中立不断尝试，笔下的农民形象虽在不断变化，但他始终认为缺乏震撼人心的力量。罗中立说，他希望创作出一幅有分量的作品为农民群体发声。在他眼中，农民是民族的脊梁，农民的命运一定程度上也代表了国家的命运。

一次偶然的机会，罗中立从美术杂志中获得顿悟。他决定舍弃场景，用心来刻画肖像的每一处细节，画一张感情真挚、纯朴憨厚的脸，一张令全体中国人都能感同身受的脸。除了对作品各处的精妙处理，画家还将馒头渣与油画颜料混合作为肌理，体现出其取材于大地的创作理念。

油画家罗中立

没有斑斓夺目的华丽色彩，没有激越荡漾的宏大场面，但画中的农民形象依然丰满润泽。当《父亲》出现在全国青年美展的会场时，这位饱经风霜的农民唤起了每位观者对自己父亲的记忆——历尽苦难、奋斗不息、充满力量。他们用这种力量支撑起了一个家，更支撑起了整个民族。

The oil portrait "Father" is seen as a milestone in contemporary Chinese portraiture. Created by Luo Zhongli, this famous artwork was displayed at the second National Young Painter's Exhibition in 1980, when it caused a sensation in the domestic fine art circle. 

The documentary series "Fine Arts in China" by China Media Group shows how this oil painting came into being by focusing on the life experience of Luo Zhongli in rural Sichuan during his youth. It also shows the painter's admiration for farmers through his art.

Taking a farmer as its subject, "Father" stands as a representative work of Luo Zhongli and has helped to establish his reputation in the oil painting field. Through its larger-than-life dimensions and meticulous detail, it conveys the farmer's dignity in an almost tangible way. In this painting, the farmer's bronzed face radiates heat. Moreover, his chapped lips thirst for moisture while his toothless mouth looks like it has swallowed numerous hardships, and his rough hands clutch a chipped bowl evoking a sense of struggle and hunger. The farmer's deep-set eyes seem to be marveling at nature's bounty amid the piercing sunshine, while also gazing calmly yet hopefully at the person in front of him. This close-up image bears strongly on the canvas, making the farmer's stoical acceptance of struggle and suffering impossible to ignore.

Measuring more than 2 meters by 1.5 meters, this masterpiece was not Luo Zhongli's first attempt at portraying farmers. From the 1960s to the 1970s, he lived in the Daba Mountain area of southwest China's Sichuan. In those salad days, the young painter came to appreciate the perseverance of those toiling the fields. Luo recalled how he was inspired to paint "Father" when he saw a wizened old farmer guarding a storage area of manure. 

In the 1970s, most of the Chinese countryside relied on this as a fertilizer. So the outhouses were closely guarded in case neighboring villagers tried to make off with this valuable resource. Luo explained that, as the Spring Festival was approaching that year, he met a farmer guarding one of these depots. The man looked dazed and had huddled in a corner because he was tired and cold. That scene moved Luo immensely, and he decided to paint a portrait to honor all Chinese farmers. The sketch dubbed "Manure-guarding Farmer" was actually the first draft of "Father."

To better capture the essence and experience of these Chinese farmers, Luo tried various visual arrangements - from them gathering the harvest to others posing as former guerrilla fighters - but in the end none of these were artistically satisfying for him. Luo said he wanted to create a magnificent and timeless image, a representative portrait that did justice to China's farming population, who serve as the backbone of the nation. In his mind, the fate of those tilling and farming the land represented the country as a whole.

By chance, Luo Zhongli got an important insight one day while leafing through an art magazine. He decided to eschew the scenery and the story, and focus instead on devoting the entire canvas to the face of one farmer. In doing so, he painted a visage that would resonate with all Chinese.

The image of a Chinese farmer whose eyes still burn intensely with hope despite all of the hardships he has endured reminded many spectators of their own fathers. Such paternal strength gained through persistence and an indomitable will has buoyed and sustained families through generations across the entire nation. Many came to see "Father" as an everlasting tribute to this unyielding spirit.

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