Cheng Shifa (1921-2007)
Portrait of Ah QInk and colour on paper, mounted for framingInscribed and signed 'old friend of Ah Q', with one seal of the artistDated spring of 198768.0 x 45.0
注脚
Provenance:Collection of Prof. Lim Yean Leng, Melbourne, acquired directly from the artist in 1987 when he visited MelbourneThe True Story of Ah Q is a novella by Lu Xun (1881-1936) published in 1922. Throughout the 20th century, it occupied a special status in literature and politics in China due to its criticism of the Chinese national character, guomin xing. In 1961, Cheng Shifa was commissioned by the Yangcheng Evening News to recreate the novella into 108 sequential drawings for children. In 1981, the children's book was republished in commemorating the Centennial Celebration of Lu Xun's Birth. This illustration of Ah Q is an imagination of the protagonist in the modern era. Signed as 'the old friend of Ah Q', the artist humorously relates himself to the subject, as well as contemplates the passage of time whilst revisiting an old artistic theme from a bygone era.程十髮 阿Q近影 設色紙本 鏡心 一九八七年作款識:趙經理阿Q先生近影。阿Q的老朋友敬畫。一九八七年春。鈐印:十髮畫筒題簽:程十髮阿Q圖。林延齡題。鈐印:延齡傳承:墨爾本林延齡醫生珍藏,一九八七年程十髮造訪墨爾本期間直接得自畫家本人1961年程十發應羊城晚報之約,繪制彩墨連環畫《阿Q正傳一〇八圖》。二十年後為慶祝魯迅先生百年誕辰,程為該連環畫再版重題後記時,自承二十年前覺得「阿Q是阿Q,自己是自己」,而經歷了「這不平常的二十年」後,畫家才領會到阿Q與他「並不太遠」。乃至1987年赴澳大利亞訪問講學時,竟以「阿Q的老朋友」属名為阿Q再度立像。畫中的阿Q經過時代的變遷,「榮任」經理,打領帶登皮鞋,一手端咖啡,一手夾卷煙,昂首翹腳,目中無人,而腦後的辮子卻又長回來了,也還仍舊姓趙。辦公桌前相架中的女人,不知是否仍是吳媽?