展览前言/ Preface

金农(1687-1763)，杭州人，清康熙二十六年生于钱塘江边候潮门外，乾隆二十八年秋九月，殁于扬州佛舍，翌年归葬杭州临平黄鹤山。金农字寿门，号冬心先生，别号甚多。金农是清代“扬州八怪”的核心人物，碑派书法的杰出先行者，文人画新境界开拓者的代表。

金农年十七习诗，以诗闻名江南士林，得到诗坛名宿毛奇龄、朱彝尊的赏识，师从著名学者何焯。清初金石学复兴，碑学初萌，改变了当时帖学垄断的单一书风。金农书法以隶为基，溢为诸体，拙朴清峭。最具代表性的是“漆书”。金农在书法上是善变者，具有极大的创造性。金农五十岁后始有画事，“涉笔即古，脱尽画家之习。”其画古拙怪逸。画竹、梅、马、佛、山水、花卉等，多有长题，深厚的诗文修养赋予其画作以更丰富的内涵和意趣。

金农中年移寓扬州，也曾出游数年，踪迹半海内。挚友刘仲益曾题金农四十七岁像赞，有句：“半生舟楫蹄与轮，诗名到处传千春。”在扬州时，金农与书画家高翔、汪士慎、郑板桥，文人厉鹗、杭世骏、全祖望、袁枚多有交往，时相雅集唱和；参与两淮盐运使卢见曾红桥修禊；参加盐商马曰琯、马曰璐小玲珑山馆雅集等。

金农五十岁时被荐举博学鸿词科，不中而返，布衣终身。隐与仕的选择困扰了其一生，身处市井俗世，心慕山林气象，这是金农的两难困境。金农虽长期流寓商业繁华的扬州，卖画为生，但其书画殊具金石气，文心禅意，冷隽孤绝，对后世影响深远，近代“海上画派”的赵之谦、吴昌硕等，及现代齐白石等名家也都从金农的书画中得到启示、汲取营养。

“金农特展”是浙江美术馆近年来继王铎、傅山、何绍基、赵之谦等自主策划实施的“中国传统经典系列”名家特展后的又一大展，也是这个系列中首次出现杭州籍艺术家。此次从全国二十家博物馆、美术馆等机构借展二百余件作品、文献，通过学术梳理，整合成绘画、书法、金农与扬州八怪和金农归去来兮四个单元，全面呈现金农一生绚烂的艺术成就与鲜明的风格特征，是金农代表性作品的集大成，也是近年以来金农专题性最强、规模最大的展览。通过展览，为我们今天更好地理解、传承和创新中华优秀传统文化，提供宝贵的示范与启示。同时也藉以表达我们作为故乡人，对这位艺术前贤的敬意与告慰，迎奉冬心先生“魂兮归来”。

Jin Nong (1687–1763), a native of Hangzhou, was born outside Houchao Gate by the Qiantang River in the 26th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty. He passed away in Yangzhou in September in the 28th year of the Qianlong reign and was buried the following year at Huanghe Hill in Linping. Known by the courtesy name Shoumen and the literary name Mr. Dongxin, he also used numerous sobriquets and stood as a central figure among the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou,” a trailblazer of stele-school calligraphy, and a key innovator who explored the boundaries of literati painting.

At seventeen, Jin Nong began his study of poetry, and later gained recognition in the Jiangnan district for his mastery of poetry. He was recognized early by literary masters Mao Qiling and Zhu Yizun, and later studied under the renowned scholar He Zhuo. In early Qing dynasty, the revitalization of epigraphy and the emergence of the stele school diversified the calligraphic field long dominated by the model-book tradition. Jin Nong’s diverse calligraphy styles rooted in clerical script, developing a style both pure and incisive. His most celebrated creation, the “Lacquer Script,” reveals his versatile and creative aesthetics. After fifty, he began to paint seriously. His brushwork was instantly imbued with classical elegance, shedding all formulaic painterly conventions. His paintings—of bamboo, plum blossoms, horses, Buddha figures, landscapes, and flowers—often include long inscriptions, reflecting his deep literary cultivation that imbued his paintings with richer meaning and intellectual resonance.

In midlife, Jin Nong relocated to Yangzhou, though he traveled widely across the land. His friend Liu Zhongyi inscribed a portrait of the forty-seven-year-old Jin Nong: “Half a life by boat, hoof, and wheel—his poetic fame spreads like spring across the land.” In Yangzhou, he forged close ties with painters Gao Xiang, Wang Shishen, and Zheng Banqiao, and with literati such as Li E, Hang Shijun, Quan Zuwang, and Yuan Mei. He joined elegant gatherings hosted by Salt Commissioner Lu Jianzeng alongside the Hongqiao Bridge and by the Salt Merchants Ma brothers (Ma Yueguan and Ma Yuelu) at the Xiaolinglong Hill Villa.

At fifty, he was recommended for the prestigious Boxue Hongci imperial examination but was not selected, remaining a commoner throughout his life. Torn between reclusion and public service, he lived amid the commercial bustle of Yangzhou yet longed for “A Reclusive Spirit Amid the Mundane.” Though he made his living through selling paintings, his works were infused with epigraphic vigor, literary depth, and a distant, solitary grace, inspiring later masters such as “Shanghai School” leading figures Zhao Zhiqian and Wu Changshuo and the modern artist Qi Baishi.

“Jin Nong’s Art World” is the newest chapter in the Chinese Classics Exhibition Series independently curated by Zhejiang Art Museum, following exhibitions on Wang Duo, Fu Shan, He Shaoji, and Zhao Zhiqian—and marks the series’ first focus on an artist native to Hangzhou. Gathering more than 200 works and documents from 20 museums and art galleries across China, the exhibition is arranged into four sections: Painting, Calligraphy, Jin Nong and the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, and Jin Nong’s Homeward Heart. It offers an overview of Jin Nong’s radiant artistic accomplishments and singular style, representing the most comprehensive and ambitious exhibition devoted to him in recent years. Through this exhibition, we offer renewed insight into the preservation, understanding, and creative transformation of China’s enduring cultural heritage, honor a great artist of his hometown and welcome the spirit of Mr. Dongxin back to the landscapes that shaped him.