孫雯
黃云松是一位畫家。上世紀七八十年代,對于喜愛繪畫的青少年而言,這個名字如雷貫耳。在鋼筆畫傳入中國的一百多年里,黃云松與錢貴蓀、華三川、顏梅華、董洪元等人成為了其中的翹楚。即使不熟識這個名字,也一定知道《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書,它是幾代人內心最為永久的記憶之一。
不久前,杭州影天國際藝廊舉辦了一場黃云松的作品展,題為:來自南緯37度的報告。
南緯37度的新西蘭南部城市奧克蘭,是這位從浙江溫嶺走出的畫家目前的安居之地。近幾年,他往來于杭州與奧克蘭之間,時不時應杭州藝術界朋友之約舉行畫展,與友人聊一聊自己的創(chuàng)作。
這次畫展,是黃云松在南半球島國的海天之間,浸潤十年的創(chuàng)作成果。
在黃云松杭州的家中,筆者見到了這位久負盛名的畫家。
2019年6月,黃云松即將迎來80歲生日。眼前的他,戴一頂棒球帽,眼神明亮,語調爽朗。
環(huán)顧他的起居環(huán)境,客廳的茶幾上、地上齊整整地疊放著簽好名的連環(huán)畫圖書。一間不大的畫室是他的工作間,案頭上幾本連環(huán)畫攤開著,扉頁是剛剛繪制完畢的鋼筆畫。他笑著說,每次回國,總有大批客人上門“求簽名”,甚至,不少人還請他在扉頁畫一幅與內文內容相關的畫作。
在畫室的書架上,黃云松抽出了當年創(chuàng)作《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》連環(huán)畫的原稿,他說,這是他真正的“財富”。
關于《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書創(chuàng)造的出版奇跡,就從這疊畫稿聊起。
1984年,黃云松與同事韓幼文一起策劃了大型套書《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書。
今天翻看豆瓣網,仍會看到很多關于《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書的回憶文字。
豆瓣網友“年公”說,他小的時候,家里不富裕。一天,“年公”隨爸爸去拜訪一位叔叔,百無聊賴四處打量的時候,他在書柜里發(fā)現了這套書——“我忘記了我是怎樣回的家,我只記得爸爸和那位叔叔不熟,爸爸告訴我以后應該沒機會去的,我的心第一次痛了,和我后來失戀時痛得一模一樣?!?/p>
在《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書的讀者中,不僅僅有“年公”這樣當時的少年,還有比他年長的中青年。
如同黃云松所形容的,這套“全世界絕無僅有”的通俗讀物的產生,除了畫家的才華之外,還需時代的造就。
上世紀70年代末80年代初,很多的返城的知識青年,都有繼續(xù)接受教育的愿望,但不是所有人都能進入高校學習。于是,從1978年開始,電大教育火爆。參與這種教育體系的,除了返城的知識青年,還有一些四五十歲的中年人。“文學課是電大的必修課程,中國文學還好說,但是世界文學浩如煙海,老師列出的書單,即使你能買到、能看到,但是幾乎沒有人有足夠的時間去閱讀,這就需要快捷方便的讀本?!?/p>
在如此龐大的受眾群面前,《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書應運而生。
一般來說,外國文學作為一門課程,必讀作品字數不少于兩千萬。而“世界文學名著連環(huán)畫”的文字只八十多萬,而且畫幅精妙。
將陽春白雪的文學,變?yōu)橥ㄋ椎拇蟊娮x物,可以說,這是中國出版史上的一大創(chuàng)舉。在當時,它為很多人打開了一扇了解世界的窗口。
1984年到1988年,《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》從選題提出到完成出版,歷經5年。
叢書濃縮了世界文學史上聲譽最高的60位作家的77部作品,涵蓋歐洲、美洲和亞洲部分。這套叢書改變了原來64開本小人書的形式,做成了上下兩幅內容的32開本。
黃云松為這套叢書畫了3年,創(chuàng)作了其中的《浮土德》《亞當與夏娃》《挪亞方舟》《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》等,其中,《靜靜的頓河》獲全國連環(huán)畫套書一等獎。
“印刷一批,賣空一批?!秉S云松說,“包括《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》,也包括《源氏物語》。”其中,歐美卷累計發(fā)行了40余萬套共400余萬冊。
而讓黃云松更為自豪的是,這套叢書“幾乎當時中國所有著名的連環(huán)畫藝術家都參與了繪制”。的確,翻看這套叢書創(chuàng)作者的名字,他們遍及中央美院、中央工藝美院、浙江美院(中國美院前身)、四川美院……
《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》叢書的序言,由戲劇大家曹禺寫就?!扒笾偸菑暮喴祝瑥男蜗?,從興趣起?!磮D識字是個好方法,看圖認識世界文學,也是一條途徑?!妒澜缥膶W名著連環(huán)畫叢書》,正是這樣一部由引人興趣,到引入深讀原著的好書?!?/p>
在行文之間,曹禺覺得,《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》可以滿足人們關于閱讀的美好愿望——“你想在短時間內博覽世界文學名著嗎?你想盡快提高自己的外國文學修養(yǎng)嗎?”曹禺認為,《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》簡介里說到這句推廣語,是可以實現的。
2017年11月,在杭州武林廣場的浙江展覽館曾舉行了一場并不高調的展覽:“春華秋實——首屆浙江出版人書畫邀請展”,參展的23位藝術家都曾經是出版人,其間,就有黃云松。當展覽現場有人說起“當年,《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》在全國一炮打響,非常不得了”時,觀者不識黃云松,但《世界文學名著連環(huán)畫》幾個字,讓人群剎那間起了一陣騷動——一定是記憶撲面而來了。
就在當年,浙江人民美術出版社“一炮打響”的時候,北京和上海的美術出版社還沒有新動作,黃云松說,各地的兄弟出版社,仍然在磨“四大名著”,比如,“把很多精力放在對一桿槍柄的花飾的雕琢上”。
為了這次在杭州的展覽,黃云松從新西蘭帶回了30多件巨幅佳作。
山海、群魚、飛鳥、原住民的土地和歷史……這些畫大多高寬數米,是黃云松在新西蘭的家中一張不大的書桌上完成的,創(chuàng)作時,只能看到眼前局部,但這絲毫未曾干預到黃云松筆墨之間那些不可描摹的激蕩豪情。
“其實先生自己也和我們一樣,至今才看到這些畫面完全正常展開的樣子。他和大家遠遠地站在一起,臉上露出孩子般的神色:呵呵,原來是這樣的?!秉S云松的一位友人說。
黃云松有多幅畫作涉及“新金山”。
所謂“新金山”,是相對“舊金山”而言。黃云松說,19世紀中葉,美國加利福尼亞大金礦開采枯竭,故名為“舊金山”,就在此時,新西蘭發(fā)現大金礦,全球為之轟動,故名為“新金山”。
2009年,黃云松遷居奧克蘭,專心致志于學習與繪畫創(chuàng)作,其間對早期華人淘金事跡和新西蘭原住民毛利族群的狀況作了力所能及的探究,創(chuàng)作了很多有關的歷史題材作品。
黃云松創(chuàng)作長卷“新金山”,是對19世紀中葉67位華人在新西蘭淘金歷史的挖掘與回顧。
1864年,太平天國運動宣告終結。太平軍雖然是在廣西金田起事,但人員主要來自廣東花縣、增城一帶。清廷命曾國藩在全國清剿太平軍殘部,被擊垮的太平軍殘部逃回家鄉(xiāng)廣東時,正好傳來“新金山”大金礦發(fā)現的消息,席卷全球的淘金狂潮正吸引著各路冒險者。當時,有67名廣東籍太平軍殘部正處于絕境,他們毫不猶豫地飄洋過海,抵達新西蘭南島但尼丁港,成為首批抵達奧太哥河谷的華人淘金者。
黃云松說,這段歷史,記載在了新西蘭國家檔案館的資料中。
一個偶然的機會,黃云松抱著試試看的心態(tài)走進了新西蘭國家檔案館,預約查詢華人淘金資料。沒想到,檔案館安排了一位新加坡籍館員熱情接待了他。就是這次,黃云松看到了一些非常珍貴的資料,并寫了大量的筆記。
淘金不易,要時刻面對企圖不勞而獲的各路強盜?!斑@67名華人,其實是久經沙場的太平軍主力部隊戰(zhàn)士,武功高強,有嚴密的組織紀律,在那個狹窄的、世界上最富有的肖特奧佛峽谷中,他們生存下來了,十多年后成為整個地區(qū)的金礦主,成立了‘大沙灘金礦公司。同時壟斷了全部的錢莊(銀行)?!痹诋嬜鞯目钭R中,黃云松將相關的歷史細節(jié)寫入其中。
在2009年移居奧克蘭之前,黃云松到達新西蘭的前九年,居住在惠靈頓。
2001年,退休后的黃云松為了家庭團聚,移居新西蘭惠靈頓市。和很多初到異國的人一樣,他即使在國內已經成績斐然,此刻依然要從頭開始。
“你在國內的業(yè)務水平和工作能力如何,在國外大致如此?!秉S云松說,友人的這句話,給他極大的動力。
新西蘭是英聯邦成員國之一,而黃云松所擅長的鋼筆畫正是英國的傳統文化。
抵達惠靈頓不久,黃云松即以鋼筆畫創(chuàng)作了一批新西蘭風景畫,同時在最熱鬧的古巴街開辦了“紅門畫廊”。在征詢一些業(yè)內人士的意見后,他創(chuàng)作了一批以但丁的“神曲”為題材的人物畫。作品推向市場后,當地人震驚于一個中國老頭兒竟能體現那些古老的英國傳統鋼筆畫的文化、熟悉經典題材,市場反響相當好。
“我之前從事出版行業(yè),有過上萬幅連環(huán)畫的歷練,外國人根本達不到我的熟練程度?!秉S云松說。
“紅門畫廊”的附近,是維多利亞大學。大學生時常到畫廊來自修,拿黃云松的話來說叫“寫作業(yè)”。后來,他干脆順勢開了一間類似培訓機構的畫室。維多利亞大學的學子尤其是建筑系的學生,因這間畫室而收獲頗豐,他們認為,黃云松的指導,讓他們有效地學會了使用鋼筆畫風景畫的技法。
畫廊在當地慢慢有了影響力,黃云松還在維多利亞大學藝術系開辦了幾次講座,其中一次,就展示了《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》連環(huán)畫原稿數十幅,著重探討了“命題畫創(chuàng)作”的若干問題。
他還曾為一個以老華僑為主體的藝術團體教授中國畫,并按照“芥子園畫譜”制作了一套畫梅蘭竹菊四條屏的簡捷速成方法。
黃云松在新西蘭以“黃老師”的身份,逐漸擴展到了更大的圈子。
Pen Artist and Art Publisher: Open a Window on the World
By Sun Wen
Huang Yunsong will celebrate his 80th birthday in June 2019. A professional pen drawing artist, he joined his family in Wellington, New Zealand in 2001, the year he retired from his publishing job in Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang. And in 2009 he moved with his family to Auckland, a key city in New Zealand. Before his retirement, Huang was an art editor and publisher working for Zhejiang Peoples Publishing House.
Huang made his fame in 1984 when he and his colleague Han Youwen launched an ambitious series of picture books featuring world literature classics. From 1984 to 1988, Huang and Han turned out 77 picture books condensed from world literary classics by 60 authors in Europe, America and Asia. The epic series is unprecedented in the history of Chinese art and publishing. At that time, publishing heavyweights in Beijing and Shanghai were busying themselves with the task of adapting Chinese classics to picture books. There was a huge market for all kinds of books immediately after China opened its door to the outside world and was experiencing a cultural renaissance. In the late 1970s, colleges and universities across the country resumed normal operation. Young people, especially those urban high-school graduates who had spent idle years in rural areas and came back to cities, were eager to get into higher-education institutions. World literature was a must-read for millions of people, but no one had time to read them all fast enough. Huang and Han spotted the market need for world literary classics made easier for these eager readers.
The series published condensed picture versions of the 77 literature masterpieces. Almost all the top pictorial artists of the country were engaged to provide paintings for the books. A pen-drawing artist, Huang spent three years creating a few picture books for the series.? authored by Mikhail Sholokhov and adapted by Huang Yunsong won a national first prize of excellence for picture books.
The series was a national bestseller. Reprints were sold out fast. Huang recalls that over 400,000 sets of European and American classics alone were sold. A set contains more than 10 picture books.
The publishing industry in Zhejiang remembers and honors all these brilliant art editors and publishers. In November 2017, an exhibition was held in downtown Hangzhou to feature artworks by 23 retired publishers and editors. Huangs works appeared at the exhibition. In April 2019, Huang held a solo exhibition titled at an international visual arts gallery in Hangzhou. The exhibition featured 30 plus oversized artworks Huang created in Auckland in the past ten years. Most of them measure several meters in length.
Huang enjoys his retirement in New Zealand. After joining his family in Wellington, Huang opened a gallery where he showed his pen drawings. He was confident that his pen drawing experience and expertise was nearly unrivaled in New Zealand. After all, he had created more than 10,000 pen drawings for picture books before he retired. Seeing more and more art students from the nearby Victoria University of Wellington visit his gallery and do their homework there, Hang set up a training studio where he gave lessons on pen drawing. In particular, students who majored in architecture at Victoria benefited a great deal from the course Huang conducted. Huangs reputation spread. He was invited to give lectures at the art department of the university. At one lecture, he demonstrated dozens of his pen drawings done in the early 1980 for the picture book edition of .
Then Huang moved with his family to Auckland. After digging into local history, he learned that some Chinese were engaged in the gold rush in the 1860s. To know more, he tried his luck at the national archives of New Zealand. The archives opened its arms and opened his eyes. He stumbled upon a gold mine of information on a group of 67 Chinese gold diggers. Natives of Guangdong near the place where the rebellion first started in the 1850s, they had been soldiers of the rebellion army. After the failure of the rebellion in 1864, they fled to New Zealand. Trained soldiers who had seen bloody battles, they organized themselves into a well disciplined platoon of entrepreneurs in New Zealand. They survived and flourished. Eventually, they controlled a gold mining operation and banking in a valley through a corporation. Huang created a long scroll of drawing portraying the legendary history of the 67 Chinese gold diggers. The scroll is called , indicating a gold-rush tale different from that of the Old Gold Mountain in California, USA.