超逸脱俗，自成一体
文 / 陈传席
算起来，我和曾先生在艺术上还属一系。曾先生的老师是张晓寒，张晓寒的老师是吕凤子、潘天寿、陈之佛、傅抱石、黄君璧等人。吕、陈、傅、黄都是国立艺专的老师，也都是中央大学的老师，吕凤子又是李瑞清的入室弟子。李瑞清是中国近代美术教育的奠基人。中国最早的正规的学校式美术教育始于清代的两江师范学堂（开始叫三江师范学堂），1902年始建时，各专业都必须选修图画手工。1906年，李瑞清任监督（校长）时，又设图画手工科，专学绘画等，吕凤子是第一批学员。
曾锦德先生是福建的著名画家。算起来，我和曾先生在艺术上还属一系。曾先生的老师是张晓寒，张晓寒的老师是吕凤子、潘天寿、陈之佛、傅抱石、黄君璧等人。吕、潘、陈、傅、黄都是国立艺专及中央大学的老师，其中吕凤子又是李瑞清的入室弟子。
李瑞清是中国近代美术教育的奠基人。中国最早正规的学校式美术教育始于清代两江师范学堂（1902年始建），1906年李瑞清任监督时设图画手工科专学绘画，吕凤子为首批学员。两江师范学堂延续至中央大学，其美术系于解放后并入南京师范大学。吕凤子、陈之佛、黄君璧、傅抱石都在此任教。我考入南京师大美术系时，任教的老师都是他们的同事或弟子。佛教云：“一花开五叶，结果自然成。”我们是一花开二叶，我是南京的一叶，曾先生是福建的一叶，但根相同，枝也相同。
李瑞清、吕凤子及两江师范学堂的后继者，多为爱国者，有正义感、责任心和做人骨气，曾锦德先生亦然。他爱国、有民族正义感、人品高尚、有骨气。在他1997年的日记中写道：“中华文物为世界之最精者……日韩乃旁生枝叶，不能与黄河相较……福建地守东南要冲……中华文化必须重新崛起……大哉中华文化。”他的日记和文章多体现对国家、民族、文化的责任心，对权贵蔑视、对弱者同情。
“文革”期间，曾锦德顶住上级压力，不揭发批判领导和老师，甚至把来信烧掉，冒着巨大风险保护了老师和同事。他日记中记载，直至去世前仍关心国家命运和下一代前途，体现了他做人风骨。人品高尚，画品自然不凡。
曾锦德是人物、山水、花鸟全能的画家，早年学过素描和油画，但更热爱中国传统绘画。他的画明显继承吕凤子、张晓寒遗风，却又自成一体。吕凤子以独特笔法画出慧远和尚像，简洁飘逸，自然有力；曾锦德亦用笔飘逸、随意、灵动清润。张晓寒学吕凤子，也受潘天寿影响，而曾锦德更多受吕凤子影响，并融入个人特色。
他对齐白石、吴昌硕、八大山人等皆有研习，能融会百家之长而自成一体。花鸟画不拘形似，潇洒自由，水墨淋漓，清透可见。山水画虽有吕凤子、张晓寒基础，亦兼收黄宾虹、傅抱石、李可染、徐悲鸿及西洋画法。曾锦德认为：“中国画内容随时代发展，形式要变，才是中国笔墨研究中心。”他强调“山不是描画的，是用文章写，用心写。”其山水透明、爽快、清畅，体现个人性格。
写生大胆简洁，抓住特征，寥寥几笔便表现对象。他说：“作画只有不怕、不耽心失笔才有生命，零开始不重复，面对笔下白纸，既要画就敢于对不住。”因此画作敢于肯定，大处落墨，小处收拾，生动醒目。人物画亦淡笔简写，抓住个性神态，有时夸张而潇洒明快。
总体看来，曾锦德的画格调不俗，这是最重要的。他为人不俗，通文学、诗词，修养非凡，心怀卓越，这正是其画作不俗的根源。曾锦德反复说：“那就是我一直在寻找国家、民族文化与个人的最佳出路。”可惜，他只享年63岁，艺术正待深入发展，还未及实现愿望。如果像齐白石、黄宾虹一样长寿，其艺术将更辉煌。然而，从他留下的大量山水、花鸟、人物画中，可见其艺术前景，可喜可贺。
陈传席（中国人民大学责任教授、中国美术家协会理论委员会委员）
2013年7月10日 中国人民大学
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English Translation (英文)
Zeng Jinde was a renowned painter from Fujian. In terms of artistic lineage, I am in the same broader school as him. His teacher was Zhang Xiaohan, whose teachers included Lv Fengzi, Pan Tianshou, Chen Zhifo, Fu Baoshi, and Huang Junbi — all prominent instructors at the National Art College and Central University. Lv Fengzi was also a direct disciple of Li Ruiqing.
Li Ruiqing is considered a founding figure of modern Chinese art education. The earliest formal school-based art education in China began at Liangjiang Normal School in 1902, where painting and crafts were compulsory. In 1906, Li Ruiqing established a dedicated painting program, with Lv Fengzi among its first students. The school continued through Central University, whose art department was later incorporated into Nanjing Normal University. Lv Fengzi, Chen Zhifo, Huang Junbi, and Fu Baoshi all taught there. When I entered Nanjing Normal University’s art department, my teachers were their colleagues or students. As Buddhism says, “One flower blooms five petals.” We are like two leaves from the same flower — I in Nanjing, Zeng Jinde in Fujian — sharing the same root and branch.
Li Ruiqing, Lv Fengzi, and their successors were mostly patriots, with strong justice, responsibility, and moral integrity. Zeng Jinde shared these qualities. He was patriotic, possessed a sense of national justice, high moral character, and firmness of principle. In his 1997 diary, he wrote: “Chinese cultural relics are the finest in the world… Korea and Japan are mere offshoots, incomparable to the Yellow River… Fujian guards the southeastern key point… Chinese culture must rise again… Great is Chinese culture.” His writings often reflect a sense of duty toward the nation, respect for culture, disdain for the powerful, and sympathy for the weak.
During the Cultural Revolution, Zeng Jinde resisted pressure from authorities, refused to denounce his superiors and teachers, and even burned letters instructing him to do so, taking great personal risk to protect them. Until his death, he continued to care about the fate of the country and the next generation, showing his moral backbone. With noble character, his artistic works naturally possess quality and depth.
Zeng Jinde was a versatile painter of figures, landscapes, and flowers & birds. Although he studied sketching and oil painting in his early years, he had a deeper love for traditional Chinese painting. His works clearly inherit the styles of Lv Fengzi and Zhang Xiaohan, yet he developed his own unique style. Lv Fengzi’s painting of the monk Huiyuan under sparse trees demonstrates simplicity and elegance; Zeng Jinde’s brushwork is likewise graceful, spontaneous, and clear. Zhang Xiaohan also studied Lv Fengzi, influenced by Pan Tianshou, while Zeng Jinde was more influenced by Lv Fengzi yet with personal characteristics.
He studied the works of Qi Baishi, Wu Changshuo, and the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou,” integrating their strengths to form his own style. His flower-and-bird paintings are free and lively, ink flowing naturally and transparently. His landscapes, while rooted in Lv Fengzi and Zhang Xiaohan, also absorb elements from Huang Binhong, Fu Baoshi, Li Keran, Xu Beihong, and even Western painting. He believed: “The content of Chinese painting naturally evolves with the times; form must change — this is central to the study of Chinese brushwork.” He emphasized, “Mountains are not painted, they are written with the mind and heart.” His landscapes reflect clarity, openness, and transparency — a mirror of his character.
His sketches are bold and concise, capturing the essence of subjects with just a few strokes. He said: “Only by being unafraid, unhesitant to make mistakes, can a painting have life. Starting from zero, never repeating — once facing a blank page, dare to be imperfect.” His works confidently employ ink and space, producing vivid and striking compositions. His figures are painted with minimal strokes, capturing personality and expression, sometimes exaggerated yet lively and elegant.
Overall, Zeng Jinde’s artistic style is extraordinary, rooted in his noble character, extensive literary and poetic cultivation, and rooted in his noble character, extensive literary and poetic cultivation, and extraordinary personal integrity — all of which are the foundation of his outstanding artistic quality.
Zeng Jinde repeatedly stated: “I am always searching for the best path between national, cultural, and personal expression.” Unfortunately, he only lived to 63, and his art was still in the process of deepening and developing. He did not have time to fully realize his artistic ambitions. If he had lived as long as Qi Baishi or Huang Binhong, his art would have achieved even greater heights. Nevertheless, from the large number of landscapes, flower-and-bird paintings, and figure paintings he left behind, one can clearly perceive his development trajectory and the promising potential of his artistic career. This is indeed very encouraging and commendable.
Chen Chuanxi
July 10, 2013, Renmin University of China