Willy Wang

The famous sculptor, Willy Wang, has decided to donate his life’s work in sculpture and
painting to the public. He hopes to establish a museum that will preserve and display these works
for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.

Willy Wang graduated from the Sculpture Department of China’s prestigious Central
Academy of Fine Arts in 1962, possessing firmly established fundamental skills. In the several
decades of uninterrupted artistic career, he has created many excellent works of fine art;
accumulated years of experience; and come to a deep understanding of the role of art in life. His
inquisitive mind, holding the same mentality as in his youth, still fuels his desire to create new
works with the same kind of passion he has always had for art.

He has during these years visited nearly every well-known art museum around the world,
each time viewing the exhibits with a child’s curiosity, fastidiously studying each artist’s strength.
Yet he never blindly follows others’ work. He knows what he wants, and eagerly absorbs new
knowledge and techniques to bolster his own.

He will not pander to or chase fads, as others have done by giving up their true passions and
convictions. His conviction remains to find the best media and techniques to express his artistic
vision, and to utilize his skills and inspiration to the fullest. He believes that art is not only
something that should be understood by others, but should also be something that touches others
the same way as it touches the artist himself. He will feel happier if his art can inspire the same
feelings in more people.

He believes that since antiquity, people have had the same perception of love and hate, the
same standard for humanity and the same appreciation of beauty. They also have had the same
bodily and facial expressions to show their emotions. Therefore, he asserts that to observe people
and to understand their lives has great importance to him. He has always emphasized that art must
look to life, but not only to repeat, copy, or duplicate it. Art must draw on life and go through an
artist’s careful refining to emphasize the essential characteristics and remove the unimportant
elements. The end product will then reach a status that is even more real than the real thing.

Everyone realizes that the great masters of the Renaissance possessed many artistic
dimensions. Willy, however, does not feel satisfied with what is laid down before him. Therefore,
he does not imitate these masters, rather he goes on to investigate and try in more than one way to express his thoughts. He believes that one cannot fully express his feelings with just one art form.
Sometimes it is more appropriate to express his feelings with a sculpture of volume and weight,
but sometimes it is better to do that with painting. Sometimes bright colors can better express
one’s feelings, but sometimes it is the stark contrast of black and white that works best. For his
entire life he has been studying intensively, learning through experience and self-study many
things that one cannot learn in a classroom. Willy Wang has immense versatility. He does
sculpture (stone, wood, copper, realistic or abstract), sketching, oil painting, fresco (realistic or
decorative), movie and theater poster design, book covers and illustration design, stage design,
caricature, and more.

Many sculpture styles exist. While each one is closely related to the other, each has its
unique characteristics and can not be replaced by another. As a sculptor, Willy is acutely aware of
this. He believes that sculpture is a three dimensional art form, but that not all three dimensional
objects can be called sculptures. Sculptures, whether realistic or abstract (such as Henry Moore’s
works), must have a sense of volume, a sense of weight, a sense of dimension, and a sense of
space. This “sense” is very important. Sculptures must have a very full, bold, whole, and
substantial quality that reflects the effort and detail breathed in them by the artist.

Willy has never believed that realistic sculpturing has gone out of style. On the contrary, he
rather worries about how many artists in this modern era possess the capability to do so. Due to
misunderstanding and misleading perceptions, many art institutions have abandoned training
students in fundamental skills, and many sculptors cannot even achieve even minimal quality.
Nowadays, in many cities, monuments and other commemorative sculptures in public view are
frequently in a wretched state. Not only do they fail to commemorate historical events or to
beautify the city, but they serve instead to display a city or a country’s lack of artistic aptitude, so
much so that these pieces become points of ridicule.

Willy has encountered this situation on several occasions: When the work of an artist fails to
earn public approval, Willy is often commissioned to recreate another piece.

Again due to misunderstanding and misleading perceptions, some people think that if an artist
puts legs and arms on something it becomes a statue. They do not understand the great effort a
sculptor has to go through in forming the concept, choosing the design, determining the style, and
selecting the material. They do not understand how great a break-through and how much
creativity an artist has achieved in his time in history. They see only the common realistic style of these works but fail to observe the abundant differences among them.

Take, for example, the simplicity and grace of ancient Greek statues which extolled virtues of
beauty but did not express individuality. Roman artists took notice of the differences in individual
appearance and disposition, which was certainly an improvement, but thus began to lose the old
graceful paradigms. Medieval sculptures were restricted by religion and promoted asceticism,
causing them to lack vitality and vibrance. The Renaissance stressed humanism and humanity
thus Michelangelo was able to breathe life into cold stone and bring forth works which resemble
flesh and blood. Neoclassicism introduced realistic detail, brought forth anatomy, fine wrinkles,
and exacting detail, but lacked the natural spirit thus creating an artificial image. In the Nineteenth
Century Auguste Rodin was a great revolutionary sculptor, who broke the restrictions of academic
ideology. His sculptures brim with passion, display boundless technique, and feel vibrant, flowing
and unfettered, but sometimes overstress the characteristics of painting and are not solid enough.
His student A. Bourdelle emphasized the structural aspect in his sculptures, creating a strong
feeling of commemoration, strength, fullness, and heroism.

Willy believes that history has not ended yet, and humans need to continue creating history
by following the footsteps of their forefathers. They need to learn from the precious treasure they
inherited to create a more glorious history.

Willy’s works do not show vestiges of imitation. He learned from the great masters, absorbed
their characteristics into his own, and created end products that better represent his subject.

Willy’s statues adhere to the core sculpturing principles, and what he creates are truly
sculptures. In his statues he can truly represent not only the external form but also the internal
emotion of his subject. In addition to the basic capabilities of an ordinary sculptor, he possesses an
acute observation not common among ordinary sculptors. Perhaps this was a gift he was born
with. Before he was able to read he would constantly pick up a pencil and draw. He did not have
any knowledge about drawing or painting at the time, but was able to represent the different
characteristics of individual people with his simple strokes. He drew family members and friends.
He even drew movie stars from memory after watching their movies. He had an amazing ability to
recall people and distinguish between them. While he was in college, there were two famous
Russian movies being screened. After the entire class watched them, they claimed that the two
main characters were played by the same person. Willy laughed at them and said that they had
poor eyesight. The entire class bet against him, but it turned out Willy was right. This proves that Willy still stands out even among the top students of a prestigious art school. Willy has drawn
numerous caricatures over his life, using only simple lines and a few strokes to bring out a person’s
characteristics and emotions, ending up with a portrait extremely true to life. These works of his
had enormous implications. Experts were extremely impressed by his accuracy in portraying
lifelike art and described them as “miraculous.” Some American experts have claimed that his
works are even more lifelike than those of Al Hirschfeld.

Willy believes that even though sculpture and caricature are totally different art forms, they
share a common nature which is to discover the essence, to make a bold selection, and to
emphasize the preserved part, sometimes even with exaggeration. The unimportant part is
deemphasized or even totally eliminated. This is more easily said than done, because it requires
the artist to have the ability to observe, to judge, and to know what to do, and finally to bring out a
product he truly wants. Simply put, it requires a keen eye and a steady hand, both of which Willy
has.

All the above-discussed qualities of art exist in Willy’s works. For example, Dr. Sun Yat-
Sen was not only a great revolutionary leader, but also a kind, honest, and simple man. That is
why the bust Willy made for Georgetown University has exceptional detail in the eyes, eyes that
worried about his country, eyes that were kind, honest, sincere, profound, and belonged to a most
trustworthy individual. Madame Sun Yat-Sen was firm and indomitable yet affectionate and
benevolent. These qualities all emerge in Willy’s statue of her. When others see his statue of
Madame Sun Yat-Sen, they say that it represented her better than any photographs taken of her
over the course of her entire life. Similarly, his statue of Jesus is not simply one that displays
compassion for all mankind, but holds the embodiment of wisdom, faith, and sincerity. His bust of
Cary Grant is described by Cary’s contemporaries as “More like Cary than Cary himself”. His
statue of the internationally renowned mathematician Mr. Shiing Shen Chern fully captures the
man’s wisdom and simplicity. His Confucius statue portrays the philosopher, thinker, and teacher
in a non-stop motion, hoping to bring his thoughts and ideas forward to the entire world, so that
even today he still appears to be walking slowly towards us.

Willy’s parents were both righteous intellectuals. All his siblings received good education.
Growing up in such a warm family environment, Willy came to love drawing, painting, and
reading from a very young age. Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain taught him the
injustices among people; Confucius and Nikol Chernyshevsky let him picture an ideal society and a world of universal brotherhood. Greek and Roman mythology, Aesop’s Fables, One Thousand
and One Nights, and Hans Christian Andersen enriched his imagination. The strong spirit and
heroism of Jack London, Nicolai Ostrovsky, and Ernest Hemingway have constantly inspired him.
This is why Willy is always able to bring out, in his works, spiritual beauty, formal beauty, dignity
and faith of mankind.

Ever since he was a child Willy has always admired Confucius’ philosophy of “All men are
brothers” and “a world of universal brotherhood.” In one’s real life an individual does not have
the power to change the imperfect world, but he can certainly do his best to make contributions
toward that goal. Thus, in 1992 Willy established the “Willy Wang Workshop” which brought
together artists and art lovers of different nationalities and ethnicities to learn under him, free of
charge. They learn together, travel together, exhibit together, and study the art of different
countries together. The Willy Wang Workshop (WWW) has become a harmonious international
family. Members of the Workshop help one another, cherish one another, care for one another, and
encourage one another. They use pencil, brush and chisel to create many colorful and magnificent
works of art. In these ways Willy and his friends wish to bring more beauty to the world.

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著名雕塑家、畫家王維力決定把他一生精心創作的雕塑和繪畫作品全部捐獻出來，希
望建立一個博物館，永久保存、陳列這些作品，並且向公衆開放，讓世世代代的人們可以
欣賞到這些作品，得到藝術的享受並得到有益的啓迪。

王維力1962年畢業於中國最著名的高等藝術學府中央美術學院雕塑系。在學院打下了
基本功的堅實基礎。此後數十年不間斷的藝術創作生涯，做出了許多優秀的藝術作品，積
累了豐富的經驗，並對藝術與生活有了深層的領悟。他的探索精神及創作的願望與衝動，
像年輕時一樣，依舊激情滿懷。

他幾乎走遍了世界各地的著名藝術博物館，每時每刻都會像小學生一樣，學習別人的
優點。但是，決不會盲從。他知道自己要的是什麼，在以我為主的前提下，如飢似渴地吸
收著營養，用以充實自己。

他不會像某些人那樣，爲了迎合、追逐一時流行的潮流，而放棄自己的真愛和信念。
他的信念就是利用一切可以利用的藝術形式去抒發自己的真實感情，力求有的放矢的用恰
當的形式與技巧表現自己的感悟。不但要別人看得懂自己的作品，而且要用使自己感動的
事，去感動別人。他的作品能夠引起更多人的共鳴，他就會感到更加幸福。

他認爲人類自古至今有著共同的愛與憎，有著普遍的的人性標準，有著普遍的審美情
趣。喜怒哀樂在肢體和面部表情上也有著共同性，所以觀察人、觀察生活、認識生活、了
解生活、深入生活非常重要。他一再強調藝術要從生活出發，要以生活為依據；同時，他
也一再強調，決不能重複生活、復製生活、照搬生活。要經過提煉、取捨、加工，強調本
質，去除非本質的東西，要比真實生活更集中、更典型，從這個意義上講，做出來的作品
，就會比真正生活在本質上更加真實。

文藝復興時期的大師們，常常表現出多方面的才能。維力沒有刻意去模仿他們，但他
在藝術領域中是一個不安於現狀的性情中人，他想進行多方面的探索與嚐試，他認爲一個
人的豐富情感，不可能只用一種藝術形式表現就夠了的，有時覺得用立體、厚重的雕塑形
式更適合；有時感到用繪畫形式更貼切；有的感情用斑斕的色彩更能體現；有時覺得黑白
對比的木刻效果才更能表現自己的心潮澎湃。。。。。。他一生鑽研，學到了許多不是課
堂上學到的東西。他多才多藝。他做雕塑（石、木、銅，寫實的和非寫實的）、畫素描、
畫油畫、畫壁畫（寫實的或裝飾性的）、設計電影與戲劇海報、設計書籍封面與插圖、舞
臺設計、還有人物漫畫等等。

造型藝術品種繁多，彼此間有著密不可分的關係，但又各自有著其他品種不可取代的
特點。作爲一個雕塑家的維力深知這點。他認爲雕塑是立體的藝術，但不是所有的立體的東西都可以稱得上是雕塑。雕塑作品不論是寫實的或抽象的（如亨利·摩爾的作品）都必
須具有體積感、重量感、立體感和空間感，這個“感”字很重要。雕塑要有飽滿、渾厚、
整體、堅實等特點。

維力從不相信寫實性的造型藝術已過時的説法。他倒是擔心，現今究竟還有多少人能
夠精確的掌握這種技藝和本領。由於誤解和誤導，藝術院校放棄正規的基本功訓練，許多
雕塑家、藝術家連起碼的藝術水平都達不到。如今，在許多城市的公共場所，見到的重要
的紀念碑或其他紀念性雕像，常常是慘不忍睹的。不但沒有起到紀念歷史或美化城市的作
用，反而讓人們看到一個城市或一個國家的藝術水平方面的欠缺，甚至淪爲人們談論時的
笑柄。

維力也遇到過幾次這種情況：別人做的雕塑，得不到人們的認可，轉而找到他重新再
做。。。。。。

也是由於誤解和誤導，有人以爲作出有胳膊有腿的人形，就算是雕塑了，他們不懂得
雕塑家在立意、構思、構圖、決定風格、甚至在選擇材質方面所用的苦心；不懂得他們在
不同歷史環境中，做出了多麼重大的突破和創新；只看到他們寫實的共同點，卻沒有看懂
它們之間豐富多彩的千差萬別。

比如，古希臘雕塑古樸、典雅，歌頌理想的美，並不強調人的個性；羅馬時代開始注
意到人的不同面貌與不同的性格，這當然可說是一個進步，同時也失去了那種規範式的優
雅；中世紀的雕塑，由於宗教的束縛，強調提倡禁慾主義，所以形象缺乏生氣，造型消瘦
；到了文藝復興時期強調人文主義、人性，如米開朗哲羅給了冰冷的石頭以生命，創造出
有血有肉的藝術作品；新古典主義雕像解剖、衣紋處理都十分完美，但人物形象概念而做
作；十九世紀的羅丹是雕塑界的大革命家，打破學院主義的束縛，充滿激情，手法自由、
生動、流暢，無拘無束，但有時過多地強調繪畫性，不夠堅實，其弟子布德爾（A.
Bourdelle）則強調雕塑的建築感、紀念性和堅強、飽滿的體積感，且具英雄主義
。。。。。。

維力在想，歷史沒有結束，我們要繼續書寫歷史，繼續沿著前人的腳步走下去，繼續
借鑑前人給我們留下的寶貴財富，繼續創造歷史，創造更加輝煌的歷史。
維力的作品看不到模仿某位藝術先輩的痕跡，他從内涵、本質上去學習他們，把他們
不同的優點，融入到自己的血液裏，創造出了貼切主體的藝術作品。
維力的雕塑，在形式上符合雕塑規律，極具雕塑感，這是毋庸置疑的。這裡特別要提
的是，他對人物外形及心理刻畫真實、細膩，除一般雕塑家所具有的基本功外，更具有別人所欠缺的洞察力。這種洞察力也許是與生俱來的。在他尚未識字時，就早已拿起了畫筆
，天天勾勾畫畫，當時沒有任何繪畫的基本常識，卻能用簡單的綫條畫出不同人物的特徵
。畫過家人，畫朋友，看過電影之後，憑記憶又把電影中人物畫出來。他對人物有著驚人
的記憶力、分辨力。在美術學院學習時，有兩部精彩的蘇聯新片上映，全班同學都認爲兩
部片子的不同男主角是同一個人，維力嘲笑他們眼力的不濟，全班同學都跟他打賭，結果
當然是維力贏了。這件事説明，即使同是美術學院的高材生，維力還是有略勝一籌之處。
維力一生畫過衆多的人物漫畫像，用極簡單的綫條，寥寥幾筆，畫出人物的特徵和表情，
惟妙惟肖。他的這類作品影響很大，專家們驚訝於他的準確和酷似，稱“這是一個奇跡
”，一些美國行家也説畫得比赫士菲爾德（Al Hirschfeld）更精彩。

維力認爲雕塑與漫畫雖是截然不同的藝術形式，但一個共同點就是要發現本質，大膽
取捨，保留本質的東西加以強調，甚至加以誇張，而不重要的東西就減弱甚至完全取消
。。。。。。說起來容易，做起來並不簡單，需要藝術家有觀察能力、分辨能力，知道自
己應該怎樣做，進一步要求藝術家有能力把自己想要做的東西，很好地表現出來。簡單地
說，要有眼力，同時更需要手力。。。。。。維力都做到了。

以上所說的，都在維力的作品中充分地體現出來了，孫中山不但是革命領袖，他更是
一個善良、單純的人，所以在為喬治城大學（Georgetown University）做的那座石雕像，
著重刻劃了那雙眼睛，憂國憂民，善良真誠、深情，是一個可以信賴的人；孫中山夫人堅
韌不拔和溫存和善的兩個方面，都體現在同一座雕像上了，人們認爲這座雕像比任何一張
孫夫人的照片，更能概括她的一生；他做的耶穌不只是一般的悲天憫人，更是睿智、信念
、真情的體現；他的卡萊格侖（Cary Grant）被其他影界前輩評價為“比卡萊格侖本人還
像他本人”；他做的國際數學大師陳省身大智若愚，且具有返璞歸真的大師風範；他做的
孔子強調的是這位哲學家、思想家、教師在不停頓的行進中，希望把自己的思想、理念傳
播到所有的地方。甚至今天，他仿佛仍然向我們緩緩走來。。。。。。

維力的父母都是正直的知識分子，姐妹兄弟衆多，都受到良好的教育，在這個溫馨的
家庭成長起來，從小喜歡畫畫、閲讀。雨果，狄更司、馬克吐溫使他看到了人間的不平；
孔子、車爾尼舍夫斯基使他對理想社會、大同世界的嚮往；希臘神話、羅馬傳説、伊索寓
言、一千零一夜、安徒生豐富了他的想像力；傑克倫敦、奧斯特洛夫斯基、海明威的堅強
鬥志和英雄主義一直在激勵著他。。。。。。所以在他的作品中，始終表現人類的精神之
美、造型之美以及人類的尊嚴和信念。

維力從小就崇尚孔子“四海之内皆兄弟”、“大同世界”的理想。在現實生活中，認爲自己沒有力量改變這個並不完美的世界，但在自己能力可以達到的範圍内，盡量做一些
力所能及的事。所以1992年組織了“王維力藝術工作室”（Willy Wang Workshop），把來
自不同國家、不同民族的藝術工作者和藝術愛好者組織在一起，完全免費的教授美術課。
他們一起學習、一起觀摩、一起參觀、一起辦展覽、一起去世界各國考察藝術。是一個不
同族裔和睦相處的國際大家庭。他們互相幫助、互相愛護、互相關心、互相勉勵，用畫筆
和雕塑刀創造出許多絢麗多彩的藝術品，維力和大家都希望帶給世界更多地美好。