I’m a colleague of Professor Yu and his office is upstairs of mine. I had known him as a master of wash paintings long before we got acquainted with each other. My formal acquaintance with Professor Yu was at a senior painting seminar hosted by him on the latest trends of contemporary art in Tsinghua Academy of Art and Design. I was off from works by then and joined the lecture, sitting at the last row of the classroom. My curiosity was aroused as I found the lecture comprehensive and insightful. Yet what impressed me the most was his views on the popular term “concept”. Traditional theorists believed that the concept marked the end of art while contemporary artists regards the concept as the core of art. Yu had a critical remark on these seemingly paradoxical opinions. The topics of the lecture ranged widely from artistic theories to the artist’s due state during painting. There are few Chinese artists who are both well acquainted with theories and well accomplished in artistic practice, while Yu is one of them.

I’ve paid several visits to Yu’s studio during my leisure to discuss artistic questions with him. I was also honored to watch his various painting collections, the representational and the abstract, the traditional and the modern as well as his works of different periods. My impression of him was refreshed by his excellent paintings apart from his enlightening lecture. Yu still employed quite a lot leisure time painting despite his tight working schedules, among all of his art works the time-consuming wash paintings being the most distinctive.

In the current context, prejudice against contemporary art such as the ignorance of installation art is considered out of fashion. It was a rare quality of Yu that he stuck to his original artistic ideals against the value of materialism and money worshiping. His persistence in wash painting meant much more than the art work itself and became a symbol of his style.

Technically speaking, Professor Yu’s wash painting belonged to a new artistic style which is different from the traditional one concerning the unity of form and spirit. What Yu inherited from Chinese art tradition was its aesthetic value rather than the painting techniques. On the basis of Chinese culture, he drew lessons from western art and contemporary artistic trends, establishing a unique style of his own with broader extensions of wash paintings in the multicultural context.

Yu’s wash painting was not confined into Chinese tradition of depicting specific objects and scenes but a rather abstract one.

Yet different from the bold and casual style of western art, his painting had an mysterious air with its light colors and special craftsmanship in details. Though well acquainted with China’s art traditions, Yu employed no typical Chinese images or styles in his works; rather, he applied Chinese aesthetic values in his works–like leaving something unexpressed for imagination–to create a clear and dreamlike atmosphere. Yu also mastered a profound knowledge of western art history and craftsmanship during his cause of education, yet his work was not after the fashion of western realism or any other contemporary artistic trends. Instead, he combined elements from varied cultures in his works, Chinese mildness and elegance with western vividness and boldness, the abstract and the representational, the simple and the complicated. However, Yu didn’t mix those elements intentionally during the course of painting; what he did was simply recording his real momentary feelings.

Yu did a lot of researches and practices on painting. One of his pioneering attempts was employing certain oil painting techniques in wash painting. The thick oil paint and the fluid ink on the same paper creates a hazy yet limpid atmosphere. Whether following tradition or making bold attempts, Yu stuck to the freehand brushwork as his way of expression. He preferred to combine the poetic ambiguity with the obscure three-dimension space so as to cultivate a sense of complexity in his paintings. His work was so abstract and conceptional that it couldn’t be judged by the traditional idea of “beautiful” or “ugly”. Yu created an rhythmical, imaginative and dreamlike world in the painting through original arrangements of the fluid ink, the flowing lines, the shades and the contrast of black and white, which made his works so distinctive.

Yu’s accomplishment attributed to his artistic sensitivity and talent thanks to his knowledge of theories and craftsmanship. A good master of theories was the basic requirement of all the artists, so is the thorough understanding of the classic works of various ages home and abroad. Only through the comparisons and contrasts of various classical artworks could we acquire the basic aesthetic values. The insightful understanding of theories provided Yu with distinctive perspectives in painting. Under the guidance of academic approaches, Yu’s paintings were artistically matured. He had a sense of “trans-boundary” as he transcended the temporal and special limitation and the bounds among different artistic trends, making every concept and style at his master.

In his wash paintings, Yu never gave the realistic depiction of life nor sang a high song of it; instead, his works were characterized by contemporaneity, abstractness and a literati-painting-like aestheticism. It was a daring attempt that completely abandoned traditional artistic concepts, extensions techniques as well as styles. A new fashion of wash painting has come into being, the essence of which is the artist’s aesthetic ideals and spiritual pursuits.

Raymond Loewy believed that simplicity is the decisive factor in aesthetic equation. Yu’s painting was basically in soft tones: blue and gray made the picture limpid and peaceful, while black and white created a lighter frame for the picture.

The painting was clearly structured as there were no complicate plots or relationships between the sights and characters, nor any dramatic facial expressions. Every scene was in an air of tranquility, the audience was as if amid the gentle breeze and mild rain. The tranquil scene also cultivated a sense of mystery, while sharply contrasting colors created a strong visual impact. The simple, plain, unaffected and composed styles of the painting were the genuine reflection of Professor Yu’s rare qualities. I’m sure that he will make greater artistic accomplishments in the near future.

余润德老师与我的工作室在上下楼，知道余老师擅长水墨，但彼此间并不熟悉，真正的了解是在清华美院讲座课堂上，当时在一个绘画高级研讨班上有一个余老师的讲座，内容是各种艺术流派与潮流的发展趋势。我恰巧有空闲时间，就坐在最后一排座位听讲，内容之丰富与见解之独特很快就引起我的兴趣。最欣赏余老师关于当前流行的名词“概念”的论述。

从传统艺术理论认定的“概念是艺术的死症”到当代艺术思潮坚持的“概念是艺术的核心”。余老师对这两种截然相反的艺术理论进行了精辟诠释。讲座内容由艺术理论慢慢延伸到艺术创作应有的状态。在国内艺术圈子中，能做到将艺术理论讲得系统透彻，又能持之以恒地将艺术感受演变为绘画作品并取得大成的画家并不多，余润德老师可说是其中的佼佼者。

在课余，特意到余老师的工作室进行过几次探讨，看到余老师大量的绘画作品，从具象到抽象，从传统到现代，从早期的基础训练到近期的创作，与从前模糊的印象大为不同，余老师不仅课讲得精彩，他的绘画表现能力亦出类拔萃。

余老师在繁重的授课之余仍然不断地进行艺术创作尝试，特别是耗费了余老师大量时间的创意水墨更是出类拔萃。

当前，当代艺术如日中天，甚至是“不玩装置都不好意思说是搞艺术的”惯性语境下，在物欲橫流的拜金潮流中，仍然能够坚持自己的艺术理想，守候在被很多人儿乎不再追捧的水墨意境中，这种对水墨的坚守已经超越了绘画本身而成为独特的艺术精神。

更准确地说，余老师的水墨应该是中国新水墨，相对于传统水墨画的形神，他并没有被传承束缚住自己的创作，用艺术精神而不是绘画技法引导自己新水墨的创作，在中国传统文化的基础之上，结合当代艺术思潮发展的影响，在西方艺术中吸取养分，也基于对传统绘画艺术精神的思考与创新的欲望，将多元文化融于一炉，用新思维与新方法延续中国水墨的生命。

余老师的创意水墨作品没有拘泥于物象，摆脱了具象的束缚，跳脱了客观的形而抽象成为主观的形，但并没有像当代艺术那般激烈与随性，更多的是在用细节与淡色营造一种神秘。虽然基于深厚的传统艺术的融会贯通，但余老师的画没有刻意去追求能讲透的传统审美形象与形式，更多的是将意境、虚实、隐喻、格调等融入到画面中，隐现着清新与虚幻空灵。长期的教学使余老师对西画的历史与技法变化有更深入的认识，但他没有追求常见的细腻写实与司空见惯的当代艺术形式，他将中国艺术的清淡高雅与西画的精准及绚丽相融通，用抽象去审视具象，用简洁去表达深刻，画面只是将自己的情绪记录下来，将精神寄托其巾。

余老师进行了大量的研究与尝试，甚至把在油画创作中的一些材料与技法引入到水墨的创作之中，将油面的厚重与水墨的流畅融为一体，那种朦胧与透亮带给观者耳目一新之感。无论是传统还是创新，他的创意水墨坚守着以写意为创作的中心，以诗意的朦胧的形态与暧昧立体空间去追求一种境界，创造一种情调。他的创作跳出了美与丑的惯性局限，将概念的成分融进作品的立意，用淡墨与简笔来抒写，在黑白中表达墨趣，用虚实与曲直寻找节奏韵律，在似与不似之间描述显现梦的境界，让虚幻描述生活，让精神突破尼式的躯壳，以气韵生动的抽象去表达自己的艺术感受，以抽象的艺术语境与灰色的感受追求理想的极致，形成自己独特的艺术形式。

如何评价余老师的作品与他的艺术成就，或许是精纯的艺术理论与扎实的艺术功底赋予余老师艺术灵敏性与天赋。艺术理论对于一个画家而言不可或缺，读懂古今中外的作品是基本的素养，只有通过对经典艺术作品的阅读与比较，才能探索造型艺术的规律，掌握规律才能获得创作的自由。精深的理论素养赋予余老师对艺术的理解有别于一般的面家，通过学术梳理与析讨，余老师的水墨作品己相对成熟，他的精神视野跨越了时空的束缚，没有门户与流派的界限，所有语言与观念都成为水墨创作可利用的手段，经过斟酌后的“跨界”成为无意识的习惯。

在他的水墨作品中，没有了人们思维惯势中的讴歌现实生活与写实，更多的是当代艺术的观念、抽而不象的艺术倾向、根植于思想深处的文人画式的东方意识。这是一种基于新观念的尝试，它颠覆了传统的绘画概念，艺术创作脱离原有的艺术形式和专业限定，也脱离了习惯性思维的艺术实践，水墨概念已经不再是传统的过去，而是中国新水墨，技法与画法在融会贯通后都归结为虚无，只有水墨的创新成为创作的全部，它寄托着余老师的艺术遐想与精神追求。

雷蒙德洛伊曾说：“简洁是美学方程式中的决定因素”。余老师的水墨着色简洁，没有激烈的色彩对比，他的画面中看到的是更多的蓝灰色调，朴实的黑白灰层次丰富，墨迹怡然。构图简洁明了，朴素的环境中并没有复杂的人物与情节，物景永远在衬托人物，而人永远都没有夸张的表情，给予观者触动心扉的感受。不用煞费苦心地去揣摩画面背后的含义，所有的画面空间都非常宁静，观者在画中的感受犹如在和风细雨中听声，优雅的画面在朦胧中有些许的神秘感，图底的白在衬托着黑与灰的意韵，墨色饱和而充满张力。画面构成自然舒展，无论是型的动势还是线的走向，没有故弄玄虚，没有故作惊人之笔，简清而质朴，含蓄表达自己的观点，观者从视觉的含蓄与清新中就可以感受到那种 才情与思想。这是一种难能可贵的状态，假以时日，余老师的艺术必将迎来不可限量的未来。