As the 2024 Summer Olympics kicks off in Paris, many sports enthusiasts have shifted their focus to the French capital. In China, one local artist has been portraying a range of Olympic sports through the lens of traditional Chinese painting, capturing the spirit of the Olympics.
当2024年巴黎奥运会进行得如火如荼之时，许多体育爱好者将目光转移到了法国首都。在中国，一位艺术家一直在通过传统中国画的视角描绘奥林匹克运动，捕捉奥运精神。


From hurdler Liu Xiang to speed skating champion Zhang Hong to sprinter Usain Bolt, all the spectacular moments of the Olympic Games are captured in traditional Chinese paintings by artist Fan Yang.
Through his efforts, the painter says that he has tried to break the stereotypes about traditional Chinese painting. "I was trying to demonstrate that traditional Chinese painting is about more than a few still life subjects, such as flowers and plants. Our traditional way of painting can also portray contemporary life and today's Olympic sports. Chinese painting indeed has a powerful vitality, which remains strong today," said Fan.
跨栏运动员刘翔、速度滑冰冠军张虹、短跑运动员尤塞恩·博尔特……画家范扬表示，他试图通过这一努力打破对中国传统绘画的一些刻板印象。他说：“中国画家不仅仅是能画梅兰竹菊，画纸上来种树植山。也能表现当代的生活，也能表现当代的奥林匹克体育运动。中国画它确确实实具有强大的生命力，在现在还是具有。”
As a major innovator in Chinese painting, Fan Yang has paid close attention to contemporary history, especially the Olympic Movement. By depicting Chinese and foreign sports figures in his works, he has formed a distinctive style embodying the spirit of modern sports through traditional Chinese painting.
作为国画的一位重要创新者，范扬一直关注当代历史，尤其是奥林匹克运动。通过在作品中描绘中外体育人物，他形成了一种独特的风格，以中国传统绘画体现现代体育精神。

While visiting a sports-themed exhibition on the work of Fan Yang in 2016, IOC President Thomas Bach was deeply touched. He invited the artist to mount a solo show at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. In May 2017, the show titled "Strength and Beauty, Works of Fan Yang" opened there. This was the first time the venue had hosted an exhibition by a Chinese painter. Afterwards, Fan Yang devoted more energy to creating sports-related works and promoting the Olympic Movement. In 2019, in recognition of his outstanding contributions, he was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal by Bach.
2016年，国际奥委会主席托马斯·巴赫在参观范扬体育作品展时深受触动，他邀请这位艺术家到瑞士洛桑举办个展。2017年5月，“力与美·范扬体育美术作品展”在洛桑奥林匹克博物馆开幕，这是该场地首次举办中国画家的展览。此后，范扬投入了更多的精力创作与体育相关的作品，同时推动奥林匹克运动。2019年，为表彰范扬在推动奥林匹克运动方面的杰出贡献，巴赫授予他“顾拜旦奖章”。
Fan Yang believes that there are advantages in using Chinese freehand style to show the theme of athletes. For example, the lines in traditional Chinese paintings perform even better when it comes to detail. "When painting events on ice, the strokes must be applied in one go, without stopping. These lines make it look like a burst of ice when the blades cut into the surface. I used these kinds of lines to enhance the dynamic forces of rotation and skating," said Fan.
范扬认为，使用中国写意风格来表现运动员主题是有一定优势的。例如，中国传统绘画中的线条在细节方面表现得更好。他举例说：“在绘制冰上运动时，必须一次画完，不能停下来。当刀片切入表面时，这些线条使它看起来像一块冰。我用这种线条来增强旋转和滑行的动力。”
During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Fan followed the events every day and created a list of amazing works that captured some of the most thrilling moments. For example, Fan painted the moment when aerial skier Qi Guangpu writhed through the air at one event and the sky behind him seemed to rotate with him, which reminded Fan of Van Gogh's "Starry Night."
在2022年北京冬奥会期间，范扬每天都在关注比赛，创作出一系列精彩作品，记录下众多激动人心的时刻。例如，他记录下齐广璞在自由式滑雪空中技巧比赛中的精彩表现，他说齐广璞在空中旋转时他身后的夜空似乎也跟着他旋转，那一刻让他想起了梵高的《星空》。
However, combining sports themes with traditional Chinese painting skills is not an easy job. It requires the artist to have good compositional ability, as well as a profound understanding of how to control the speed of stroke and acuity of ink.
"Developing traditional Chinese painting requires innovation to keep up with the times. For Chinese painters of our generation, the challenges of innovation lie ahead. We face new things, new times, and new figures. The way people dress, their way of life, and their behavior is changing. We need to find new approaches for better creations," Fan said.
然而，将体育主题与中国传统绘画技巧相结合并非易事。这需要画家有很好的构图能力，以及对如何控制运笔速度和用墨敏锐度的深刻理解。范扬指出：“中国画必须创新，随着时代的发展而发展。我们常常说的，笔墨当随时代。那么，对于我们这代中国画家来说，摆在我们面前有很多创造的任务、新的事物、新的时代、新的人物。他们的着装、他们的生活方式、他们的行为都不一样，拿出你们新的办法来，由高原走向高峰。”