李 寧
在現實主義繪畫中，生活之真、感情之善、境界之美是評價作品優劣的準繩，真善美的和諧統一是前輩們一貫堅持的審美理想，也是我在畫面中一直努力卻難以企及的境界。
創作《漁人與白鷗》的想法緣起自一次寫生活動，期間駐留在一個還未被現代都市文明完全佔據的小漁村。這裡的原住民世代與海為伴，對大海寄予全部的生活希望，並賴以生存。漁人每天帶著生活的希望出航，載著大海的恩賜歸航，日復一日，年復一年，他們在樸素的生活裏學會對海的尊重，而大海也從未辜負世代的漁人。這種單純、質樸、人與自然和諧共生的狀態令我神往。之後多次往返，感受也隨之變的明晰、具體。這種和諧自然的生存狀態成為作品著力表達的內容。
素材的選擇是個自然生發的過程。置身於那片凈土之上，遠觀海天一色的背景下，穿著連體水衩的漁人在陽光的沐浴中滿載而歸，白鷗駐足身旁，一幅至美的畫卷就這樣呈現在眼前，我由衷的感嘆“造物”之神奇，“天地有大美而不言，四時有明法而不議，萬物有成理而不説”。在這裡體現的淋漓盡致。昔日裏在畫布上為了尋找出路而糾結在方法、形式、題材、觀念的困惑頃刻間化為烏有，需要做的工作只是記錄眼前所見。思路清晰了，畫筆也就有了著落，對我來講創作的整個過程是愉快的。會帶給觀者怎樣的感受，我實在不敢妄言，但像“柯羅”所説 “現實是藝術的一部分，只有感情才是藝術的全部，如果真正地打動了心靈，我們這真摯的感情是會傳播給他人的。”
李 寧
2011-11于山東
Fisherman and Ivory Gull
The truth of life, the good of emotions and the beauty of realm are the disciplines to judge works in realistic painting. The harmony of truth, good, and beauty is the aesthetic ideal of those seniors, as well as mine, though I have exerted myself but still haven’t achieved that.
My plan to paint Fisherman and Ivory Gull originated from a sketch I once had, when I stayed in a small fishing village, which has not been occupied by modern urban civilization. For generations, boongs there make a living and place their hopes on the sea. Fishermen sail out with hopes every day and return with bestowals of the sea, day after day, year after year. They learn to respect the sea in the plain life style, while the sea never lets them down. I was enchanted with the purity, simplicity and the harmonious symbiosis between human beings and nature. My feelings turned more distinct and concrete after several more visits. The harmonious and natural living conditions became the focus of the painting.
The choice of materials was spontaneous. Placing myself in the pure land to watch the sea and the sky merged into one, I unfeignedly admired the miracles of Nature, in which the fishermen return fully loaded in the sunshine and ivory gull halted nearby. The wonder of Nature is thoroughly presented in the scene. The entanglement about techniques, forms, themes and conceptions in the past vanished into thin air in the turn of a hand, and what needed to be done was simply to record. Brushes danced as my train of thought moved, and it’s a great pleasure for me to paint. I’m not sure about the experience of audiences, but just as Corot put it: “Reality is part of art, whereas emotion is all. If it stirs people’s heart, our sincerity is sure to spread.”
Li Ning
November 2011 in Shandong