戰畫隸屬於歷史畫之範疇,主要敘述歷史中的戰爭事件,兼具記敘及藝術功能。本文擷取自1926年至2015年期間之戰畫作品,藉探討創作演變歷程,瞭解時空背景和表現形式之差異,釐清戰畫繪製的取向及目的,並進一步分析戰畫之功能、價值與意涵。研究發現如下:一、隨著時代、環境、政治局勢的變遷,產生不同的繪畫議題和詮釋目的,戰時用藝術寫戰史,用畫筆記錄戰場過程,激發抗敵意志;戰後除一樣有紀念戰史功能外,另隱含肅立統治者領導地位、強化國家認同與效忠之目的。二、戰畫所建構之戰史,傳達著政治傾向和情感認同,著重於紀錄自己戰勝敵方的光榮戰役,服膺政治和軍事要求的題材與表現手法。三、戰畫為藝術資產,同時也是還原歷史資料的輔佐,為避免歷史的扭曲和錯誤,應適時推廣並納入教育,透過社會建構力量,凝聚無形的士氣,團結並鞏固心防。
War paintings, with both narrative and artistic functions, belong to the category of historical paintings, mainly narrating the war events in history. This article is excerpted from the war paintings from 1926 to 2015. By discussing the evolution of creation, this research gets to understand the differences in time and space backgrounds and forms of expression. Moreover, this research clarifies the orientation and purposes of drawing war paintings, and analyses further about the function, value and meaning of war paintings. The discoveries are as follows: 1. With the changes of the times, the environment and the political situation, different painting topics and interpretation purposes have emerged. In wartime, art is used to write the history of the war, and the process of the battlefield is recorded with a brush, so as to stimulate the will of resisting the enemy; in addition to the function of commemorating the war history after the war, it also implied the purpose of establishing the leadership of the ruler and strengthening the national identity and allegiance. 2. The war history constructed by the war painting conveys political inclination and emotional identity, focuses on recording the glorious battle of one's own victory over the enemy, and obeys the subject and expression method of political and military requirements. 3. War paintings are an artistic asset and an aid to restore historical data. In order to avoid distortions and mistakes in history, war paintings should be promoted and incorporated into education in a timely manner. Through forces of social construction, invisible morale can be gathered, and unity and defenses can be consolidated.