In order to inherit and carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation and enrich the cultural life of the people on New Year's Day and Spring Festival, in accordance with the development idea of "first-class institutions running first-class exhibitions", as the heavyweight highlight exhibition of the first art season in Nanchang, the Bada Shanren Memorial Hall New Year's Eve Exhibition, sincerely invited the CAFA Art Museum to jointly hold the "Genius Vertical and Horizontal - Special Exhibition of Ren Bonian Works of the Cafa Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum (Nanchang Station)" on December 30, 2021.
This exhibition is part of the touring exhibition of the selected projects of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the 2021 National Art Museum Collection Exhibition Season, with an exhibition period of 3 months, at which time, a total of 50 works (29 sets) will be exhibited, including 16 sets of works by Ren Bonian and 13 sets of works by 12 related artists. This exhibition will use three chapters of "Ancient and Modern Art", "Yunsheng Hengqi" and "Runze Centennial" to show the artistic development process of Ren Bonian in an important fusion and transformation period of Chinese painting, and also show the profound influence of the Bada Shanren on the art of Haipai painting.
Ren Yi (1840-1895), first known as Run, Zi Bo Nian, nicknamed Ren Monk, a native of Shanyin (now Shaoxing), Zhejiang, was a famous painter in the late Qing Dynasty. He is the leader of the "Maritime Painting School", and is called "Three Appointments on the Sea" together with Ren Xiong and Ren Kaoru. Ren Bonian is highly praised in China and is one of the masters of art in the history of modern and contemporary Chinese painting, with a comprehensive range of painting techniques, covering figures, flowers and birds, landscapes and so on.
Ren Bonian is one of the representative figures who promoted the transformation of Chinese painting from tradition to modernity, and has an important historical position in the history of Chinese painting. For traditional art, Ren Bonian was deeply nourished by his predecessors, and bada Shanren was also one of the Ming and Qing painters who had a great influence on Ren Bonian's pen and ink achievements, and he learned the painting technique of "hanging wrist center" from Bada Shanren. The special exhibition of Ren Bonian came to Nanchang and walked into the Bada Shanren Memorial Hall, which is also a direct dialogue between the works of the two masters of art through more than 200 years. For the modern painting world, Ren Bonian adheres to the spirit of dialectical innovation, on the basis of studying tradition, integrates the drawing and watercolor techniques in Western painting, coupled with new artistic concepts and artistic tastes, and seeks a new artistic language with a long time. He constantly carried out a variety of innovative experiments in brushwork, composition, color, and structure in painting, and these beneficial results not only influenced the atmosphere of the painting world at that time, but also had a certain impact on the reform of Chinese painting since the 20th century. Modern and contemporary painters such as Wu Changshuo, Wang Yiting, Ni Tian, Wang Mengbai, Chen Banding and others have either been taught by Ren shi in the stage of learning art, or have studied ren's works to figure out pen and ink techniques.
Ren Bonian's artistic achievements have a positive significance for opening up a new path of Chinese painting. Specially held in this exhibition, Ren Bonian's dialectical attitude to view tradition and innovate art with positive ideas is exactly what the current Chinese painting world needs. Through the holding of this academic exhibition, the painting world can further think about the relationship between tradition and innovation, inheritance and development, and enable the audience to further understand the works of artists who are in the process of change in modern China, experience the beauty of Chinese ink painting and color painting, and learn the development and changes of Chinese painting in the era, in order to better play the cultural function of the Bada Shanren Memorial Hall and serve the people.
(China Daily Jiangxi Reporter Station reporter Wang Jian)