Author: Lai Rui
The scrolls remember history and engrave the times.
In order to welcome the victory of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the "Beauty in the New Era - Special Exhibition of Fine Works from the Collection of the National Art Museum of China (Phase II)" co-sponsored by the Central Radio and Television Station and the National Art Museum of China recently opened in Beijing. The exhibition selects nearly 300 works from the collection of the National Art Museum of China, and uses Chinese paintings, oil paintings, prints, lacquer paintings, peasant paintings, comic strips, sculptures, videos and other art forms to express the great achievements of the new era and highlight the spirit of the times.
Running Horse (Chinese painting) Xu Beihong
I bring spring home (Chinese painting) Zeng Chunping
The most beautiful Taihu Lake water (oil painting) Shang Yadong
Classics and innovations are unveiled at the same time
This exhibition is divided into two chapters: "Expressing the New Era with Beauty" and "Presenting the New Era with Beauty". The first chapter exhibits the outstanding works newly created since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on ecological civilization, poverty alleviation, fighting against the epidemic, education, science and technology, sports, etc.; the second chapter exhibits the works of modern and contemporary masters such as Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong, Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Liu Haisu, Pan Tianshou, Fu Baoshi, and Li Keyan.
Entering the exhibition hall on the first floor of the National Art Museum of China, Qi Baishi's "Cherry", Wu Guanzhong's "Taihu Lake Goose Flock", Lin Fengmian's "Autumn", Pan Tianshou's "Cast of Iron in a Thousand Mountains After Rain", Fu Baoshi's "Pictures of jiangshan to be carefully drawn", Li Keyan's "The Sound of Mountains and Waterfalls", Liu Kaiqu's "Kicking Shuttlecocks" and other classic masterpieces were gradually presented, which was dazzling. Immediately after entering the round hall, the new era and new masterpieces are displayed, most of which are realistic theme works launched by the "National Thematic Art Creation Project" of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. For example, the Chinese painting "Flying Dreams" with the theme of "Chinese Dream", the printmaking "Phoenix Spreads Its Wings" with the theme of Beijing Daxing International Airport, the oil painting "Singing Tomorrow - Building a Thousand Years of Xiong'an" showing the construction of Xiong'an New District, the oil painting "Youyou Deer Singing" showing the work scene of the Chinese scientific research team, and the Chinese painting "Warm Heart - Accurate Identification Of Poor Households in Eighteen Cave Villages" with the accurate identification of poor households held in The Eighteen-Hole Village of Miaozhai in Xiangxi Province as the starting point.
The holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics ignited the public's enthusiasm for ice and snow. The exhibition selects a number of new works on sports themes, such as Gao Yi and Huang Huasan's Chinese painting "Peak Dancing Snow", Zheng Jianhui's print "Meet at the Winter Olympics", Li Xuanfeng's sculpture "Beyond", etc. In addition, Wu Changshuo's "Twelve Openings of the Album of Calligraphy and Painting", Qi Baishi's "Eight Openings of the Grass Worm Album", and Pan Tianshou's "Remembering the Flowers of Yandang Mountain" and other heavyweight works were also unveiled in the exhibition.
The exhibition of classics and new creations is a portrayal of the continuous inheritance of the artistic spirit of "pen and ink with the times" and shouzheng innovation, reflecting the continuous exploration of national aesthetics by Chinese artists.
Realism and freehand are eclectic
The works on display are both realistic and freehand, and the combination of realism and lyricism is impressive.
Many artists use realism when creating their human figures. Fang Zengxian's 1955 book "All the Grains Are Hard" depicts an old farmer stopping a donkey cart full of wheat, returning to lean over, and picking up a few ears of scattered wheat. Liu Wenxi's "Four Generations of Grandchildren" shows the relationship between farmers and land in the shape of four generations of grandchildren on the Loess Plateau with their feet integrated into the soil. Jiao Xingtao's sculpture "Blazing Youth" uses a monumental technique to portray the firefighter's resolute, persistent, and even calm expression, realistically and vividly shaping the youthful image of an ordinary firefighter.
In addition, there are also works that record the great achievements of social development and national construction in a realistic way. For example, the print "China's "Heavenly Eye", which expresses the achievements of China's scientific and technological development, the oil painting "The Most Beautiful Taihu Lake Water", which vividly interprets the development concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains", and the Chinese painting "Chinese Dream - Heavenly Army", which shows the achievements of China's manned spaceflight project.
Some works incorporate poetry into realism and present lyrical expressions. For example, Tian Liming's Chinese painting "Outside the Window" depicts the image of the laborer cleaning the city building with a faint ink rhyme, and the picture shows a sense of backlight under the large-scale rendering of light color and light ink, which constitutes the special lyricism and poetry of the work, expressing the expectation of beauty, tranquility and poetry. In Zeng Chunping's Chinese painting "I Bring Spring Home", two piles of high-stacked bamboo baskets are pressed heavily on the bicycle, and the picture does not give the owner of the bicycle a shot, but uses a cluster of peach blossoms that emerges high to reveal the owner and everyone's yearning for spring, the pursuit of life and beauty.
There are also works that support the words and aspirations, which have become a symbol of the national spirit of the times and even the present. For example, Xu Beihong's "Galloping Horse" integrates the solid shape with the pen and ink charm of Chinese painting, and integrates romantic temperament and symbolic meaning into the pursuit of realism, and the horse soars in the air on all fours, galloping high, giving people the spiritual strength to move forward.
Art and video are organically integrated
"Beauty in the New Era" is one of the important brands of the series of exhibitions of the National Art Museum of China. In November 2017, when "Beauty in the New Era - Celebrating the Victory of the '19th National Congress' held a special exhibition of fine works from the collection of the National Art Museum of China", the number of daily visitors exceeded 20,000, becoming a phenomenon-level exhibition. The "Beauty in the New Era - Special Exhibition of Fine Collections of the National Art Museum of China (Phase II)" not only once again took out many fine collections, but also transferred many precious archives of images from the Central News Documentary Film Studio to record the creative experience of the older generation of art masters, making the exhibition more historically deep and thick, and is an organic integration of video art and fine art exhibition.
"When the morning sun had just hit the city of Beijing... There is an old man who starts painting and working at this time every day, he is the 95-year-old painter Qi Baishi. "The 1955 documentary Qi Baishi is playing on the big screen in Hall 6. The documentary meticulously shows the creative process of the old man of Shiraishi: he sketches a light and flexible insect fish flower and grass in just a few strokes, which makes the audience stunned.
Different from ordinary art exhibitions, this exhibition specially set up several screening halls to play three art documentaries, "Painter Qi Baishi", "Landscape in Painting" and "Artist Image Collection". These documentaries show Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Pan Tianshou, Guan Shanyue, Li Keyan, Qian Songkun, He Tianjian and other modern masters thinking about beauty, pursuing beauty, and solidifying the beauty of Jiguang Katayu, allowing the audience to "meet" the master across time and space. Some of the works that appear in the documentary are being exhibited in this exhibition, adding a connection between reality and history.
Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China, said: "These works shine with the light of thought and wisdom, embody the national character and the connotation of the times, and show the spiritual charm of enduring renewal and advancing with the times. (Lai Rui)
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition