In the summer of 1984, painters Yang Lizhou and Wang Yingchun went to the old revolutionary base area of Taihang Mountain to collect style, during which they heard many moving stories of the unity of the military and the people in the War of Resistance. One evening, the two went to Huangya Cave in Licheng County, Shanxi Province to sketch, when the sunset shone on the cliff of Taihang Mountain, Wang Yingchun suddenly felt that the mountains mottled with light and shadow were like group sculptures. On the towering rock wall, she seemed to see a group portrait of the Taihang army and civilians who were resolute. She hit it off with Yang Lizhou and immediately decided to start creating. The most important masterpiece of their artistic career, "Taihang Iron Wall", won the gold medal of the 6th National Art Exhibition for showing the anti-Japanese war style of the military and civilians of Taihang Mountain in a unique way.
Taihang Iron Wall (Chinese painting) Wang Yingchun, Yang Lizhou, Collection of National Art Museum of China
What is the "National Art Exhibition"? Its first exhibition was held before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and its award history is more than 40 years, and the "National Art Exhibition Award" produced by it is the predecessor of today's "China Art Award".
As the highest national award in the field of fine arts, the China Art Award is also one of the few art awards held every five years in the mainland literary and art circles. It embodies the artist's observation and deep thinking of the times, and the creativity and creation of talents, and it outlines a magnificent picture of the development of Chinese modern art with colorful brushstrokes.
Born because of the exhibition: the "national exhibition" gene that walks with the times
The story of the "China Art Award" starts with the National Art Exhibition.
The "China Art Award" was officially established when the 11th National Art Exhibition (2009) was held, and was produced from the National Art Exhibition (hereinafter referred to as the "National Art Exhibition") held every five years. As a national-level comprehensive art exhibition with the longest history in mainland China, the National Art Exhibition has been full of strong feelings for family and country from the very beginning, and has been the vane for people to observe the trend of Chinese art creation. The award is the product of the institutionalization and standardization of the National Art Exhibition. After more than ten years of development, the genes and attributes of the "National Exhibition" contained in the "China Art Award" have been highlighted, and its influence has become increasingly extensive.
In 1955, Chairman Mao Zedong visited the National Art Exhibition Lu Houmin/photo file picture
In July 1949, when the dawn of New China was in sight, the art exhibition held by the Beiping Art School exhibited more than 600 works. This exhibition united the national art workers and played a great role in promoting the main theme of the times, and was later defined as the first national art exhibition. In March 1955, the Second National Art Exhibition launched nearly 1,000 works of various genres, showing the vitality of new Chinese art. In June 1960, more than 900 works from all over the country were selected to be exhibited in Beijing, and it was later recognized as the third national art exhibition. In 1964, the Fourth National Art Exhibition appeared in the form of simultaneous exhibition in several exhibition areas during the National Day and then held in Beijing. In 1979, the Fifth National Art Exhibition began to explore the evaluation of outstanding works, and three works, the Chinese painting "The People and the Prime Minister", the comic book "Maple", and the print "Master", won the first prize. In 1984, at the 6th National Art Exhibition held to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the exhibition system was clarified, and the award activities were fixed as a mechanism. Since then, the national art exhibitions have been held on the fifth and tenth days of the National Day. With the development of the times, each National Art Exhibition has been optimized in terms of art categories and exhibition area settings, such as adding categories such as art design, animation and comprehensive materials, and experimental art. This year, the 14th National Art Exhibition, held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, will showcase the latest achievements in various categories of art creation in the past five years.
Nurturing classics: refining the spirit of art from life
Although the early national art exhibitions did not directly carry out award activities, the measures such as the selection of exhibitions and the selection of outstanding works from the exhibitions and the publication of anthologies also played a role in commendation. Many classic works of art in New China were first introduced by the National Art Exhibition and gradually became well-known to the public, such as Dong Xiwen's oil painting "Spring to Tibet", Luo Gongliu's oil painting "Tunnel War", Li Qi's Chinese painting "The Chairman Travels All Over the Country", Wang Shikuo's sketch "Bloody Clothes", etc.
The first time in my life (Chinese painting) Yang Zhiguang Collection of the National Art Museum of China
In 1955, the 24-year-old young painter Yang Zhiguang participated in the second National Art Exhibition with his Chinese painting "The First Time in My Life", and his works had a great impact after being exhibited. The picture of this work is extremely simple: the expression and posture of an elderly lady holding a voter card in her hand make up the whole picture, and the standing posture, facial expressions and even the hands holding the voter card are quite expressive, and the joy is overflowing. The work was a great success and became an important representative of the "New Chinese Painting" in the history of art. In his later years, Yang Zhiguang recalled: "The primary reason for this work was my experience, and I suffered too many sins in the old society. I painted the old lady standing up, in fact, I am also glad that I have stood up myself, I can straighten my waist and be a man, and the people are the masters from now on. ”
How do strong and sincere emotions fall on the picture? The painter's ability to capture life and create, and the collision of real life and artistic inspiration make the image of this "new social lady" come to life. Once, Yang Zhiguang heard from a classmate that his mother regarded the voter card as a cherished thing and stored it in a jewelry box. He thought of the old lady he saw when he went to the countryside to collect wind, and every time she went to the market, she always wrapped her money in a small handkerchief. The details of the two lives collided in his mind in an instant, reflecting the image of a person who opened a handkerchief and looked at the voter card.
In 1984, Zhan Jianjun, who had already become famous for his works such as "The Beginning" and "Five Heroes of Langya Mountain", created the oil painting "Tide", which won the gold medal of the 6th National Art Exhibition. The picture is simple and visually striking, with a young farmer holding a shovel in his hand and standing with his head held high in the wilderness of the spring tide. The work shows vigorous vitality and endless creativity with strong romanticism, and has become the epitome of the spirit of China's reform and opening up. Speaking of this work, Zhan Jianjun has a deep experience: "'From life, higher than life' is a very conceptual sentence, but for me it is concrete, that is, constantly discovering the source of nourishing art in life", "My work is a painting of peasants, in fact, it is to reflect the entire Chinese society and the ideological emancipation of the Chinese people through rural reform."
In "The Iron Wall of Taihang", the author puts one of Peng Dehuai's hands on the shoulder of his fellow countryman. It was because of the nostalgia of the local people for Peng Dehuai that the painter was moved. Yang Lizhou said that the rocks of Huangya Cave ignited the spark of our creation, but the emotions contained in the works come from the people and life.
Face up to the controversy: wash good works and find good seedlings
In 2019, the 3rd China Art Award, which was announced at the 13th National Art Exhibition, attracted impressive attention: the number of awards was greatly reduced compared with the previous year, with only 40 places, and the judges still preferred to be short of them, and only 37 award-winning works were selected; The sculpture won the gold medal again after 30 years; The oil painting category, which has maintained a solid position in the gold medal in the past, did not win the gold medal for the first time......
Through the appearance of heated public opinion, paying attention to the "China Art Award" needs to return to the original intention of the exhibition and award. Painters participating in national art exhibitions always have to face the question: why do you paint this, and not that? Why draw it this way and not that way? On the one hand, the organizers are always optimizing the award process through various methods and even new technical means to ensure that the award is fair and just; On the other hand, the judges are also under pressure, and the works selected through a rigorous process such as rounds of voting and selection will not only face public evaluation, but also need to withstand the test of history.
Historically, there have been vacancies in the selection of gold, silver and bronze awards in the National Art Exhibition; While launching a large number of high-quality products and leaving classics, there are also award-winning works that have been silent since then; And all kinds of discussions and contentions around the results of the national art exhibition and awards have never stopped.
It is precisely because of the controversy in artistic creation that the National Art Exhibition and Awards can give full play to the unique role of taking the pulse of art development, promoting the creation of high-quality products, and discovering young talents, and driving their own continuous development and improvement. It can even be said that the discussion and controversy around art has become an important part of the national art exhibition and award work. Because of the continuous scrutiny, washing and refining of fine products, we can finally leave a real classic of the times for history.
From the exhibition of "beauty" to the award of "beauty", although in the name of "beauty", the national art exhibition and award are never "perfect". Nor has it ever been intended to determine which authors have reached the "peak" of their artistic skills, or to label which works are "sky-high". As early as 1955, the preface of the second National Art Exhibition Anthology had this statement: the National Art Exhibition should not only present a new look in the development of art, but also point out the places that are "not enough"; It not only found a "good sprout" in it, but also "seriously helped the continued development of this sprout".
For true artists, winning awards will not be regarded as a stop in their artistic pursuit. When talking about the gold medal work "Tide", Zhan Jianjun once said: "At present, I don't think any work is very good, usually in the creative process is very enthusiastic, but also very hopeful, and when the painting is finished, I always feel that this is still close, that is still close." And it has been nearly 30 years since he first participated in the National Art Exhibition.
20-year-old Jin Shangyi, 23-year-old Fang Zengxian, 24-year-old Yang Zhiguang, Hou Yimin, Quan Shanshi, Zhan Jianjun, 25-year-old Zhou Changgu...... These artists, as fledgling young faces, have appeared in the National Art Exhibition with their brand-new works - "Discovering Good Seedlings", paving a solid pave for their growth, which is not only the original intention of the National Art Exhibition, but also the most anticipated part of the previous exhibitions and awards.
In May 2023, as soon as the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National Art Museum of China was launched, it attracted a wave of visitors, attracting more than 400,000 visitors to the exhibition hall in three months. The "Tribute to the Classics" section of the central rotunda is particularly popular, with a crowd of perusable readers in front of each work. As you can imagine, people hardly talk about which work has been exhibited at the National Art Exhibition or whether it has won a gold medal. At this point, the works left behind speak for themselves.
In the near future, the outstanding works of the 14th National Art Exhibition will once again gather at the National Art Museum of China, and the new China Art Award is bound to be in the spotlight again. The story around the "award" will continue, and how to dedicate the art works with "muscles, morality, and warmth", "profound thoughts, exquisite art, and excellent production" to the people, and create art classics belonging to this era, is even more exciting.
(Source: Guangming Daily, July 19, 2024, page 15; Author: Zhu Yongan, Librarian of National Art Museum of China; Image source: original with picture)