Shanghai art museum holds print art exhibition

The ongoing exhibition at the China Art Museum, Shanghai (Shanghai Art Museum) features print art masterpieces from all over the world, such as creations by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Kaethe Kollwitz.

Print Making • Silk Road, going on from March 26 to May 20, is the first comprehensive retrospective of the history of print art in the world following the development of the ancient Silk Road. Traditional wood prints in China were transmitted along the Silk Road to wider parts of the world, making an extensive impact on the development of print art and technology. The exhibition also highlights how modern printmaking technology was introduced from the West to China, and facilitated new achievements in printmaking, according to Lu Zhiping, curator of the exhibition.

More than 170 artworks are shown from home and abroad. "Audiences will see how Chinese print art impacted the Ukiyo-e art in Japan, and then went on to inspire the impressionists in the West," said Wang Yichuan, executive director of China Art Museum, Shanghai.

The journey of printmaking from China to the world largely coincides with the route of the Belt and the Road Initiative, Lu said. From woodblock prints in China, to copperplate etching, lithograph and silkscreen print in Europe, to printmaking with digital photographs today, audiences can experience colorful works of print art, instead of just black and white, he said.