Art imitates life. This is true of contemporary Chinese art, particularly the
increasingly popular genre of oil painting.
A grand retrospective exhibition entitled "Along the
Roaring River: A New Era for Chinese Oil Paintings" is being staged at the
National Art Museum of China in downtown Beijing.
Visitors look at oil paintings on display at the National
Art Museum of China. |
The exhibit is designed "to help people from art circles and the general
public to view the growing pains and joys of Chinese oil art, and to retrace the
path painters have taken over three decades when unprecedented, historic changes
are taking place in China," says Zhang Zuying of the Chinese Oil Painters
Society.
The exhibition, running until December 8, occupies all 11 display halls of
the spacious art museum, with 249 masterpieces created in the past 30 years by
some of China's best-known oil artists.
It is organized jointly by the Chinese Oil Painters Society, the Oil Art
Committee of the Chinese Artists Association and the Ministry of Culture.
The retrospective also marks the 10th birthday of the Chinese Oil Artists'
Society and 20th birthday of the Oil Art Committee of the Chinese Artists'
Association, organizers said.
"From the perspective of world art, Chinese oil painting appears to be young
and immature. It was in the early 20th century that oil painting was introduced
to China," commented Guangzhou-based Li Gongming.
And during its 100 years of development, "the art of Chinese oil painting its
concepts, ideas, styles, and techniques always has been influenced by social and
political changes in China. The history of Chinese oil painting is, to a large
extent, a visual representation of the tumultuous history of modern China."
This oil painting exhibition is exactly such a visual showcase for major
changes in contemporary China since 1976, said the organizers, who have arranged
the exhibition in three time frames spanning from 1976-2005.
Recovering period
In autumn of 1976, with the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76),
Chinese society entered a new era when Chinese oil painting gained more space to
grow, writes veteran art historian Shui Tianzhong in the preface to the
catalogue for the exhibition.
Between 1977 and 1979, Chinese oil art was in a time of recovery. Artists
used oil paintings to question the legitimacy of past political movements, to
expose injustice, the cruelty of social turmoil and to extol human dignity in
hard times.
For instance, Gao Xiaohua's and Cheng Conglin's paintings portray the bloody
military conflicts between different factions of Red Guards during the "cultural
revolution."
Between 1979 and 1985, Chinese oil painting gathered steam and artists found
their voices in portraying on-going, pulsating waves of "socialist construction
and the drive to realize modernization."
Artists with solid basic training before the "cultural revolution" and
unforgettable experiences of being "re-educated" in rural China, rose to stardom
with paintings that were labelled Rural Realist works.
In 1985, over 100 Chinese oil painters and art critics held a seminar near
Huangshan Mountains in East China's Anhui Province. They called for artistic
diversity and absorption of new ideas from the outside world, which caused a
sensation among Chinese artists.
In the following years, the Chinese Oil Painters Society and the Oil Art
Committee of the Chinese Artists Association were formed to organize
exhibitions, seminars, training classes for novices, and to print publications
about oil art in China.
Old art, new souls
In the early 1990s, China adopted a market economy and opened further to the
outside world. New ideas, philosophies and information about vanguard art began
flooding in, along with foreign investment.
All these prompted the rise of younger generations of oil artists whose
experimental works in a wide range of styles were displayed across the nation,
often causing widespread public discussions.
These works bore both ethnic and national flavours and Western influences,
noted art critic Liu Xiaochun.
However, while most young artists were embracing new ideas and trends from
the West, some Chinese artists made headway in depicting classic Chinese and
ethnic subject matter.
For example, Song Huimin's oil painting of Cao Xueqin, author of "A Dream of
Red Mansions," and Wei Ershen's oils of Inner Mongolian herdsmen, pushed the
boundaries of traditional Realism, said Yin Shuangxi, an art critic with the
Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Between 1995 and 2005, Chinese oil artists began paying more attention to
local and indigenous resources, the cultural identity of their works in global
markets, commented art critic Shao Dazhen.
"Few young and middle-aged oil artists today are copying their Western
counterparts. Instead, they are putting a Chinese mark on art works that are
favoured both by Western curators and collectors," he said.
And China's deepening reforms plus the unstoppable trends of globalization
and urbanization have put Chinese oil artists on a roller coaster of
commercialism.
"Painting styles and trends are changing fast. Finding their own voices and
personal marks have become a matter of life and death in the fledgling Chinese
art market and global markets as well," said art critic Xu Hongmei.
For instance, Wang Guangyi borrowed the revolutionary poster commonly seen
during the "cultural revolution" to make his black-humour "Great Criticism"
series that, on one hand, criticizes Western commercialism and consumerism, on
the other hand, has scored huge successes in the art market.
Younger artists such as Xin Dongwang, Liu Xiaodong and Zhang Xiaogang have
adopted a more complicated approach toward their subject matter by using the
most marketable styles to depict the commonest Chinese, their loss, confusion,
hopes and boredom in face of a rapidly changing society, observed art critic Li
Gongming.
Dying or growing
With the emergence in recent years of new media and forms, such as video art,
installation, and performance, there has been a perception that Chinese oil art
is dying. But Chinese oil artists and critics are divided over this issue.
"The fusion of different genres and the blurring of boundaries among arts are
natural and unavoidable trends," said Shui Tianzhong.
"The use of mixed media and new techniques in the creation of art, including
oil paintings, is a phenomenon that no one can stop or alter.
"The fact is that the 21st century Chinese public's interest in oil paintings
of both 'classic' and 'vanguard' styles is growing as the economy booms and
people can pay more attention to their quality of life," said Shui.
For instance, early last month, "Portrait of Ms Jenny," a 1939 oil by Chinese
artist and educator Xu Beihong (1895-1953), was sold for 22 million yuan (US$2.7
million), a record price.
The previous record was set in May in Hong Kong when "Juin-October 1985" by
Paris-based Chinese artist Zao Wou-ki went for HK$18.04 million (US$2.31
million) at a Christie's auction.
"I believe that oil painting will sustain its life for quite a long time in
China. Chinese oil art is growing and that is a clear matter of fact," said
Shui.
