Realistic paintings infused with Chinese hues
- By Wu Jin
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China.org.cn, December 23, 2011
Though the legendary career of painter Chen Yifei ended with his abrupt death in 2005, his legacy in pushing forward the Chinese realism style onto the world stage is being carried on by his contemporaries, including Ai Xuan, Yang Feiyun and Leng Jun.
These artists' efforts are on display at the seventh annual Realism Exhibition at the National Art Museum in Beijing from Dec. 21 to 29. Paintings such as innocent Tibetan girls by Ai and photo-like portraits by Leng reveal the resilience of Chen’s techniques, showing no signs of fading from the art world’s spotlight.
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Realism Exhibition at the National Art Museum [China.org.cn] |
"Those realistic paintings beautifully illustrate the feeling of the people from the bottom of the hearts," said Chang Qiuqin, a student from Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University.
Rising from the artistic movement in the 1850s in France, realism counteracted the dominant romanticism and gained a foothold as an important genre in art. Although China has its own glittering line-up of prominent artists such as Wu Guanzhong, it was Chen Yifei at the spearhead with his framing traditional objects in realistic paintings, allowing the art style to blossom and prosper in the 1990s. Yet the social impact of realism, according to Yang who heads the Chinese Academy of Oil Painting, is far beyond even Chen had imagined.
"Contemporarily speaking, China is already an important country for realism paintings in the world," said Yang, "the number of its people involved in the genre is higher than all other countries in the world."
"From classic realism, pure realism, figurative, figurative expressionism, imaginary to intentional realism, the art has made big strides in the country."
Expanding from being represented no more than 20 artists to over 30 celebrated painters, the art form boomed rapidly in the past few years. But authenticity of the unexpected development was questioned by some insiders.
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Realism Exhibition at National Art Museum [China.org.cn] |
Palla Jeroff, an artist from Artron.net, a Beijing-based web portal of arts and the sponsor of the exhibition, said: "One thing in China is if someone did something that is sold at high prices… everyone goes for that one kind of direction."
"In art, we like individuality, we try to be different. That’s what we want for the artist."
But some Chinese realism artists said they were not concerned with how their works perform under the hammer.
"I've just kept walking on my own path and never thought about being recognized by the western world," said Leng, unshaved and wearing a washed-out beige coat to the night party on the eve of the exhibition's opening day.
"I don't really have a concrete goal," Leng said. "I only painted what I wanted and found I have reached deep [into the genre] in my way."
The artist's indulgence in realism found support from Australian gallery owner and curator Trevor Victor Harvey.
"I think the realism is the same in any country in the world. This is a link across languages and across cultures. It is a challenge for an artist to paint like this," Harvey said. "This is a historic element in the Chinese realism painting, which I think is really lovely, because this culture is involved."
According to Xin Dongwang, associate professor from Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua Universit and one of the artists of the exhibition, the appreciation for realism is deeply ingrained in the blood of the Chinese people.
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Realism Exhibition at National Art Museum [China.org.cn] |
He said the colors and beauty are universally the same no matter they are in abstract or realistic painting. "It is all about something beautiful – for example, the rhythm of Wu Guanzhong's paintings."
"We know we are not the best compared with the grandmasters in the world, but we are trying to tap the notch."
The exhibition features 110 paintings and will move on to Xi'an Art Museum, Shaanxi Province, on Jan. 15, 2012, where it will run until Feb. 12, next year.
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