Dong Xiwen's oil painting, The Grand Ceremony for the Founding of New China.

The National Art Museum of China is buzzing. Almost 700 selected artworks are on show "representing the highest level in artistry and the widest scope of the Chinese nation's remarkable achievement in visual arts", says museum dean Fan Di'an.

The exhibition has been made possible with joint efforts from a dozen major museums, art galleries in China, and some private collectors from home and abroad, and kicks off a series of celebratory art shows at the museum to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, organizers say.

"Generations of artists have actively taken part in the construction of New China, successfully transforming traditional art idioms and new ideas, as well as genres and techniques borrowed from the West into a new language for the depiction of socialist workers," Culture Minister Cai Wu said at last week's opening ceremony.

"From history to social reality, from metropolises to rural areas, 60 years of New China art has illustrated or reflected in one way or another various aspects of social trends and changes, leaving for future generations a precious legacy."

The exhibition features a bulk of works in oil, ink, prints, sculptures of different eras, vintage New Year woodblock pictures of 1950s, the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) political posters, original drafts for popular picture-story books, caricatures criticizing social injustices in the early 1980s, pastel, watercolor, and traditional as well as innovative lacquer paintings, and mixed media works by younger artists over the past two decades.

It occupies all the display halls of the museum, with the iconic oil works of exciting historic scenes such as Dong Xiwen's The Grand Ceremony for the Founding of New China, and Chen Yifei's and Wei Jingshan's collaborative work Takeover of the President's Office of Republic of China, as centerpieces in the central, circular display hall on its first floor.

Visitors may also watch prize-winning cartoons such as Upheaval in Heaven by Monkey King, and The Little Frogs Looking for Moms created with a clever use of Chinese folk art and ink painting skills by such masters as Zhang Guangyu and Wan Laiming.

For Zhong Hongqi, a former village leader in Shifang, Sichuan province, a visit to the exhibition is a journey back in time.

When he was a young man, the 68-year-old bought copies of ink works by masters such as Pan Tianshou and Qi Baishi to decorate the blank walls of his thatched house.

Wang Chengwei, a college student from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, caught an overnight train to see the exhibition. "The exhibition serves as a multimedia textbook for me about the landmarks and legendary pieces in Chinese art history, with original works, detailed explanations by guides, and academic lectures by art professors during the show."

But many big names are missing, such as Fang Lijun, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi and their red-hot contemporary art pieces.

"It is impossible for a single show to give the most inclusive chronology of fine arts in New China," explains Liang Jiang, a key member at the committee and renowned art critic from Beijing.

"And the academic committee for the organization of the exhibition has spent months deciding upon the selection of each and every specific title for the exhibition.

"They have agreed that only time-tested works and generally acclaimed works by middle aged and young artists ought to be put on show."

His supporting examples include early works by world-renowned contemporary Chinese artists Zhang Xiaogang, Xu Bing and Liu Xiaodong.

Museum dean Fan Di'an says the organizing committee tried hard to strike a balance in choosing typical works from the widest range of genres, and styles, schools other than the predominant Socialist Realism works, including pieces once viewed "very unconventional or explosively controversial".

"Chinese art has undergone a twisty, tumultuous and sometimes painful path over the past 60 years," says Chen Lusheng, author of An Illustrated History of Fine Arts in New China.

"From behind these selected exhibits, many of which may become timeless classics, one can read the heart-wrenching setbacks the Chinese art community has suffered amid the nation's drastic political and social changes, and the great strides the Chinese art world has made," he says.

"Also there are numerous lessons people now and later must learn to ensure a more prosperous and diversified Chinese art scene."

A 760-page, super-size catalog entitled 60 Years of Fine Arts in New China has been published and distributed by People's Publishing House of Fine Arts at Xinhua Bookstores nationwide, to go with the historic art exhibition.

The exhibition runs through Sept 14 in Beijing.

(China Daily September 3, 2009)