Artists create strokes of genius

The exhibition combines the works of the academy's resident artists and those well-connected with it to hold exhibitions, including Huang Yongyu (1924-2023), the prolific ink painter and printmaker. There are also oil works representing the long-term endeavor of homegrown artists attempting to renovate ink art to integrate the cultural spirit of the East with Western painting styles.

Xue Liang, the exhibition's curator, who is also in charge of the Art Museum of the Beijing Fine Art Academy, says the show navigates the evolution of Chinese art since the 1950s.

"It traces the early stage of New China, when a group of veteran artists utilized Chinese painting techniques to depict thriving socialist construction and to reflect the spirit of the country and its people, opening a new chapter of Chinese art.

"Young artists visited factories, construction sites and villages to collect the scenes and stories of people contributing to the social and economic developments while exploring innovative brushwork."

The Spring of National Capital sets an example of these efforts. Fu Baoshi (1904-65), one of the great reformists of ink art, spoke highly of the work: "The details being illustrated, so abundant, and the breadth of its composition makes it difficult to find a similar piece in the history of Chinese art," hailing it as an encyclopedia of Beijing's social lives in the 1950s.

Wu Hongliang, current director of the Beijing Fine Art Academy, says at the time, ink artists confronted challenges to reform Chinese painting, requiring "transitions of art primarily serving the cultured and elite groups, mostly on exclusive occasions, to depicting and attesting to the needs of all members of society for public shows".

He says these paintings show that "artists didn't deviate from the spiritual core of Chinese painting, but tried to keep the tradition alive by addressing new narratives and emerging social themes, as well as reflecting their ideals of society".