The ongoing National Peasant Painting Exhibition at the Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou, East China, has caused a stir in art circles. And now, a declaration by the event’s sponsor has aroused even more discussion.
It took two sponsors, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and China Artists Association, to mount such a large-scale exhibition.
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhuanet) — As far as the distance is between China and Chile, it turns out that art is the perfect way to unite the two nations at opposite ends of the planet. Let’s take a look at an exhibition of contemporary Chinese art that has opened in the Chilean capital Santiago.
From the realistic depiction of Chinese coal miners, to the abstract handling of figures in traditional Chinese operas, the 83 works unveil a panorama of contemporary Chinese art in mediums including oil paintings, sculptures, and installations.
Twelve veteran ink painters from across the Taiwan Straits will create a modern version of Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, a masterpiece by famed Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) painter Huang Gongwang (1269-1354).
The endeavor kicked off on June 27 in the hillside village Huang Gongwang in Fuyang, Zhejiang province where Huang created his work 600 years ago.
BASEL.- The 41st edition of art basel closed on Sunday, June 20, 2010. This year, the annual reunion of the international artworld attracted more than 62,500 artists, collectors, curators, and art lovers from around the globe, a new record for attendance at the show. The participating galleries, art lovers, and media were unanimous in pronouncing this a superb year for the show in terms of quality. Collectors rewarded the excellent material and booth presentations with strong sales throughout the week.
A great many artists attended the event, among them Doug Aitken, Kader Attia, Carol Bove, Christo, Yona Friedman, Douglas Gordon, Rodney Graham, Susan Hiller, Joseph Kosuth, Paul McCarthy, Richard Phillips, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Ugo Rondinone, and Lawrence Weiner. And over 60 museum groups, representing almost all the worlds major museums visited Art 41 Basel, significantly more than last year, as did major private collectors from North and South America, all of Europe and the emerging markets of the artworld.
Well-off Hangzhou is famous for traditional Chinese art, and many people have sniffed at contemporary works. A recent art fair tries to change attitudes and build a market. Xu Wenwen reports.
Hangzhou strongly supports the arts and cultural industry, and not just traditional Chinese arts. Many exhibitions today feature art of all kinds from China and abroad.
But contemporary art is an acquired taste in the city that is known as a showplace of ancient tradition.
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Date: Apr 29–Aug 31, 2010
Venue: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa, Japan
‘Alternative Humanities’ is a large-scale exhibition devoted to Jan Fabre and Katsura Funakoshi – two of today’s most influential artists.
Born in Belgium, Fabre remains attuned to the religious paintings of 15th and 16th century Flanders, while exposing the contradictions of human existence through pictures drawn with his own blood and sculptures employing stuffed animals, animal bones, and other organic materials.
The figurative sculptures that Funakoshi carves from camphor wood speak eloquently of the interior landscape of people in our times. They also resonate with the complex emotions visible in images of the Kannon Bodhisattva of the late Edo/early Meiji period – a major turning point in Japanese culture.
Gathering some 190 works in a meeting of East and West, past and present, the exhibition will transcend time and place to inquire into state of the human spirit today.
A rare Song Dynasty hand scroll, classified as a grade one cultural relic of the State, fetched 79.52 million yuan ($11.6 million) on Saturday at China Guardian’s Spring Auction.
The scroll by an anonymous painter of Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279), entitled A Copy of Guo Zhongshu’s Four-Hunter Painting, vividly portrays four nomadic horsemen who are respectively riding to the field, training an eagle, hunting and resting.
Paintings of the ethnic groups who lived on the vast grasslands of northern China, became a distinct category of painting in the late Tang dynasty (AD 618-907). The painting, part of the treasure trove of the Qing (1644-1911) royal court, was smuggled out of the palace by Emperor Puyi as a reward to his brother in 1922 and was later transported overseas.
Another royal treasure of the Qing court, Listening to Spring by Jin Tingbiao, sold for 45.13 million yuan ($6.6 million). The painting portrays a scholar sitting by a stone among pine trees. It was completed shortly after Jin served as a royal court painter.
Other items that came under the hammer at the auctions included a Qianlong Tibetan-Style Ewer with under-glazed blue and iron red dragon and cloud motif, which fetched 35.84 million yuan ($5.2 million), and Shi Chong’s oil painting Present Landscape that was sold for 26.09 million yuan ($3.8 million).
More than 6,600 lots of Chinese painting and calligraphy, oil painting, sculptures, antique, stamps and coins are going under the hammer at Guardian’s Spring Auctions, which last until Tuesday.
“Global auctioneering came to a standstill last year. But against that backdrop the Chinese auction market has achieved notable growth, and our annual proceeds established a new record,” says Wang Yannan, president of China Guardian Auctions.
Last year, three pieces of Chinese painting and calligraphy heralded the arrival of a 100 million yuan ($15 million) era for the classical Chinese art market, including one item Writings by Prominent Personage in the Song Dynasty on Attendant Xu’s Seal Character, featuring calligraphy by seven renowned scholars, such as Zhu Xi and Zhang Jingxiu, that was sold at Guardian’s autumn auction.
“As a warm-up for the spring auctions, our auctions in March yielded a turnover of 262 million yuan ($38.4 million). It further increased collectors’ confidence in the market,” Wang says.
One work that is expected to set a new record is Zhang Daqian’s Austrian Lake, a painting in a series inspired by the maestro’s two-day stay at the Achensee Lake in Austria, when he traveled through Europe with friends in 1965. The painting to be auctioned is widely believed to be one of the largest and most brilliant of the series.
| Art lovers in Shanghai are encouraged to take a stroll along the “World Art Gallery” during the city’s annual Spring Art Salon. The concept of internationalization is projected as this year’s theme. The event’s highlight is two conceptual oil paintings to remember the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
More than one hundred prestigious art galleries from different continents around the globe will take part in this year’s event. Various art schools and genres including abstract and realism will give visitors and buyers a huge pool of choices. The two conceptual oil paintings by American Chinese artist Zhou Chi are drawing huge attention. They were created to commemorate the one year anniversary of the death of American pop singer Michael Jackson. The curly hair of young Michael is turned into the eleven black phonograph albums he released during his lifetime. |
On 26th April 2010, Museo Picasso Malaga presents a new approach to the artworks by Pablo Picasso that belong to its permanent collection, highlighting the wide range of themes the artist tackled during his prolific artistic career.
As from tomorrow, Tuesday 27th April, and again, with a second instalment, as from Tuesday 20th July, visitors will be able to discover the MPM collection’s new layout. Until October of this year, the public will be able to view all 233 works that make up the museum’s entire art holdings following its recent expansion, in two separate instalments.
A New Approach is the follow-up to the project for the expansion and consolidation of the MPM’s art holdings, after the creation of the Fundación Museo Picasso Malaga. Legado Paul, Christine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso. This process will culminate in October, when the collection will once again be shown alongside the works on free loan from the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte ( FABA).
This presentation coincides with the publication of a guidebook which contains information and a number of brief essays on the MPM, as well as the full catalogue of the MPM permanent collection’s art holdings, and ten academic studies on its ten most representative artworks.
“Among the various sins of which I am accused, none is as false as the one that which states my work is fundamentally driven by a spirit of research. My objective when I paint is to show what I have found, not what I am looking for. In art, intentions are not enough and, as we say in Spanish: obras son amores y no buenas razones (actions speak louder than words). What matters is what one does, not what one intended to do”. This was how Pablo Picasso defined the purpose of his art. He tackled his work with talent, hard work, precise technique and, above all, indomitable creative freedom.
By presenting its permanent collection in this way, the museum is providing a storyline to the artist’s work; a fresh approach to the discoveries that led Picasso to be considered the most important artist of the 20th century. With this in mind, Museo Picasso Malaga is inviting visitors to examine ten key features of Picasso’s aesthetic legacy.
This year’s spring art auctions begins today with China Guardian, one of China’s leading Chinese art auction houses, raising the curtain on the season’s sales that are shaping up to be an exciting affair.
A total of 29 auctions will be held during the seven-day event, including traditional Chinese painting, jade wares, modern porcelain, sculpture and contemporary works.
More than 6,600 pieces will go under the hammer at Beijing International Hotel, among which ancient Chinese coins, bronze mirrors and stamps, all hotly pursued in recent years, account for more than half.
Traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy works will be a highlight at the auctions, as prices of these types of works have dramatically increased in the past few years, bucking the doom and gloom of the economic recession.
Last year, several traditional Chinese painting pieces and calligraphy works were sold for more than 100 million yuan (US$15 million) each, considered by art experts and economists as a symbol of the Chinese art market’s quick recovery.
China Guardian will offer a range of traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy works from the Song (960-1279) to Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, with five different painting schools and six features by individual collectors represented.
Art experts and market researchers are paying close attention to the first spring auctions on the Chinese mainland, the outcome of which will serve as a barometer for the rest of the year’s sales.
“It is not only art lovers and collectors, but other auctions houses in and out of China that are looking forward to these spring auctions,” commented Zhao Li, director of Art Market Research Center (AMRC), an independent organization devoted to Chinese and international art market research.
Zhao added that since Chinese traditional pieces were extremely hot last year both in the domestic and overseas art markets, concerns have been raised about the market’s sustainability and this year’s spring auctions will serve as a key indicator to whether the market will continue to soar, or overheat.
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