Rare ancient Chinese painting exhibition held
By Wu Ziru
A large-scale exhibition of ancient Chinese art is being held at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), providing art lovers a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the ancient Chinese art of painting. The show has caused much excitement in art circles, as the international art world is seeing increased interest in works of this kind.
"Deng Tuo Donated Treasures of Ancient Chinese Paintings Exhibition," showcases for the first time the more than 140 pieces from Deng's private collection that were donated to the museum in 1964, many of which have great artistic
Visitors of the exhibition are lucky enough to see authentic works by many Chinese painting masters from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) through the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), such as Shen Zhou (1427-1509), Bada Shanren (1626-1705) and Zheng Xie (1693-1765). The event is a visual feast of some of the best art treasures from China's history.
Although it is hard to tell which work is the most precious, a hand scroll titled The Rocks and Bamboo created by Song Dynasty official scholar Su Shi (1037-1101) is arguably among the exhibition's most valuable pieces.
The Rocks and Bamboo is generally believed to be the only existing authentic work still to be found on the Chinese mainland by the versatile artist, who enjoyed fame during his lifetime due to his talents in literature, poetry and calligraphy.
With a height of 28 cm and a width of 105.6 cm, the scroll, which is featured at the center of the third-floor exhibition hall, was created on a single piece of silk. The only other known work by Su is currently in a Japanese museum and was taken during the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-45).
Deng Tuo (1912-1966) was a well-known historian, poet and former general manager and editor-in-chief of People's Daily. Deng worked tirelessly to acquire the famous scroll from collector Bai Jianfu, stopping at nothing after he heard that Bai sold another of Su's paintings to a Japanese buyer.
Fan Di'an, director of NAMOC, said that with all his love and enthusiasm for art, Deng contributed tremendously to the preservation of some of China's greatest art treasures, as many precious works were taken out of China during his lifetime, either looted or sold to foreign buyers.
"To mark the 100th anniversary of Deng's birth, we are holding this special exhibition, displaying the entire collection at once for the very first time," Fan added. "No one would deny his huge contribution to saving these national treasures."
Other works sharing the limelight are Sun Flowers and Day Lily by Ming Dynasty master painter Shen Zhou, and A Panoramic View of the Lakes and Mountains in South China by his contemporary Tang Yin (1470-1523), to name a few.
The exhibition, which opened January 17, will last until April 10 due to its particular importance to Chinese history, marking it as one of the longest exhibitions the museum has ever held.