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Anew selection of masterpieces by Spanishartist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is being brought to China. The three-month
exhibition in Shanghai features 62 priceless masterworks and has kindled discussion about Picasso, and his influence on several generations of Chinese painters.
Although a rare subject among contemporary Chinese artists these days, Picasso remains much admired by middle-aged Chinese painters for his ever-changing artistic styles, prowess in overthrowing conservative traditions of art and being a firm believer in and lifelong practitioner of a Bohemian lifestyle.
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child,” said Picasso in his late years. He could paint as well as Raphael at the age of 14, as evidenced by the realistic work The Barefoot Girl. He not only forged new paths in his later career but completely changed the direction of art in the Western world several times.
“He is a liberator and has thoroughly unfettered art and the way art is created,” said
Yin Zhong, an artist who pursues a fusion of Western skills and Chinese artistic flavors in his works.
Awesome exhibits
The exhibition, which opened at the China Pavilion at the former site of Shanghai World Expo on October 18, offers the Chinese audience a rare opportunity of close contact with Picasso’s astonishing masterworks.
Picasso’s works were previously introduced to China in Beijing in 1983 and in 2005, but none of the two exhibitions match the Shanghai exhibition in terms of artistic representativeness and completeness. This selection by the National Picasso Museum Paris spans major periods of Picasso’s incredibly long art career, consisting of 48 oil paintings, seven block prints, seven sculptures and 50 photographic works. Several of Picasso’s most famous masterpieces—such as The Barefoot Girl, Woman in Red Armchair and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon—highlight the exhibition.
Crowds of artists and art lovers are flock- ing to the China Pavilion to appreciate the paintings.
“Picasso has impressed me for many years, so the exhibition in my hometown is a must-see for me,” said Shanghai-based painter Yang Zhengxin who has just returned from a visit to Europe. “I visited museums to see his masterworks and followed his steps in cities where he once lived. Immersing myself in the same environment and atmosphere, I can better understand his works and his ideas for creation.”
Chinese artists are not only inspired by his works but also his personality and life philosophy. “Picasso is amazing, and I think a real artist should always be brave enough to confront conservative forces and never give up trying difficult possibilities,” said Chinese artist Wang Chengyu.
The exhibits were displayed in Taipei before being shipped to Shanghai. The museum is also trying to find a venue in Beijing before the exhibition moves on to several other Asian cities. “It’s a way for us to educate two or three generations of the Chinese public,” said Anne Baldassari, Director of the National Picasso Museum Paris shortly before the exhibition was opened.
The Shanghai exhibition marks the largest exhibition of Picasso’s works on the Chinese mainland until now, with a selection of works worth $934 million, a new record for art exhibitions in China.
Ever-changing style
However, visitors without training in art appreciation will find it hard to perceive the meaning of many non-realistic works, as Picasso was a master of different styles. Picasso changed his style through his 80-year-long and prolific career, such as the blue and rose period dominated by early realistic works, the African period, Cubism, Classicism and Surrealism.
Picasso’s early paintings (1901-04) of the blue period, in which blue dominates the color schemes, deal with outcasts, beggars, sick children, and circus people. The Old Guitarist is the most famous of his blue period paintings. In Paris, Picasso developed his rose period (1905-06) style with a lighter palette, which is exemplified in The Boy With Horse.
And realistic works, which are easy
for the audience to comprehend, only account for 10 percent of the whole exhibition. Puzzled though, most visitors enjoy standing before many Cubist works and observe them carefully to catch what Picasso wanted to express.
Picasso developed Cubism between 1907 and 1921.The oil painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon created in 1907, regarded as the world’s first Cubist work, is also on show in Shanghai.
“Through these avant-garde innovations, Picasso selected, interpreted and represented the natural scenery, human society and events, which made him the most revolutionary, the most prodigious artist in the history of modern Western art,” said Taiwan contemporary poet, writer and critic Yu Guangzhong.
Picasso’s Chinese followers
Although Picasso’s influence was palpable in works of many active Chinese artists in 1920s and 1930s, he and his Cubist works were formally introduced to China, along with other Western artists, after the country adopted the reform and opening-up policy in the 1980s.
“Thoughts and trends changed so fast in China after 1980s, that’s why we think Picasso had greater influence on Chinese painters in 1920s and 1930s, when Cubism and Expressionism reached its peak in Europe,” said artist Yin Zhong.
But the opening up allowed China’s fine arts circles to absorb nutrition from diverse styles other than realism. Picasso was first introduced to China in 1983, in memory of 10th anniversary of his death. A special report on The Messenger, a publication by People’s Press, took Yin and many of his contemporaries into the artistic world of Picasso.
Chen Jianjun, who started to learn oil painting in 1984 at the Nanjing University of the Arts, said, all of his classmates were more or less influenced by Picasso, and almost every artist at that time owned an album of his paintings.
“Paintings are no longer an abstract ideal of physical beauty or a poetic representation of visual images—Traditional Chinese painters find it difficult to accept the threedimensional representation of Cubism,” said Chen.
But “Picasso’s influence on Chinese art is mainly theoretical, as it’s too difficult to create new beauty through exaggerated deformation,” said Yin. “Chinese painters have their own aesthetics.”
Art education in institutes still focuses on sketch and realistic painting skills although Picasso, Cubism and Surrealism are recognized among artists, Yin said.
“The most important thing about Picasso is the constant self-negation, which is the value of modernity,” said Jiang Chongwu, a Chinese contemporary painter. “Chinese artists are not brave enough to negate and change themselves.”
Picasso was also influenced by Chinese art. He once said, “Had I been born Chinese, I would have been a calligrapher, not a painter.” Chinese calligraphy style is visible in his paintings, making images in his paintings more abstract and condensed compared with images created by other Western painters.
Brush calligraphy is not only loved and practiced by the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese as an important treasure in their heritage. It is equally adored by Westerners.
Picasso and Henri Matisse were the two Western artists who openly declared the influence of Chinese calligraphy on their works. Traces of calligraphy strokes are visible in the paintings of Matisse.
exhibition in Shanghai features 62 priceless masterworks and has kindled discussion about Picasso, and his influence on several generations of Chinese painters.
Although a rare subject among contemporary Chinese artists these days, Picasso remains much admired by middle-aged Chinese painters for his ever-changing artistic styles, prowess in overthrowing conservative traditions of art and being a firm believer in and lifelong practitioner of a Bohemian lifestyle.
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child,” said Picasso in his late years. He could paint as well as Raphael at the age of 14, as evidenced by the realistic work The Barefoot Girl. He not only forged new paths in his later career but completely changed the direction of art in the Western world several times.
“He is a liberator and has thoroughly unfettered art and the way art is created,” said
Yin Zhong, an artist who pursues a fusion of Western skills and Chinese artistic flavors in his works.
Awesome exhibits
The exhibition, which opened at the China Pavilion at the former site of Shanghai World Expo on October 18, offers the Chinese audience a rare opportunity of close contact with Picasso’s astonishing masterworks.
Picasso’s works were previously introduced to China in Beijing in 1983 and in 2005, but none of the two exhibitions match the Shanghai exhibition in terms of artistic representativeness and completeness. This selection by the National Picasso Museum Paris spans major periods of Picasso’s incredibly long art career, consisting of 48 oil paintings, seven block prints, seven sculptures and 50 photographic works. Several of Picasso’s most famous masterpieces—such as The Barefoot Girl, Woman in Red Armchair and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon—highlight the exhibition.
Crowds of artists and art lovers are flock- ing to the China Pavilion to appreciate the paintings.
“Picasso has impressed me for many years, so the exhibition in my hometown is a must-see for me,” said Shanghai-based painter Yang Zhengxin who has just returned from a visit to Europe. “I visited museums to see his masterworks and followed his steps in cities where he once lived. Immersing myself in the same environment and atmosphere, I can better understand his works and his ideas for creation.”
Chinese artists are not only inspired by his works but also his personality and life philosophy. “Picasso is amazing, and I think a real artist should always be brave enough to confront conservative forces and never give up trying difficult possibilities,” said Chinese artist Wang Chengyu.
The exhibits were displayed in Taipei before being shipped to Shanghai. The museum is also trying to find a venue in Beijing before the exhibition moves on to several other Asian cities. “It’s a way for us to educate two or three generations of the Chinese public,” said Anne Baldassari, Director of the National Picasso Museum Paris shortly before the exhibition was opened.
The Shanghai exhibition marks the largest exhibition of Picasso’s works on the Chinese mainland until now, with a selection of works worth $934 million, a new record for art exhibitions in China.
Ever-changing style
However, visitors without training in art appreciation will find it hard to perceive the meaning of many non-realistic works, as Picasso was a master of different styles. Picasso changed his style through his 80-year-long and prolific career, such as the blue and rose period dominated by early realistic works, the African period, Cubism, Classicism and Surrealism.
Picasso’s early paintings (1901-04) of the blue period, in which blue dominates the color schemes, deal with outcasts, beggars, sick children, and circus people. The Old Guitarist is the most famous of his blue period paintings. In Paris, Picasso developed his rose period (1905-06) style with a lighter palette, which is exemplified in The Boy With Horse.
And realistic works, which are easy
for the audience to comprehend, only account for 10 percent of the whole exhibition. Puzzled though, most visitors enjoy standing before many Cubist works and observe them carefully to catch what Picasso wanted to express.
Picasso developed Cubism between 1907 and 1921.The oil painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon created in 1907, regarded as the world’s first Cubist work, is also on show in Shanghai.
“Through these avant-garde innovations, Picasso selected, interpreted and represented the natural scenery, human society and events, which made him the most revolutionary, the most prodigious artist in the history of modern Western art,” said Taiwan contemporary poet, writer and critic Yu Guangzhong.
Picasso’s Chinese followers
Although Picasso’s influence was palpable in works of many active Chinese artists in 1920s and 1930s, he and his Cubist works were formally introduced to China, along with other Western artists, after the country adopted the reform and opening-up policy in the 1980s.
“Thoughts and trends changed so fast in China after 1980s, that’s why we think Picasso had greater influence on Chinese painters in 1920s and 1930s, when Cubism and Expressionism reached its peak in Europe,” said artist Yin Zhong.
But the opening up allowed China’s fine arts circles to absorb nutrition from diverse styles other than realism. Picasso was first introduced to China in 1983, in memory of 10th anniversary of his death. A special report on The Messenger, a publication by People’s Press, took Yin and many of his contemporaries into the artistic world of Picasso.
Chen Jianjun, who started to learn oil painting in 1984 at the Nanjing University of the Arts, said, all of his classmates were more or less influenced by Picasso, and almost every artist at that time owned an album of his paintings.
“Paintings are no longer an abstract ideal of physical beauty or a poetic representation of visual images—Traditional Chinese painters find it difficult to accept the threedimensional representation of Cubism,” said Chen.
But “Picasso’s influence on Chinese art is mainly theoretical, as it’s too difficult to create new beauty through exaggerated deformation,” said Yin. “Chinese painters have their own aesthetics.”
Art education in institutes still focuses on sketch and realistic painting skills although Picasso, Cubism and Surrealism are recognized among artists, Yin said.
“The most important thing about Picasso is the constant self-negation, which is the value of modernity,” said Jiang Chongwu, a Chinese contemporary painter. “Chinese artists are not brave enough to negate and change themselves.”
Picasso was also influenced by Chinese art. He once said, “Had I been born Chinese, I would have been a calligrapher, not a painter.” Chinese calligraphy style is visible in his paintings, making images in his paintings more abstract and condensed compared with images created by other Western painters.
Brush calligraphy is not only loved and practiced by the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese as an important treasure in their heritage. It is equally adored by Westerners.
Picasso and Henri Matisse were the two Western artists who openly declared the influence of Chinese calligraphy on their works. Traces of calligraphy strokes are visible in the paintings of Matisse.