“The Splendid Cloud -- the Exhibition of Wang Ziyun’s Works and Literatures Collected by Shaanxi Province Art Museum” Opens at ZJAM

pubdate: 2017/3/28   author: zjam  source: zjam  click:

On the morning of March 28, “The Splendid Cloud -- the Exhibition of Wang Ziyun’s Works and Literatures collected by Shaanxi Art Museum”, co-hosted by the Shaanxi Province Art Museum and Zhejiang Art Museum, opened at ZJAM.
Present at the opening ceremony were: Ma Fenghui, party member, Secretary of the Secretariat and Vice Chairman of Zhejiang Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles; Gao Shiming, Assistant Dean of China Academy of Art; Si Shunwei, Curator of ZJAM; Luo Ning, Curator of Shaanxi Province Art Museum; Wang Huangsheng, Curator of the Fine Arts Museum of China Central Academy; Zhou Gang, Assistant Dean of the College of Design of China Academy of Art; Luo Hongcai, Executive Director of the Research Institute of China Art Industry of Shanghai University; Liu Wenbin, Director of the Institution of Arts of the College of Art and Design of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University; Yu Chenxing, Head of the Department of Sculpture of China Academy of Art; Ma Weimin, Deputy Curator of the SXAM; Chen Yongyi, Curator of the Pan Tianshou Memorial; Sun Peiliang, President of the Ningbo Artists Association and Party Branch Secretary of Ningbo Art Museum; He Hong, Associate Professor of China Academy of Art, etc. Si Shunwei, Luo Hongcai, Gao Shiming and Luo Ning delivered the speech respectively. Ying Jinfei, Deputy Curator of ZJAM, presided over the opening ceremony.
Si Shunwei, Curator of ZJAM, addresses at the ceremony that, this day, a cloud (“yun” in Chinese) from the Loess Plateau makes its way to the West Lake, and this cloud is Wang Ziyun. Invited by Lin Fengmian, Wang came to join in the preparation of Hangzhou National West Lake Academy of Art in 1928, and worked there as the director of the Registration Office and a watercolor teacher, which is the beginning of the connection between Wang Ziyun and Hangzhou. If “Three Excellent Chinese Artists Overseas -- Zheng Yuebo, Wang Changjie and Liu Yezhao Art Exhibition,” which opened several days ago at ZJAM, could be seen as a get-together of graduates of Hangzhou National Art College, Wang Ziyun’s exhibition could be regarded as a reunion of teachers and students. With the historical changes, Wang Ziyun, fading away from the minds of citizens in Hangzhou, is currently underestimated in the domestic art circles. It is admirable that Wang could stick to his artistic researches in spite of extreme hardship. He is a living history of art. On the 120th anniversary of Wang Ziyun’s birth, Shaanxi Province Art Museum delves into his art, as well as reorganizes his works and literatures, which are all presented to the public in Hangzhou. The work of the museum is of great significance, which is in line with the academic thoughts of ZJAM’s projects “Tracking the Century-Long Literary History” and “Collecting Century-Long Works of Calligraphy and Paintings.”
Luo Hongcai, Executive Direct of the Research Institute of China Art Industry of Shanghai University, gives a brief introduction to Wang’s experience at Hangzhou National West Lake Academy of Art and in the Northwest Art Heritage Mission. He mentioned the 10-year-ago exhibition of “Wang Ziyun’s Cultural Responsibility during the War of Resistance against Japan” held at the Guangdong Art Museum and the current “Exhibition of Wang Ziyun’s Works and Literatures” held at ZJAM. Luo emotionally indicates that Wang Ziyun is a symbol of an era and a brilliant chapter of the modern and contemporary Chinese art history.
Gao Shiming, Assistant Dean of China Academy of Art, points out, in his speech, that Wang Ziyun is one of the generation who has established China Academy of Art and he was the representative of Hangzhou National Art College in Europe during his study in France. In this sense, Wang’s art combines the artistic features of the East and the West. He visited the remarkable monuments of the artistic culture during the age of turbulence, and compiled books of history during the age of peace. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Wang formed the Northwest Art Heritage Mission and worked as the leader, investigating the important ancient cultural relics and protecting savable ones in the northwest of China. He, shouldering the tremendous cultural responsibility, was the trailblazer of the Chinese archaeology of fine art. It is undeniable that Wang Ziyun was the first person of the Chinese archaeology and the Chinese history of sculpture.
Luo Ning, Curator of Chinese, says that rooted in Shaanxi, Wang Ziyun is undoubtedly an artistic master who has made excellent contributions to the development of the Chinese modern art with his unimaginable effort in the period of turbulence. Wang’s experience of working at Hangzhou National West Lake Academy of Art and in the Northwest Art Heritage Mission mainly constituted by those from Hangzhou National Art College has revealed his connection with Hangzhou, and that is why Shaanxi Province Art Museum and ZJAM co-hold this exhibition in Hangzhou. As a National Key Art Museum, Shaanxi Province Art Museum has systematically and pragmatically done lots of research on the collection of Wang Ziyun’s works and literatures for years, and this exhibition is exactly the partial result of the hard work.
Wang Ziyun, born in Xiao County, Anhui in 1897, was one of the first advocators and participants of the New Art Movement in China, a trailblazer of the Chinese archaeology, a pioneer of the modern art education school and the art archaeology school, a famous oil painter, sculptor and art historian. Invited by Lin Fengmian, he worked as a professor at Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1940s. From 1940 to 1945, he formed the Northwest Art Heritage Mission and led the team to investigate the important ancient cultural relics and protecting savable ones in the provinces like Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu, Qinghai, etc. Under the circumstance of wars, his determination of protecting the relics not only pioneered the Chinese archaeology of fine arts, but also raised national confidence during the period of the War of Resistance against Japan. He was a professor of Northwest University, the Director of Northwest Cultural Relics Research Office, a professor of Northwest Art Institute and Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, the Honorary Chairman of the Shaanxi Branch of the Chinese Artists Association, and the Consultant of the Chinese Artists Association. Wang Ziyun passed away in Xi’an in 1990.
Taking the key nodes of Wang Ziyun’s artistic career as the clue, the exhibition displays over 180 pieces of work, including letters, inscriptions, manuscripts, mural painting copies, traditional Chinese painting sketches, sketches, oil paintings, document literatures, etc. The whole exhibition is divided into 5 parts respectively: 1897-1930, the young Wang was keen on the western paintings and the New Art Movement in China; 1930-1937, Wang studied aboard and changed his attitude towards art; 1937-1949, Wang shouldered his cultural responsibility: leading Northwest Art Heritage Mission to save the relics in the northwest; 1949-1990, in his twilight years, he worked on compiling books after suffering from years of hardship; Wang Ziyun in the image recordings.
After the opening ceremony, a seminar on Wang Ziyun was held; over 10 experts from Beijing, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Shaanxi, etc. were invited and delivered speeches.