Past Exhibitions

Root and Soul - Exhibition of Chinese Civilization No.1Special Exhibition Hall, 1F 2019.05.18 - 2019.07.18 Chinese civilization, profound and long-lasting, has been recognized by people all over the world. This fact is even further solidified by the boundless artifacts uncovered. Although only 30 sets of exhibits are shown in this exhibition and its selection process was constrained by many obstacles, we still have a chance to catch a glimpse of this magnificent Chinese civilization. The development of Chinese civilization has been multi-dimensional and full of twists and turns, rather than going down a narrow path. the artifacts will be restored to its former glory as we will attempt to place it back in its own timeline. We will also seek out the artifacts’ values and positions within the society by conducting an extensive study into their origin, design and background, thus shining a light on the beauty of the civilization. The Chinese civilization is the only civilization that is still alive and going strong. Although it lies on the Eastern pole of the Eurasian continent, blocked by an immense ocean, high mountains and an endless desert, China has never closed its door to other civilizations. There were exchanges and integrations between grassland culture and farming culture in its north and south; communication and interactions with cultures from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia and Arab in the East and the West. In addition, There had also been an influx of colorful religions, such as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism and Islam. some of foreign cultures have either faded away or assimilated into Chinese civilization. Through constant communication, trade and interaction, civilizations collide, innovate and renew. The exhibits here are witnesses of the cultural exchanges between China and the west. History and reality are inseparable, even more so with civilizations that develops from a natural, primitive state. These artifacts may seem to have no connection with the current China. Actually, it is inextricably tied up with our modern life. It affects our way of thinking and many other aspects. It is in our blood. It is the “root” and “soul” of our culture. “Even now, it is the powerful spiritual strength that promotes reform, opening-up and the socialist modernization movement”.	Porcelain Paintings from the Changsha Kiln to the Liling Kiln 3rd Floor 2019.05.18 - 2020.05.14 The brown colored porcelains with paintings found in the Nanjing area of the Three Kingdoms period were the earliest porcelains decorated with paintings we have found till now. The painting themes on these porcelains mostly included immortals with wings and auspicious beasts which might be related to local beliefs and funeral customs. However, these special porcelain paintings were lost in the Western Jin Dynasty, and there was no porcelain with painting decorations for the next few hundred years. Porcelain painting reached its first peak until the Changsha Kiln of the Tang Dynasty. The paintings on the porcelains from the Changsha Kiln were mainly themed on flowers and birds, together with other elements including landscapes, figures, buildings, and clouds. It is the first time in the Chinese porcelain history that brown, green and red colors were used to paint on the porcelain, marking that porcelain painting had entered into a colorful era. The royal aristocrats of the Song Dynasty still favored the porcelains without decorations, while paintings decorations were popular elements used by the folk kilns, of which the Cizhou kiln in the northern China and the Jizhou kiln in the southern China stood out. The painting skills from the most part of China were spread to and converged in Jingdezhen (a city in Jiangxi Province, a leading porcelain-manufacturing centre) until the Yuan Dynasty, resulting in the birth of amazing blue-and-white porcelains of Yuan Dynasty. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of the development of painted porcelains. In addition to inheriting the previous painting skills, new varieties such as contrasting color, multicolor, pastel, enamel, light-reddish-purple art, under-glazed multicolor emerged one after another, and the paintings themed on flowers, birds, figures, and landscape were becoming more and more exquisite. The paintings on porcelains from royal kilns were precise and rigorous, while those were free and easy in folk kilns. Porcelains become vivid with the decoration of paintings, and paintings are given immortal life because of porcelains.	Exhibition of Qi Baishi’s Art 3rd Floor 2019.05.18 - 2020.05.18 Qi was good at poems, writings, paintings and seals, and especially the achievements of painting is the most representative. It not only promoted the development of literati painting, but also disseminated the profound and unpopular Chinese painting art to the public. In the exhibition, nearly 100 pieces of paintings were selected from the collection of Qi Baishi's works, including flowers, birds, landscapes and figures, covering his early, middle and late paintings. It is hoped that the audience can understand the evolution of Qi Baishi’s painting style and immerse into his maverick and charming art world.
Exhibition of Artwork Donations from Yan Jialong and Zou Chuan’an No.2 Special Exhibition Hall,1F 2019.05.10 - 2019.05.30 The exhibition features 43 works of Yan and 63 of Zou, all of which marked the peak of their personal achievements, fully revealing the level of Hunan contemporary art between the latter part of the 20th century and the early 21st century.	Exhibition of Hunan Private Collections No.2 Special Exhibition Hall, 1F 2019.01.20 - 2019.02.28 Private collections of Hunan Province have been flourishing for a long time. In response to the policy of the Sate Council, we organized this exhibition, aiming to encourage the legal private collection, inject vitality into collection market and reveal the irreplaceable role of society in facilitating the protection of cultural relics.	The Paintings of Wu Guanzhong No.2 Special Exhibition Hall, 1F 2018.10.17 - 2019.01.10 Wu Guanzhong(1919-2010), born in Yixing of Jiangsu province, is a renown painter and art educator. His practical and theoretical achievements have brought a broader prospective for the Chinese contemporary art. During 1980s, Wu probed into a series of significant aesthetic problems such as “abstract beauty”, “form beauty” and “form determining the content”, leaving abundant works and many sharply novel remarks. Artistic ideas proposed by him like “unbroken kite string” (kite refers to art works while string the reality where inspirations lie. He argued that works, despite of its forms, ought to emotionally revolve around certain themes), “cultural war” (cultural is also involved in global competition) and “form is nothing” （form should be appreciated in content, otherwise, it is of no meaning. His ideas have caught widespread attention, aroused discussion and controversy in artistic field, stimulating relentless passion in contemporary artists. Devoted wholeheartedly to blending together western oil paintings and traditional Chinese ink paintings, Wu created a lot of works, which, with original and ingenious designs, are perfect combination of tradition and modernity, imbued with his philosophy of life and enthusiasm for art. What's more, he donated for many times his works to National Art Museum Of China， Shanghai Art Museum, Zhejiang Art Museum, The National Gallery Singapore and Art Museum of Hong Kong etc, making his works accessible to more people.