As birthplace of Chinese civilization and intersection of the Eastern and Western culture, west China, with rich resources and multiple nationalities, once cultivated ancient brilliant culture. In modern times, west China was not given sufficient attention due to remoteness and inconvenient transportation. In 1930s, voice was high for developing the northwest. After the outburst of the Anti-Japanese War, the National Government moved to Chongqing, which became a vital city in southwest. In 1940s, the international aid channel Yunnan-Myanmar and Yunnan-Vietnam highways were cut off due to outbreak of the Pacific War, the strategic position of northwest, as vital communication line to link the foreign countries, became more and more prominent. Upsurge of “building and developing northwest” was high again.

In spite of danger and difficulty, many artists and study tours went from a great distance to the northwest to sketch, launching a journey of Chinese art in the 20th century. Exploring and creating on national traditional art by the artists who went to the west after the founding of People's Republic of China becomes a important part of Chinese art of the 20th century. This exhibition is mainly on NAMOC-collected works themed on west, covering various artistic forms of Chinese painting, oil painting, printmaking and sculpture. With three chapters of Discovering The West, Spring of The Highland, Search for the Source and Expansion, the exhibition tries to present the significant artistic phenomenon, i.e. artists of different historical periods of the 20th century going to the west. Through historical narration, the show outlines the creation process of Chinese artist of the 20th century in discovering the west, getting to know the west and expressing the west, giving a deep insight to great significance and value of western art creation in history of Chinese art of the 20th century.

About the exhibition

Duration: 2013-11-23 To 2013-01-09

Venue: Hall 13-17, the National Art Museum of China

Courtesy of the National Art Museum of China, for further information please visit www.namoc.org.