As an important exhibition for the circles of Chinese painting and the art education in 2015, “For Chinese Painting (Round II) – Exhibition of Teaching and Creative Achievements from the School of Chinese Painting, CAFA” will open at CAFA Art Museum on December 4, 2015. Since “For Chinese Painting – Exhibition of Teaching and Creative Achievements from the School of Chinese Painting, CAFA” was held at the National Art Museum of China in 2010, This is now the second time for CAFA to hold an exhibition with the same theme. The exhibition is hosted by CAFA, undertaken by the School of Chinese Painting, CAFA, co-organized by CAFA Art Museum which is going to present the status quo and the whole status of teaching, creative achievements and research of Chinese painting in CAFA. Another value and significance of the exhibition is the way the art museum exhibition will comprehensively present the academic teaching of Chinese painting, and especially the development of the School of Chinese Painting, CAFA since it was officially established 10 years ago. On the basis of the previous Department of Chinese Painting, CAFA, School of Chinese Painting, CAFA was officially established in 2005, it is the 10th anniversary since the founding of the school. In order to centrally and completely present such an academic course, the exhibition curator and President of CAFA Fan Di’an raises “starting, inheriting, innovation, integration” as the academic theme of the exhibition, to both showcase the characteristics of the discipline of Chinese painting and researching the origin and genres of the teaching, creation and research of Chinese painting, the inheritance and change, thinking about the past and future of the teaching development of Chinese painting.

“Starting, inheriting, innovation and integration” is similar to the commonly used structural techniques for artistic creation, diverted from the conventional writing skill for literary creation, and then it gradually refers to the article on writing skill. Fan Deji in the Yuan Dynasty writes in the “Poetic Rules” that, “There’re 4 methods of poetry: straight starting, emphatic inheritance, changing innovation and deep integration.” “Starting, inheriting, innovation and integration” coincides with the structure of composition and schema in the painting laws and methods of the Chinese painting creation. Chinese painting stresses the virtual and real, vigor, management, layout, location. Between a line and dot, it has “starting, inheriting, innovation and integration”. Especially in the large painting, it reflects a clear theme, clear chapters and paragraphs, in pursuit of a starting vigor at the beginning, inheriting vigor in the middle, and then changing vigor, finally integrating vigor. “Starting, inheriting, innovation and integration” is also the four dimensions of the creation, teaching and research of Chinese painting, “starting” means the starting point, standing up, origin, “inheriting” means undertaking and inheritance, “innovation” means innovating, transforming, raising, “integration” means the comprehensive and fusion. “Starting, inheriting, innovation and integration” is the path for the training and direction of Chinese painting talent, revealing the creation of Chinese painting, the characteristic of creation and research.

President of CAFA Fan Di’an wrote in the preface that, the exhibition takes “starting, inheriting, innovation, integration” as the exhibition structure, which aims to show the logical progression on scientific principles and the way of Chinese painting teaching, to discuss the mechanism considering “teaching” and “l(fā)earning” as the subjects, to highlight the correlation between promotion of the traditional spirit and inspiration of the contemporary creation.

Dean of the School of Chinese Painting, CAFA Chen Ping wrote in the preface that, it is the second time to showcase the teaching and creation of all the teachers of the School of Chinese Painting, CAFA since 1998. It adheres to the school motto “Seeking to carry it out to its breadth and greatness, so as to omit none of the more exquisite and minute points which it embraces.” It aims at “making new advances, a fusion of China and the west, and considering “starting, inheriting, innovation, integration” as the idea... In recent years, the teachers devoted themselves to the teaching and have cultivated many outstanding students, while devoting themselves to the creation of painting at leisure.

During the exhibition, it will also launch the related academic seminar entitled “Teaching and Development of Chinese Painting”, the exchange symposium entitled “Teaching of Chinese Painting at the Colleges and Universities of Art in China”, and invite the related influential and representative artists, theorists and experts in the field of Chinese painting teaching in China together to discuss the teaching practice, creation and research of contemporary Chinese painting. In addition, published by the People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, Works Collection of Teachers of the School of Chinese Painting will debut during the exhibition.

About the exhibition

Academic Chair: Fan Di’an

Curators: Fan Di’an, Chen Ping

Executive Curators: Yao Mingjing, Yu Guanghua, Li Yang, Liu Qinghe, Wang Xiuling, Yu Yang

Host: CAFA

Organizer: School of Chinese Painting, CAFA

Co-organizer: CAFA Art Museum

Opening Reception: December 4, 2015, at 9:30 am

Duration: December 4 – December 22, 2015

Venue: CAFA Art Museum

Courtesy of the artists and CAFA Art Museum, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO