CAFA Art Museum Fifth Round Collection Series: “From Woodcut to Printmaking: Collections, Books and Archives during the Early Stages since the Founding of the Printmaking Major in CAFA (1953-1966)”, is divided into two sections and on display at Gallery 4F, CAFA Art Museum from September 29, 2016 to April 23, 2017, this exhibition is a program from the “2016 National Exhibition Season of Brilliant Collection Works from Art Museums in China” organized by the Ministry of Culture.

Since CAFA joined the “National Exhibition Season of Brilliant Collected Works from Art Museums in China” organized by the Ministry of Culture in 2012, it has always been based on the collection, researching the historical evolution and spiritual traditions of CAFA and its predecessor as the main emphasis for the work, to annually showcase an exhibition. This has successively launched 4 special exhibitions including the “CAFA Art Museum Collection Series: Selected Works in Oil Created in the Period of the National Beiping Art School”, “Selected Works of Chinese Painting created in the Period of the National Beiping Art School”, “Merging – From National Beiping Art School, Yan’an Luxun Academy of Literature and Art to CAFA (1946-1953)” and “The Dimension of Tradition – Copying and the Collection for National Traditional Painting by CAFA in the 1950s and 1960s”, and all were awarded the excellent prize by “National Exhibition Season of Brilliant Collected Works from Art Museum in China” organized by the Ministry of Culture from 2012 to 2015.

It is the 5th round of the CAFA Art Museum Collection Series. Director Wang Huangsheng acts as the exhibition director, Associate Professor Cao Qinghui continues to serve as the curator and Tang Bin serves as the co-ordinator, it still adheres to the consistent perspective of the series of exhibitions, while seeking to discover fresh works of art and new historical information.

On the topic of the exhibition, curator Cao Qinghui wrote that, “The curating of the exhibition still focuses on the two forces of the National Beiping Art School and Yan’an Luxun Academy of Literature and Art, while ‘Merging’ was from the establishment of CAFA to the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, lasting for 17 years (1949-1966), still upholding the curatorial thinking that focuses on the context and highlights problems. Through the analysis of the conclusion in the Archive of Collection through to the judgment of the existing academic hot spots and the corresponding collections that are based on knowledge and the pursuit of the museum as a production field, we have shelved the topics and events of this period which we are familiar with, committed to uncover the collections that were hardly displayed in the past and the topics which are worthy of discussion, and it ultimately focuses on prints, it is themed ‘From Woodcut to Printmaking: in the Early Stage since the Founding of Printmaking Major in CAFA (1953-1966)’, and it particularly helps the collections of CAFA Library, themed on interpretation, as it is a part of the historical existence adopted by the exhibition, trying to use richer historical information to recall the beginning of the major at that time, so as to more effectively watch the construction of the educational height of modern Chinese print.”

Depending on the history of the early stage from the founding of the Department of Printmaking, this exhibition is divided into three parts: “Woodcut Creation”,“Printmaking Course” and “Selective Foreign Prints”, featuring more than 60 classic prints donated by the teachers and students from the Department of Printmaking from the early period as well as the foreign donations in the 1950s and 1960s. It includes the works by the famous printmakers Jiang Feng, Li Hua, Yan Han, Gu Yuan, Huang Yongyu, Wang Qi, Wu Biduan, Li Hongren and Yang Xianrang, as well as internationally renowned printmaker Kaethe Kollwitz, Kravchenko,Nemirovich-Danchenko, etc.

In addition, it has a juxtaposition of “woodcut” and “printmaking” in the title. The interpretation of concept is a more appropriate interpretation for the historical development and historical review, and also allows the audience to better understand the planning and intentions of the exhibition.

“Foreign Prints” is also one of the highlights of this exhibition, at the beginning of the founding of People's Republic of China, the domestic and international printmaking exchange was plentiful, and the art museum has collected a number of donated prints by foreigners, although they are of an high level, they are rarely displayed, including the works by famous German printmaking artist Kaethe Kollwitz and the well-known printmaker Kravchenko from the Soviet Union, while the CAFA Library has also preserved a large number of related books.

The exhibition is divided into two sections, and there will be a break from October 28 to December 1. The exhibition structure of the two sections will be unchanged, but the works of the first section will be replaced in the second section, so that more collections can be shown to the public.

The Exhibition is just the beginning of interest, the art museum is a germinal field and fermentation space of art knowledge, it is through the exhibition that there is an opportunity to showcase more works, so that more people can visit them.

Host: CAFA Art Museum

Co-organizers: CAFA Library, Department of Printmaking, CAFA

Durations:

The 1st section: September 29, 2016 – October 27, 2016

The 2nd section: December 2, 2016 – April 23, 2017

Venue: Gallery 4F, CAFA Art Museum

Exhibition Director: Wang Huangsheng

Exhibition Planning: Cao Qinghui

Exhibition Co-ordinator: Tang Bin

Curatorial Assistant: Li Yaochen

Text and photo by CAFA Art Museum , translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO