Oil painting Art blog by Lucas Art

In 1979, the Communist Party of China held its Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, adopted an open door policy and embarked the task of leading China to the four modernizations. China entered a new era of Original art,Contemporary art,Modern Art. Chinese intellect山als and artists have experienced the most relaxed academic and artistic environments since 1949.. They reflected on the past era and set their earnest eyes to the world. The delayed meeting between Chinese art and western modern art stunnned the Chinese intellectuals who just experienced social tribulation and spiritual destitution. They had a strong thirst and desire for knowledge. Their eagerness for the lost time and the enthusiasm to make up for the missed contacts , ith the artistic developments of the world was unprecedented, cent of the enthusiastic scholar painters who worshiped their predecessors.

In the following decade, innovation became a major theme. Though the western modern art almost died in 1970s and so-called openness and creativeness were no longer hot topics, China inherited the flag in the 1980s” and developed it with tremendous energy. According to art critic Gao Minglu, social background dictated the development of art and China oil painting needed an elite art in 1980s. The period had a perception that pioneering art equals to the elite art. They completed their new Long March within a short period of time. They first experimented with all the west arts of different schools and as a result they confidently found a style of their own. Around 1985, so-called modern art exhibitions appeared like mushroom. Every exhibition and even every artist issued their own declaration modernism. Fortunately, the Chinese modern art experimenters around 1985 did not encounter with a society with middle class and controlled by money. They could still maintain their innocent puriity of arts. The first All China Modern Art Exhibition held in 1989 in Beijing did not have the usual cynical atmosphere associated with so-called modern arts. Even artists who performed grotesquely always mentioned responsibility and destiny. They still instinctly appeared in a manner of idealist and illustrated the relationship between deconstruction and reconstruction.

To some artists’ surprise, though they tried their best in the modern art movement, the symbols that highlights the modern Chinese arts and that can match both the western and ancient Chinese arts were actually created during the period of time that they were eagerly to abandon. This was supportrted by the Venice Biennial sponsor’s trip to China in 1990. WVang Guangyi’s painting depicting the mass denounce:ement held by workers, peasants and soldiers during the Cultrtural Revolution was placed together with the marks of Coca-a-Cola. The visual symbols of Mao Zedong era and even Maco’s image itself became part of the Chinese modern art. The I Italian group brought many paintings of politics back to Venice’e and they were first shown to the west world. With h the progress of China’s reform and open door policy, more C Chinese painters realized and have to deal with the concept c of markets and their temptation. They regrouped and readjusteed themselves. In comparison to the radical artists, they compromised and they still used Chinese traditional painting I mediums to create arts of present time. They realized that reaal Chinese modern art cannot be realized by only declarations and slogans. Most artists abandoned their previous efforts to look for inspiration from the modern movemermts to influence the society and instead they worked to meet tthe demand of the market. Their effort to look for a non-weststern pioneering art to create Chinese modern art is itself thOe continuation of the balance between the west and China, mlodern and tradition, and elite and popular. It is a comprommise and it continues.