Recently, the Art Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the list of selected projects for the 2025 National Art Museum Excellent Project Selection. Our museum's exhibition "Salute to Design - Lei Guiyuan Design Literature Exhibition" was nominated for the 2025 National Art Museum Excellent Exhibition Project. In recent years, our museum has been nominated for the "National Art Museum Excellent Exhibition Project" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism four times, including "Walking with the People - Guanshan Moon Around 1949" in 2021, "Returning to My Own Mountain - Lin Fengsu and Lingnan Landscape Painting Language Exploration Exhibition" in 2022, "Reshaping and Rebuilding - Digital People and Digital Art Exhibition" in 2023, and "Saluting to Design - Lei Guiyuan Design Literature Exhibition" in 2025.

In order to further enhance the professional construction level of art museums and promote the high-quality development of China's art museum industry, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched the 2025 National Art Museum Excellent Project Selection, soliciting exhibition projects and public education projects from various levels and types of state-owned art museums and private art museums that are open to the public throughout the country. The Art Department organized experts to evaluate the submitted projects, selecting a total of 10 outstanding exhibition projects, 10 outstanding public education projects, 20 outstanding exhibition nomination projects, and 10 outstanding public education nomination projects.

The "Salute to Design - Lei Guiyuan Design Literature Exhibition" will be exhibited at our museum from April 17, 2025 to May 25, 2025. The exhibition is divided into two sections: "Eternal Teacher" and "Boundless Artist". With more than 240 exhibits, combined with the research illustrations and case studies of the curatorial team, it systematically sorts out and deeply displays Mr. Lei Guiyuan's "Trinity" and far-reaching "Pattern Life"; Presenting works with distinct personality style and unique decorative interest, combining solid skills and superb artistic taste; This exhibition allows us to rediscover the artistic ideas and personal charm of the older generation of artists, and inspires contemporary design to inherit and innovate traditional cultural contexts. It will also bring more thinking about design to Shenzhen citizens.

The eternal teacher

As the founder of modern design education in China, Lei Guiyuan taught for 62 years (1927-1989) and successively taught at five institutions: National Beiping Art School (originally named Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, later renamed multiple times, and this common name is mostly used in this book), National Hangzhou Art School (originally named National Academy of Arts, later renamed multiple times, and this common name is mostly used in this book), Sichuan Provincial Art School (formerly known as China Arts and Crafts Society, later renamed multiple times, and this common name is mostly used in this book), Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (now Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts). It was also the only independent design institution during the Republic of China period - Sichuan Provincial Art School and the first design institution in the People's Republic of China - Central Academy of Arts and Crafts. One of the main creators.

The concept of "pattern" during the Republic of China period had a broad connotation centered around "design". The corresponding career (industry) and profession (education) of "design" did not have a unified title during the Republic of China period. In addition to "pattern", there are also concepts such as "pattern design", "craft pattern", "craft art", "artistic craft", "commercial art", "decoration", "decorative art", "practical art", and "applied art" that are essentially similar to the term "design". The main idea of these concepts is to value both the daily lives of the masses and modern industrial production: the former reflects the pursuit of democratization in modern China, while the latter echoes the "industrial salvation" trend of the Republic of China era.

facing internal and external troubles. It struggled to develop in the fierce game between a group of knowledgeable people and Chinese and foreign capital. During the Republic of China period, the writings of Chen Zhifo, Yu Jianhua, Zhang Guangyu, Lei Guiyuan, Pang Xuncai, Fu Baoshi and others on "patterns" and "arts and crafts" not only demonstrated their comprehensive qualities of combining practice and theory, but also revealed the design connotation of the pattern trend during the Republic of China period, highlighting the commonality of the design thought in the era. Their writings, along with Japanese modern pattern literature and the English French pattern study system, jointly constructed the professional context of Lei Guiyuan's pattern theory and design practice.

Lei Guiyuan has always adhered to the design ideal of art for life, the educational philosophy of integrating knowledge and action, and the artistic characteristics of specialization and versatility. Since the 1920s, he has devoted more than 60 years of energy to the scientific construction of the emerging design discipline of "pattern", and regards himself as an eternal "teacher". He researches for teaching, promotes teaching through research, pursues a scientific research perspective and disciplinary research goals, pursues inclusiveness, mutual growth between teaching and learning, and applies what he has learned. He combines theory with practice and constantly explores design practices that are rich in the spirit of the times. He put into practice Cai Yuanpei's cultural proposition of "inclusiveness" and Lu Xun's idea of "borrowing", and created a far-reaching system of Chinese modern pattern studies with the principle of "from ancient times to the present, from China to the world, with me as the main focus".

Boundless artist

For Lei Guiyuan, there is no completely different boundary between painting, patterns, craftsmanship, and design. In his works, modern art can expand the aesthetic concepts of traditional crafts (such as lacquer painting, wax printing, etc.), and the rhythmic patterns of traditional patterns can also become the formal language of painting, making it intriguing and decorative (such as character decoration paintings with part-time writing).

Lei Guiyuan's painting creations exhibit diverse and innovative characteristics in terms of painting genres and media, as well as creative concepts and styles. From oil painting creations influenced by Western cubism in the 1930s, to pattern design and decorative painting and oil painting creations that organically combine ethnic elements with modern life in the 1940s; From the concise and fresh watercolor sketches and sketches in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, to the vivid and decorative Chinese paintings and watercolor creations in his later years, it is evident that Lei Guiyuan, like Zhang Guangyu, Pang Xunquan, Zhang Ding, Wu Lao, Zheng Ke, Zhu Danian and other old masters who founded the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, are all skilled artists in both design and art.

Lei Guiyuan believes that although there are many types of arts and crafts, their essential characteristics are the unity of practicality, applicability, and aesthetics. Due to the influence of internal and external factors, as well as limitations in materials, tools, and venues, Lei Guiyuan has only created over a hundred surviving works of art (physical objects, manuscripts, images), covering categories such as lacquer art, wax printing, dyeing, wall hanging, embroidery, and jewelry. Lei Guiyuan's craft works created during the Republic of China period explored the integration and transformation of Western modern art and traditional Chinese culture. After 1949, his works tended to integrate traditional Chinese painting with Dunhuang patterns, auspicious patterns, and ethnic folk decorations.

Lei Guiyuan explores the modern transformation of traditional Chinese crafts with the concept of Western modern art and design, which has pioneering significance. Moreover, his arts and crafts creation is closely integrated with arts and crafts teaching, and his teaching and learning complement each other. Represented by arts and crafts teaching, pattern education, and design education at the National Hangzhou Art College, Sichuan Provincial Art College, and Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, he has had a profound impact on the creation and teaching of modern arts and crafts in China.

Salute to Design: Research on Lei Guiyuan

Salute to Design: Research on Lei Guiyuan "was officially published in May 2026 and showcased at the 22nd China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair.

The book "Salute to Design: Research on Lei Guiyuan" is based on the "Salute to Design - Lei Guiyuan Design Literature Exhibition". Through works, archives, case studies, research illustrations, classic literature, and thematic papers, it systematically sorts out, multi-dimensional displays, and in-depth studies the "trinity" of Lei Guiyuan's teaching, research, and practice, and his far-reaching "patterned life".

In terms of archival literature, the first systematic publication includes eight newly discovered porcelain plates and pattern works designed by Mr. Lei Guiyuan in the 1940s, as well as archival and research illustrations for the establishment of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts in the 1950s, archival materials for the "Pattern Class" as a pioneer and demonstration of industrial design education in New China in the 1960s, and lecture series on pattern teaching in the 1970s.

In terms of academic research, based on the "Salute to Design, Lei Guiyuan Design Literature Exhibition", this study systematically sorts out and deeply analyzes Lei Guiyuan's lifelong academic journey of integrating teaching, theoretical research, and creative practice from a multidimensional perspective through concise case studies in the historical context of Chinese modern design history and the coordinate system of global modern design history, presenting his path of pattern exploration that has influenced the development of Chinese modern design.