President Xi Jinping replied to the old experts and artists of the China National Art Museum, emphasizing that "efforts should be made in high-quality collection, high-level utilization, and high-quality services to create a national and even world-class art hall for the people to appreciate art masterpieces and enhance cultural literacy in the new era.". The reply from General Secretary has a strong historical depth and practical appeal, pointing out the direction for the high-quality development of the art museum industry in the new era.

In order to implement the spirit of General Secretary's instructions, our museum has carefully planned and launched the "Renovation of Painting Path - Southwest Sketching Exhibition of Guan Shanyue in the 1940s" based on the collection of Guan Shanyue's Southwest sketching works in the 1940s. The aim is to explore the value of Guan Shanyue's sketching in the Southwest from 1940 to 1946, as well as its significance for the innovation and development of Chinese painting at that time and today. The exhibition has been selected for the "2023 National Fine Arts Museum Collection Exhibition Season" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and has been supported by the Shenzhen Special Fund for the Development of Propaganda and Culture.

The theme of the exhibition is "Renovation of Painting Path", which comes from a poem by Guo Moruo titled "Innovation in Painting Should Break Elegance, and Folk Forms Should Seek Truth" for his work "Camel Bells Outside the Great Wall" after visiting the Western Journey of Guan Shanyue in Chongqing in 1944. "Painting Path" has a dual meaning: firstly, it refers to the difficult journey of Guan Shanyue's sketching in Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing and other places; Secondly, it refers to Guan Shanyue's innovative way of sketching. Guan Shanyue's concept of sketching originated during his study period under the tutelage of Gao Jianfu. During the Anti Japanese War, his experience of sketching in Southwest China made him pay more attention to delving into the folk and drawing inspiration from reality. Especially when he transformed sketching into creation, he greatly preserved the vivid characteristics of folk sketching, carrying a unique personal style and the spirit of the times.

In the exhibition planning, we have adopted a rigorous academic attitude and historical research to restore the historical details of Guan Shanyue's sketching in Southwest China. We have used digital media to comprehensively display literature, communication, paintings, and historical images, striving to recreate the difficult sketching explorations of the generation of artists represented by Guan Shanyue. This allows the audience to understand how Chinese painters continued their writing skills, grasped the pulse of the times, assumed the mission of the times, and continuously adhered to the principles of righteousness and innovation in the national crisis of the Anti Japanese War. This exploration also provides new inspiration for us to build modern civilization of the Chinese nation in the new era.

Chen Xiangbo, Director of Shenzhen Guan Shanyue Art Museum

June 25, 2023

The Guan Shanyue Art Museum, based on the collection of Guan Shanyue's 1940s northwest sketches and Dunhuang temporary paintings, collaborated with the Dunhuang Research Institute to launch a special exhibition. The exhibition has been selected for the 2020 National Fine Arts Museum Collection Exhibition Season by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

This exhibition is themed around the collection of Guan Shanyue Flower and Bird Painting works, divided into four parts: "Lingnan aftertaste", "The plum blossoms of Guan welcome spring", "The New Appearance of the 'three cold-weather friends'", and "The literati's heart of the painter". A total of 35 works are exhibited, examining the art of Guan Shanyue Flower and Bird Painting in the context of 20th century transformation, revealing how new expressions of new era concepts and traditional meanings of flower and bird painting can achieve modern transformation, thereby highlighting the contemporary significance and connotation of Guan Shanyue Flower and Bird Painting art.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mr. Guan's birth, the Shenzhen Guan Shan Yue Art Museum, based on its collection of works and related literature, also borrows some works and materials to form the "Shan Yue Dan Qing: Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Guan Shan Yue's birth art exhibition". We hope that this exhibition can comprehensively showcase Guan Shanyue's long artistic path and outstanding artistic achievements, reveal the main problems faced by Chinese art in the 20th century, and Guan's unique way of responding to these problems, providing several valuable experiences for the current development of Chinese art, especially Chinese painting art.

The precious literature and physical objects presented here are a true record of Mr. Guan Shanyue's artistic life, showcasing the arduous footprints left by Guan's artistic exploration and innovation path. The purpose of this curation is to showcase the artistic characteristics of Guan Shanyue's "brush and ink should follow the times" on the path of art. In terms of display methods, emphasis is placed on combining physical objects, real-life scenes, images, images, and literature to reproduce Mr. Guan Shanyue's creative process and artistic style.

On the occasion of the "Abundant Splendor - Dunhuang Art Exhibition" being held in our museum, we have selected 28 temporary paintings of Mr. Guan Shanyue from the 1940s in Dunhuang for exhibition. The aim is to study and explore the value and historical significance of Dunhuang grotto art for Guan Shanyue and even the development of 20th century Chinese art from a new perspective, in order to promote the deepening of our academic research work and provide a visual resource for audiences and scholars who are concerned about the fate of 20th century Chinese painting art.

The more than 20 exquisite pieces of this exhibition are carefully selected from the donated works of Mr. Guan Shanyue. Our museum has launched this exhibition on the 10th anniversary of Mr. Guan's passing, showcasing exquisite collections to entertain audiences who love art. At the same time, we hope that these exquisite pieces can deepen the audience and scholars' understanding of Guan Shanyue's art.

Since modern times, with the change of Chinese people's worldview and the allowance of objective transportation conditions, it has become possible for painters to travel abroad and engage in on-site sketching. At the same time, how the brush and ink language of Chinese painting truly portrays overseas themes has become another new issue faced by modern Chinese painters. Guan Shanyue (1912-2000), as one of the few Chinese painters in modern art history with multiple overseas sketching experiences, constantly explored the expression of foreign themes and left behind a large number of works in each period. This undoubtedly has certain academic significance for exploring the expression of 20th century Chinese brush and ink language and exotic themes.