Exhibition period: June 27th to July 21st

Exhibition location: Hall C, 1st floor, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen

Organizer: Shenzhen Guan Shanyue Art Museum

Named after the renowned master of Lingnan School of painting and distinguished art educator, Mr. Guan Shanyue, Guan Shanyue Art Museum is a modern art museum that combines the functions of a memorial hall for famous artists with those of a national art museum. Before his passing, Mr. Guan donated 813 representative works from various historical periods of his career, as well as a collection of books and documents, to Shenzhen, which not only facilitated the establishment of this art museum but also laid the academic foundation for our museum's research on Guan Shanyue's art. Since its inception, we have successfully explored a mutually beneficial development path that integrates the functions of a memorial hall for famous artists with those of a national art museum, aligning with the cultural development of Shenzhen city and the construction of the art museum. Through 20 years of continuous practice, we have gradually formed an academic orientation led by "the study of Guan Shanyue's art and Chinese art in the mid-to-late 20th century, as well as contemporary design art," striving to establish exhibition brands in these areas. It can be said that the proposal and implementation of a clear academic orientation and development strategy mark the establishment of Guan Shanyue Art Museum's independent academic character and pursuit! In January 2011, Guan Shanyue Art Museum was designated as one of the first nine national key art museums by the Ministry of Culture, and in 2016, it successfully passed the reassessment for national key art museums.

Focusing on our academic orientation and development strategy, our museum has further promoted collection efforts through rigorous academic research and high-quality exhibitions and services. Currently, our museum has a total of 6,255 collection pieces, with the most distinctive brand being the series of works donated by Mr. Guan Shanyue and contemporary design art pieces.

With the idea of fully utilizing and developing our collection resources, we place the study of Guan Shanyue's works within the broader historical context of the development of Chinese art in the mid-to-late 20th century. Through annual academic thematic exhibitions, we expand and deepen our academic research on the topic of "Guan Shanyue and Chinese Art in the Mid-to-Late 20th Century." In 2011, our museum's "Brush and Ink Should Follow the Times: A Life Exhibition of Guan Shanyue, a Master of Lingnan School of Painting," was awarded the "National Art Museum Development Support Program · Excellent Exhibition Project of National Key Art Museums" by the Ministry of Culture in 2011. Since 2012, the Ministry of Culture has organized the "National Art Museum Collection Fine Works Exhibition Season," and five of our museum's fine collection exhibitions, including "Shanyue's Artistic Pursuit: An Art Exhibition Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Guan Shanyue's Birth," have been selected for the exhibition season for five consecutive years, with four receiving the honor of excellent exhibitions. "A Different Kind of Journey Through Life: Sketching Works by Pang Xunqin, Wu Zuoren, Guan Shanyue, and Sun Zongwei in the Southwest and Northwest in the 1940s" was awarded the Excellent Exhibition Project in the Ministry of Culture's National Art Museum Excellent Project Selection for 2013-2014. Our museum's nine-volume "Complete Works of Guan Shanyue," which took three years to complete, was listed as a "2012 National Publishing Fund Project" by the General Administration of Press and Publication of the People's Republic of China and won the "Fifth China Outstanding Publications (Books) Award" in 2015. These exhibitions and academic activities are all based on our collection, with specific works and documents as evidence, providing in-depth research and systematic displays of Guan Shanyue and the artistic explorations and achievements made by Chinese artists in various periods of the mid-to-late 20th century. Although our research depth and breadth are not yet sufficient to fully cover the rich connotations of the development of Chinese art in the mid-to-late 20th century, we hope that our efforts can provide valuable references for experts and scholars interested in Guan Shanyue and Chinese art of that period. Furthermore, we aspire to create an academic brand with our museum's characteristics through long-term attention and practice in this field.

The art museum, with vivid artistic images, "preserves the righteous spirit for history and promotes virtue for the world," and bears the historical memory of the vicissitudes of the times. In his congratulatory letter to the "International Museum High-Level Forum" in 2016, President Xi Jinping wrote, "Museums are important halls for the protection and inheritance of human civilization, bridges connecting the past, present, and future, and play a special role in promoting the exchange and mutual recognition of world civilizations." Taking its 20th anniversary as a new starting point, Guan Shanyue Art Museum will continue to be driven by cultural innovation, take the promotion and cultivation of national spirit as its mission, aim to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the people, actively improve the public cultural service system, effectively leverage the museum's function as a national public cultural facility, further enhance internal vitality and external competitiveness, and strive to build a modern art museum with complete functions, clear positioning, and a blend of aesthetic education and fashion leisure.