Thousands of visitors are flooding the National Art Museum of China in downtown Beijing to experience the enriching world of Russian culture, history and society, as revealed through the eyes of the country's master painters.

Heavyweight masters

The first of nine major art exhibitions in the Year of Russia in China which kicked off early last week, the "Russian Art in 300 Years" exhibition showcases 110 selected oil paintings by Russian master painters from the 18th to 20th centuries. These artists include Kramskoy (1837-87), Repin (1844-1930), Surikov (1848-1916), Levitan (1861-1900), and Shishkin (1832-98), who are well-known among Chinese artists and educators today.

The grand exhibition is divided into four parts: Russian art from the 18th to 19th centuries, from the 1870s, from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, and during the Soviet Union era.

Among the most eye-catching artworks on show are the portraits from masters such as Kramskoy and Repin, members of the so-called Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions or "Itinerants" who embodied and gave creative force to Russian art of the period.

The largest art show from Russia in China, the exhibition is co-organized by the National Art Museum of China and the Moscow-based State Tretyakov Art Gallery, Russia's national museum of fine arts.

The Tretyakov Gallery, founded in 1856 as a private collection, is the biggest museum of Russian fine arts. The rich collections of icons, paintings, sculptures, monumental canvases and jewellery pieces are gathered in the museum.

"Some 150 years ago, young Russian merchant Pavel M Tretyakov (1832-98) purchased the first artworks for his private collection. Before he died, he donated the artworks he gathered from over 40 years to the public. He is one of the most-respected men in Russian history," said Ekaterina L Selezneva, deputy director of State Tretyakov Art Gallery, at a recent press conference in Beijing.

"We hope that our exhibition in Beijing will attract attention from Chinese art enthusiasts, especially the younger generations."

Along with the big show of Russian art in the past 300 years, an exhibition featuring contemporary Russian art is also being held at the same museum in Beijing, with some 100 selected pieces including oil paintings, sculpture, and installations.

"The Russian art exhibitions offer Chinese viewers a rare chance to know about Russian people and their history and culture, and dramatic changes in Russian society as conveyed by the works of Russian artists," said Fan Di'an, director of the National Art Museum of China.

To create a better impression of Russian art on Chinese viewers, the National Art Museum of China has prepared tour guides, electronic guide equipment, and a series of academic lectures by Chinese scholars for the visitors, according to Fan.

His museum has even made special designs and decorations for its display halls, on the third floor of the main building, in a style similar to that of the Moscow-based State Tretyakov Art Gallery.

These two exhibitions will wrap up on May 15, the organizers say.

Russian art and literature possesses a peculiar charm for Chinese people. Dramas, movies, songs, paintings and novels from Russia were extremely popular among Chinese since the founding of New China in 1949.

Russian songs are frequently heard in today's karaoke parlours across China.

About three years ago, some Chinese TV producers even did TV versions of some Russian movies once popular among older Chinese audiences in the 1970s, with actors and actresses from Russia and other former Soviet Union nations.

But Russian oil art, in particular, has exerted a strong influence upon oil painters on the Chinese mainland, particularly in the 1950-70s, said Xi Jingzhi, a Beijing-based senior researcher in Russian art.

For instance, famous Russian artist K M Maksimov (1913-93) came and taught in China from 1955-1957 at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Many of his students, including Jin Shangyi, chairman of Chinese Artists Association, and Zhan Jianjun, chairman of Chinese Oil Painters Society, have become the mainstay of Chinese oil painting circles.

The Russian influence is still strong even today, although the Chinese art scene is much more diversified than it was decades ago, she said.

However, she pointed out, during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), many Chinese artists had only copied rigidly from their Russian counterparts the painting techniques and "revolutionary" subjects. But she said they largely failed to learn about the Russian artists' emphasis on human conditions at lower social classes and their deep compassion for the underprivileged.

(China Daily March 28, 2006)