Heavenly Mountain Portrayed in Chinese Ink Painting

Man pursues elegance while painting highlights charms. An .artist＇s vitality lies in hiscontinuation of traditions and breakthrough in innovative techniques. Chinese ink painting is a result of traditional culture, which is represented by harmonious concepts of Confucianism, simplistic ways of life by Taoism and adherence to nature by the Zhuang school of thinking. All these ancient philosophical concepts comprise aesthetic and artistic principles governing evolution of Chinese ink painting and are visualized in painting creations. Chinese ink painters not only emphasize physical realness but also highlight sensibility and spirit of life.     

Passion and Greatness： Miao Mo＇s Traditional Chinese Painting

Miao Mo is an accomplished painter nurtured in the time-honored artistic, tradition of Xi＇an, an ancient capital which witnessed heydays of the Chinese civilization. He showed strong interest in painting in his childhood and received academic training in fine arts in his teen years. In 1962, Miao pursued further training in the advanced course offered by the studio of traditional Chinese painting under the Artists Association of Shaanxi Province. In this three-year training program, Miao made remarkable progress in painting skills and deepened his understanding of the traditions and principles of Chinese painting, thanks to the mentorship of master Zhao Wangyun, founder of Chang＇an School of Painting, as well as the guidance of other prestigious artists like Shi Lu, He Haixia and Fang Jizhong.     

Classical Guqin Maker Tian Shuangkun

The quiet and melodious music led me to Tian Shuangkun＇s courtyard house in the depth of a hutong （alley） in the downtown of Beijing. Tian is a master maker of the Guqin, a seven-stringed zither known as China＇s oldest stringed instrument.His studio is furnished with traditional Chinese stuffs - old- style furniture, calligraphic and ink painting works, old pictures and the guqin as well. While I appreciated all these, Tian explained to me the long history of the guqin and his lifelong pursuit of perfection in making the guqin.     

CHARM OF SUZHOU EMBROIDERY

On a sunny day in the end of 2007 I was invited for a visit to Suzhou Embroidery. Research Institute. Led by Ms. Zhang, the institute＇s artistic director, I entered through a moon-shaped gate in a traditional style and an elegant classical Suzhou-style garden was unfolded in front of me. Quiet paths, luxuriant plants, winding corridors, all are filled with fascinating charm, like a scene in a traditional Chinese ink painting. The garden is called ＂Huanxiu Resort＂ where the embroidery institute is based. At that moment,     

Henan Museum：A Panorama of Chinese Civilization

Henan, located in the heart of China, is known as one of the most important birthplaces of Chinese civilization. A long history and numerous ancient sites and monuments have gained her reputation as ＂a natural museum of history＂. Founded in 1927, Henan Museum boasts large collections, thanks to the province＇s endowed geographical location and rich resources in cultural heritage.     

Paint from the Depth of Heart： Celebrated Painter Zhang Yahui

Zhang Yahui＇s painting works in his studio in Dashilan, a historic quarter in Qianmen in the downtown of Beijing, have attracted manyviewers. His paintings represent a bold blend of freehand and fine bmshwork. Years of hard practice in inking painting have enabled him to obtain virtuosity in overall layout. Created from depth of heart, Zhang＇s works fascinate viewers with well-designed layouts, innovative techniques, vigorous brushworks, artistic profundity and poetic beauty. By mixing characteristics of Chinese ink painting and Western oil painting,     

NE·TIGER A RISING CHINESE LUXURY BRAND

China＇s booming market and growing consumers of luxury goods have attracted world luxury brand names to come for a new round of gold rush. Flagship stores and outlets of famous brands such as Louis Vuitton and Giorgio Armani are burgeoning in big cities across the country. In this intense struggle for market shares in the world＇s fourth largest economy with the biggest potential population of luxury consumers, a local Chinese brand name is growing fast to become an inevitable rival of those Western heavyweights. From Millionaire Fair to Extravaganza, it has been invited as an equal member to stand amidst world top-class brand names such as Rolls Royce, Cartier and Dior. It is NE.TIGER, a shining fashion brand founded in China and by a Chinese designer. ＂In fact, China has exported numerous luxuries to the rest of the world for hundreds of years, such as silk, porcelain and tea. In the contemporary time, NE.TIGER will continue this glorious tradition and try to be the best example of China＇s high-end brand names,＂ said Zhang Zhifeng, chairman and chief designer of NE·TIGER.     

Promote Urban Traditions through Architecture：An Interview with Master Architect Zhanq Jinqiu

Zhang Jinqiu, a celebrated woman architect in contemporary China, is known for her successful designs blending tradition and modernity. With a large number of modern creations featuring distinctive traditional styles designed for the ancient city of Xi＇an as well as many other historical cities in China, Zhang has contributed to diversity of urban planning concepts and made valuable explorations on cultural dimensions of architectural design.     

Marginalization and Combination： Liu Mingxlao＇s Oil Paintings

Efforts to localize oil painting have never stopped since this western art was introduced into China, A Chinese educational system on oil painting had not been developed until the era of master Xu Beihong. But if oil painting can be localized or not still remains a question in China. After New China was founded in 1949, influenced by Chairman Mao＇s theories on cultural development, Chinese oil painters were required to, besides serving ideological needs, pursue Chinese characteristics and cater to ordinary people＇s tastes. Dong Xiwen＇s ＂The Founding Ceremony of the New Republic＂ was the pioneer in this endeavor. Following him, almost all Chinese oil artists rushed into this direction, except some who made breakthroughs in landscape subjects. For instance, Wu Zuoren combined Chinese water and ink painting with western oil painting, creating a simplistic style.     

A Brief Review of Chinese Print

Chinese print can date back 1100 years. For example, carved bricks and stones in the Han Dynasty are actually ear, forms of woodprint. As a type of print art, wood board printing invented in the Tang Dynasty was closely related to life of ordinary people and helped to spread arts in ancient China. Buddhist sutra Vajracchedika printed in 868 AD is the important evidence testifying to the wood board printing of the Tang Dynasty and the world＇s earliest complete printed book still preserved today. Thus it is generally recognized as the peak of print art of the Tang Dynasty.     

Contemporary Painted Porcelain： Value Ready to be Explored

Over the sweep of Chinese porcelain history, ancient talented artisans integrated traditional Chinese painting with porcelain making, thus considerably adding to the beauty of porcelain. Masterpieces of ancient painting masters, like Yun Nantian and Ba Da Shan Ren, were painted on porcelains, which significantly increased their prices. In modern painting practices, porcelain making, together with paper making, puppet making and New Year print painting, has been valued as an important art expression to inspire artists＇ creativity.     

LAO JIA＇S PAINTING

Lao Jia＇s paintings have given me an unusual impression and triggered out my infinite imagination. The vigorous brushwork and remarkable ink dotting, as demonstrated in his painting, defies all the established conventions. Some say that Lao Jia＇s painting symbolizes a spirit or a philosophical value that can interpret the profound aesthetic concepts of Chinese traditional painting.     

Woodblock New Year Print Painting of Kaifeng

New Year painting is an independent genre of Chinese folk painting. It is so named, because it is usually hanged during celebrations of Chinese New Year, This paintinggenre dates back to the Han Dynasty [221 BC - 220 AD）. Woodblock printing began to be employed for the creation of New Year painting in Kaifeng, capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty [960-1127]. The use of woodblock printing marked a breakthrough in creation of New Year painting and Kaifeng has thus been known as the birthplace of woodblock New Year print painting of China.     

ORIGINAL PRINT PAINTING RISES WITH POTENTIAL VALUES FOR COLLECTION

Printing painting usually refers to varieties of painting printed on wood, stone, linoleum, copper and zinc blocks carved by knife or etched by chemicals. China is generally recognized as the inventor of printing painting, but for quite a long time, it has had a poor market for print painting trade, with only few collectors dedicated to for this type of painting. In recent years, with print paintings by master artists gaining outstanding performance in the international market, values of original print painting have begun to be recognized in China＇s collection market.     

Rosy Clouds in the Sky

From January 16 to February 10, the National Art Museum of China held a painting exhibition on its collection of ethnic minority motifs. On display included 180 pieces of painting works from the museum＇s collection, most of which are masterpieces by accomplished painters in modern China. These painting exhibits fall into such diverse categories as Chinese tTaditional painting, oil painting, print painting, watercolor painting and serial illustrations of story books. Subjects from various ethnic minorily groups of China have been depicted, which bring viewers with an opportunity to appreciate cultural diversity of China.     

International Cultural Exchanges in the Early Stages of New China

Cultural exchanges with foreign countries have a long history in China, as the Chinese nationkeeps introducing and integrating the cultural essence of other nations to enrich and develop its own culture, the ancient Chinese intellectuals, scholars and monks devoted themselves or evensacrifice themselves to the cause of international cultural exchange, leaving many legacies of much-told stories and much-visited relics： from the Silk Road in the Qjn and Han dynasties to Fa Hsien＇s travel to South Asia.     

CLASSIC PORCELAIN PANEL PAINTING OF JINGDEZHEN

Porcelain panel painting is known as a unique genre of Chinese porcelain art which dates back to ancient times and bears profound aesthetic richness.     

The Red Flag Is Flying： Thematic Painting of China in the 20th Century

＂The Red Flag Is Flying： Thematic Painting of China in the 20th Century＇is a research and publication project sponsored by the National Publication Fund and published by People＇s Fine Arts Publishing House. It is the result of several decades of art research and five years of collection and compilation by the author Cheng Lvsheng. The book includes nearly 4,000 thematic painting works by up to 1, 500 Chinese painters.     

Lecture Series on Chinese Archeological Discoveries Fascinates French Audiences

Lecture series on Chinese archeological discoveries took place in China Culture Center in Paris late November, 2006, as part of the center＇s lecture program aiming to respond to French people＇s growing interest in Chinese culture. Diverse subjects such as archeological discoveries, heritage conservation, Chinese history and civilization as well as traditional ways to enhance bodycare, all attracted the French audience to come. So far, this lecture program has made itself a brand name of the culture center as a primary means to spread Chinese culture and information and provide French people with training on the Chinese language.[第一段]