With the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger around the corner, a grand exhibition on the traditional Chinese New Year pictures held in the National Art Museum of China reflects the development process of the art from the traditional form to the new and also the great importance attached by the government to intangible cultural heritages. It aims to protect the traditional woodblock New Year pictures and promote the creation of the new Spring Festival pictures.
The Chinese New Year picture is an important part of the traditional Chinese art, boasting diversified connotation as an encyclopedia of the folk life. The National Art Museum of China has a collection of more than 3,000 pictures from famous places across the country, including Yangliuqing of Tianjin, Taohuawu of Suzhou, Zhuxian county of Henan, Wuqiang of Hebei, Linfen of Shanxi, Tantou of Hunan, Zhangzhou of Fujian, Fengxiang of Shaanxi, Tanxian of Shandong and Mianzhu of Sichuan. A total of 200 exhibits demonstrate the splendid history of the art.
Since the New China establishment, imitated by the Ministry of Culture, a large number of artists have been engaged in creation with remarkable achievements. The exhibits comprise some masterpieces by Li Keran, Li Qi, Zhang Ding, Liu Wenxi, Ren Shuaiying, Li Qun, Gu Yuan and Yan Han. Those works reflect the strong characteristics of the times through new concepts and artistic forms. Since the reform and opening up in 1978, the art of the Chinese New Year picture have enjoyed further development and found the good meeting point between the traditional technique and the modern life. The exhibition is also hoped to reflect the development of the art in the new period.
The New Year picture is a vivid reflection of praying for fortune and welcoming the upcoming spring in the Chinese cultural conception. The exhibition comprises four sections, that is, a nice spring falls during the Spring Festival, a hundred children plays to celebrate the Spring Festival, good performances are displayed and the new wind welcomes the Spring Festival.
