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China Daily

98 / 03 / 30 /

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1. Academy hails past, looks to future
2. Copies of masterpieces of high-tech to come out
3. Art auctions mushroom
4. Notes (Page 9, Date: 03/30/98)
5. Farmer's tenacity yields fruits
6. What's on (Page 10, Date: 03/30/98)
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Academy hails past, looks to future
THE Central Academy of Fine Arts, the cradle of contemporary
Chinese arts, is to commemorate its 80th birthday on Wednesday
when a celebration ceremony will be held and an exhibition
outlining the academy's history opened at the academy's gallery in
downtown Beijing.
The academy, originally known as the National Beijing Art School
and later as the National Peiping Art Institute, was founded in
April, 1918 under the patronage of Cai Yuanpei, who is regarded as
one of the greatest educators in 20th century China.
The first national art education institution in China, the academy
has been a leader in fostering the arts, turning out large numbers
of oil painters, artists in traditional Chinese painting genres,
sculptors and print makers -- many of them key figures in the
development of the arts in China.
On April 1, 1950, the school was renamed the Central Academy of
Fine Arts with Xu Beihong, one of the contemporary Chinese master
painters, as its president. The academy's name is inscribed in the
late Chairman Mao Zedong's own hand.
Associated with the academy faculty were such well-known figures
as Xu Beihong, Wu Zuoren, Liu Kaiqu and Li Keran.
In the five decades since the founding of the People's Republic of
China in 1949, the school has produced several generations of
young talent. Some of these students have become leading artists
or the heads of art institutions. For example, Jin Shangyi, an
accomplished oil painter who graduated in the 1950s, is now
president of his alma mater. The late woman painter Zhou Sicong, a
1960s' graduate, is considered one of the best painters of the
human figure in the country. The list could go on and on.
Since the country began opening up to the outside world, the
faculty and students of the academy have had extensive exposure to
modern arts overseas, especially those of the West. Their visions
have been widened and minds broadened. The styles and genres of
the works by teachers and students of the academy have been
extended. At the same time, more and more works by the artists who
are either the teachers of the academy or its graduates have been
going out to other countries to be displayed and have drawn
applause from foreign audiences.
Now standing at the threshold of the 21st century, the Central
Academy of Fine Arts is planning to keep up with the times by
restructuring its curricula and the set-up of its majors.
On the assumption that society will not need vast numbers of
''pure artists," the academy has decided to focus on training
fewer but qualitatively better artists. More important, design
majors catering to the needs of the increasingly market-oriented
society will be largely promoted, according to the leadership of
the academy.
Among such majors, architecture will be given top priority. The
strong points of the academy as an art school will be capitalized
on, while architecture departments of engineering colleges will be
drawn on to develop the technical side of the discipline.
At the same time, a photography major will also be set up in
response to the country's mounting need for trained photographers.
Stress will be laid on the quality of the students so that they
can measure up to the high standards required. "We want to turn
out photography artists, not merely photographers," says Fan
Di'an, assistant president of the academy.
The academy will continue to absorb those elements of Western art
which truey facilitate the development of Chinese arts, according
to Fan. At the same time, Chinese traditions will be emphasized to
make them a fountainhead of artistic inspiration for the students.
Making sure that art develops healthily in a more and more
market-oriented society is another important task for the school.
The increase of refined taste and cultural content in the
students' work will be encouraged. And all kinds of money-inspired
"commercialism" will be discouraged, according to Fan.
The Central Academy of Fine Arts is expected to be much better off
in the new century in terms of campus and school architecture.
Construction of its new campus is already under way. When the
projects is completed, a new academy will grace Beijing's
northeast outskirts. The new campus will cover 1,333 acres. The
total floor space of the buildings will be 70,000 square metres.
It will be the largest art education institution in the country,
and will be equipped with the latest advanced facilities.
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_Date: 03/30/98_
_Author: Yi Shu_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Copies of masterpieces of high-tech to come out
A MARKET for high-fidelity copies of oil paintings by world
masters will open in China.
Ordinary Chinese will soon be able to afford to hang such
masterpieces in their homes, something they could only dream about
in the past.
The works, by such masters as Van Gogh, Monet and others are
printed in limited numbers on high-tech equipment. Each piece will
sell for about 500 yuan (US$60). For example, Van Gogh's "Iris
Flowers," 50.5 centimetres in width and 64 centimetres in height,
sells for 430 yuan (US$52). A Manet landscape of about the same
size will sell for 440 yuan (US$53), well within the means of the
average Chinese.
A question arises. How to distinguish between the high-fidelity
copiesy and fakes? First, the copy must be marked as a "copy." At
the same time, its size must be different, however slightly, from
the original. Even a difference of one centimetre can show the
sincerity and honesty of the copy maker.
Second, it should be sold at a price 10 times or even 10,000 times
lower than that of the original.
Third, the purpose of the copy maker is different from that of the
forger. The former is trying to make classical art popular while
the latter is out only for the buck.
Making copies of masterpieces is not as foreign to the Chinese as
people think. As a matter of fact, the Chinese have been making
copies of classic pieces for hundreds of years. For example,
reproductions of famous original paintings from past dynasties,
stone rubbings of ancient calligraphy inscribed on tablets and
prints of woodcut pictures of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(1644-1911) dynasties are all examples of copying.
In contemporary times, the Rongbaozhai Gallery's water marks that
are based on the original paintings by Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong and
other renowned painters are the most recent examples of
traditional Chinese copying activities.
Of course, high-tech copying did not get started in China until
the mid-1990s. In the '95 Beijing Art Exposition, the Continent
Gallery introduced the first group of high-fidelity copies of
masterpieces, which were printed in limited numbers.
The Yuanmeng Art Co followed suit. In the past few years, it has
imported advanced equipment from overseas and started its own
high-fidelity copying business. It has so far produced 600,000
high-fidelity copies of 500 different works. The company has set
up 38 sales outlets in 18 provinces in the country. The volume of
its yearly sales has reached 2 million yuan (US$241,546). It is
estimated that there are now a dozen Beijing companies engaged in
this business.
This is only a beginning for the country which has a population of
1.2 billion.
The vast majority of the population still cling to low-grade
printed commercial paintings and decorative pieces. Most of the
originals for high-fidelity copying are Western masterpieces and
the buyers of the copies are mainly organizations and people who
have become better off.
It is expected that in the coming dozen years or so the number of
buyers of such copies will increase greatly with the development
of the economy and the elevation of people's aesthetic values. It
is also expected that the originals for copying will also include
the works of Chinese painters. (CD News)
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_Date: 03/30/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Art auctions mushroom
ART auction companies have mushroomed across the country in recent
years in pursuit of the same kind of generous profits that were
made by a few pioneers in this field.
By the end of last year, for example, there were 26 such companies
in Beijing, a dozen in Guangzhou and nearly 50 in Shanghai.
The total trade volume of art works through auctions reached 1
billion yuan (US$120.8 million) last year. At a profit of 10 per
cent, that would equal only 100 million yuan (US$12 million) to be
shared by the excessively large number of auction companies. The
take of the auction market remains much the same size, but the
number of those who are eager to share in the "auction prosperity"
has increased tremendously.
In this narrow market, the increase in the number of auction
companies and auction sessions can only lead to disorder, with
forgery running wild and irregularities being practiced.
A unified auction market is required so that the numerous auction
activities across the country can be co-ordinated and conducted in
an orderly way.
In addition, management of the market should be strengthened. The
qualifications of the auction companies should be strictly
examined. Training of and checking on agents, art dealers,
connoisseurs and auctioneers should be conducted.
At the same time, potential investors and buyers should keep their
peace of mind and refrain from rushing out to buy whatever comes
up for sale.
In these ways, perhaps, the auction market may be put in some kind
of order. (CD News)
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_Date: 03/30/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Notes (Page 9, Date: 03/30/98)
Yu Pingbo's works
"THE Complete Works of Yu Pingbo" has been newly published by the
Hushan Literature and Art Press.
Yu was an important figure in contemporary Chinese literature. He
took an active part in the May Fourth New Culture Movement around
1919 and was a pioneer in composing poems in vernacular Chinese
rather than in classical Chinese, which kept the masses at arm's
length. He was also an accomplished researcher in classical
Chinese literature, poetry and drama.
His complete works contain various articles and theses and are
therefore regarded as an indispensable source of materials for
researchers of contemporary Chinese literature.
Tibetan institute
THE Yufeng Painting and Calligraphy Institute, which is the first
ever such artistic institution in the history of Tibet, has been
newly founded in Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Art works in unique Tibetan genres abound in the region -- murals,
tangkas (Tibetan-style religious paintings), embroidery pieces,
prints, Tibetan calligraphy and more.
Calligrapher Guo Fujiang, who is based in Chongqing, has travelled
to Tibet six times. On one trip, he hit upon the idea of opening a
painting and calligraphy institute to promote artistic exchanges
between Tibet and the hinterland areas, hence the Yufeng Painting
and Calligraphy Institute.
4,000-metre scroll
ZHU Yuanchun, a farmer in Shanxi Province, has finished his
calligraphy scroll, which features the entire text of "The
Selected Works of Premier Zhou Enlai," with a total of 685,000
Chinese characters. The scroll is 4,000 metres long.
He started the work in the beginning of 1996. Over the past two
years, he has worn more than 100 Chinese writing brushes. (CD
news)
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_Date: 03/30/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Farmer's tenacity yields fruits
LI Weiguo, who was recognised recently as a model farmer by the
Beijing Workers' Union for his ingenuity in running his farm,
returned to the lifestyle he abandoned 26 years ago.
As rural people flock to cities in search of better jobs and
living conditions, Li Weiguo instead chose to give up his position
in a Beijing factory and left for Daxing County, 50 kilometres
away from downtown Beijing, to restart his life as a farmer.
"I simply quit my factory job," said Li, 48, a former worker for
Beijing Dongchen Aluminium Ltd.
In 1994, when it was losing money, the factory laid off 90 per
cent of its employees. Li, then a factory gardener, was one of the
200 lucky ones who didn't lose their jobs.
But he decided to quit anyway. "The 'iron rice bowl' could no
longer feed my family of four," Li said, referring to his 380 yuan
(US$46) monthly wage -- the family's only income.
Li, who was born in Hebei Province, met his wife, a Beijinger,
more than 20 years ago on a farm in Northwest China's Heilongjiang
Province during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). At that time,
most urban youth were forced to settle in the countryside for
re-education after finishing high school.
The couple said farewell to their rural life in 1992 and returned
to Beijing to begin a new life. Little did they know that
unemployment and a difficult life awaited them.
Li's wife, Guo Shulan, a veterinarian, failed to find a suitable
job and simply stayed at home for two years.
Li found a job as a gardener with an aluminium factory, but the
pay was low.
"After returning back to Beijing in 1992, I got worried when every
new school term began or when Spring Festival arrived," he
recalled. "At the beginning of each term, I had to pay for the
children's books and other school fees, and when Spring Festival
arrived, I often found myself without enough cash to entertain my
own family and friends," he said.
His wife supported him when he decided to return to farming.
"I knew the best thing for me to do was to go back into farming,"
he said. "Since I had 26 years of farming experience, I knew I
could make it there if I gave it everything I had."
After all, Li was an expert in the cultivation of grapes.
But he also had his misgivings. He feared his acquaintances would
ridicule his family for abandoning their urban lifestyle and
secure income, especially after they had already worked in the
countryside for 26 years.
True to his fears, when Li rented a piece of wasteland in a
Beijing suburb and started his own farm, his former colleagues and
most of his relatives did not understand.
"My primary task is to support my family," Li said. "So in the end
I decided that becoming a farmer again would not make me lose
face."
However, things were hard in the beginning. Money was tight. The
first year, Li amassed from his own savings and from relatives
some 150,000 yuan (US$1,812) to pay the land lease, buy farm
machinery, seeds and nursery stock, and to build a greenhouse.
"I was ready to risk everything," Li said. He threw all his
savings into the land and went into heavy debt.
In March 1994, Li and his wife hired two labourers and set up
their home on the edge of their 5-hectare plot of land which had
been producing poor crops of corn.
They worked the land day and night. Within several months, they
had transformed the land into "an oasis" of 10,000 grapevines and
2,000 apple trees.
But storms gather without warning. In late October of 1994, a gale
followed by mountain fires attacked Li's farm. The five-metre-high
flames destroyed everything. Within 15 minutes a sea of fire had
engulfed the farm, destroying six months of back-breaking labour.
Looking at his charred apple trees, Li said nothing the whole day,
he recalled.
"This was my first setback since I quit my job, but I knew that I
could not give up," Li said.
So he borrowed some money and bought 15,000 new apple tree
saplings.
Unfortunately, this time he got nursery stock which had been
infected with a virus and grew very slowly. Li asked the supplier
for compensation, only to learn that the company had gone broke.
His misfortunes did not come singly, either. One year later, also
on a late October day, dusk came earlier than usual and the sky
grew yellow. Li knew a big wind was coming.
Gale force winds forced lashing rain against his 990-square-metre
greenhouse, in which 6,000 tomato vines were planted. Some of the
tomatoes were as big as fists and would be ready for market before
New Year's Day.
The fierce winds tore open the greenhouse plastic.
Li and his helpers clambered onto the roof to repair it, but it
was too late. The wind had torn the greenhouse open, leaving it in
tatters.
As soon as they got down from the roof, the greenhouse began to
collapse.
Li had a sleepless night. He had just discovered that his
greenhouse stood in a draught, where the force 7 wind could gather
more force.
The frost-damaged tomatoes turned black and Li's entire year's
income was gone with the wind.
Looking at his tomatoes, Li cried.
"Is God playing with me?"
"I told myself that, frankly, there was no other way for me
besides doing farm work," he said.
"I hadn't thought hard enough before launching my projects. But I
could learn from my setbacks."
With these lessons learned, Li had his assistants dig a 3-metre
wide, 200-metre long fire-proof tunnel. Next, he separated the
greenhouse into three independent units to reduce the pressure
that each one took.
His hard work paid off.
Last year, Li's family reaped a bumper harvest of grapes.
Meanwhile, he started raising livestock to reduce the risk of his
investment failing again.
Last October, Li began raising rabbits for consumption. Within
three months, the rabbits weighed 3.5 to 4 kilograms each and were
sold to export companies. Selling the rabbits brought the family
their first hard income and enabled them to make ends meet.
Li's greenhouse grapes will hit the market this spring, when their
price is two or three times more than during regular summer
seasons.
Li has also hired two more hands this year and has begun to raise
pigs.
"I believe that more and more urban people will go to rural areas
to make a living," Li said. "I'd like to tell them, especially the
ones who have just lost their jobs, to study the market and study
themselves. Most importantly, when it is time to begin, do not
hesitate -- begin."
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/30/98_
_Author: Wang Ying_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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What's on (Page 10, Date: 03/30/98)
CONCERTS
American Violinist -- Leila Josefowicz, acclaimed universally as a
"Contemporary Heifetz," will display her consummate skill in
Beijing.
The young American violinist has a stage style full of freshness
and enthusiasm in a completely American way. She has skillfully,
gorgeously and thrillingly expressed her musical maturity time and
time again.
Based in Philadelphia, where she continues her musical education
at the Curtis Institute of Music, Josefowiczhas toured North
America, Europe and Japan for recitals and concerto appearances.
Her Beijing recital features Beethoven's "Sonata No 6 in A major,"
Franck's "Sonata in A major," Falla's "Suite Populaire Espagnole,"
Kreisler's "Sicilienne and Rigaudon" and "Caprice Viennois," and
finally, Sarasate's "Introduction and Tarantella."
Time: 7:30 pm, April 11
Place: Beijing Century Theatre, 40 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang
District
Tel: 6495-1005, 6495-1004
Italian folk songs -- Adriana Bruni, acclaimed as the most
authentic interpreter of Neapolitan melodies, will perform in
Beijing early next month.
Bruni, who has learned a great deal from her father Sergio Bruni _
well-known as the king of Neapolitan folk songs _ has devoted
herself to the study, collection and performance of Neapolitan
music. She is also an outstanding actress and has performed in
many famous operas and televised programmes.
Fausto D' Angelo, a celebrated Italian guitarist, will join her in
the concert.
Time: 7:15 pm, April 3
Place: Haidian Theatre, Haidianlu, Haidian District
Tel: 6405-5512
Love songs -- The China Song and Dance Ensemble will hold a
concert of special instruments and world famous love songs.
Time: 7:30 pm, March 31
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6605-5812.
Symphony concert -- The Beijing Symphony Orchestra will hold a
concert of Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor and Jean Sibelius'
Symphony No 1 in E minor.
Time: 7:30 pm, April 2
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Rock 'n' roll in Heaven -- The Heaven Star Disco in the Beijing
Chang'an Entertainment Castle invites Beijing rock'n'roll bands,
famous or otherwise, to perform every weekend.
Jazz and country music performances are also held every Wednesday
and Friday. Lucky draw prizes are held on the weekends.
Place: Basement 1 of Chang'an Great Theater, 7 Jianguomennei
Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6510-1155 ext 3100 or 3101
EXHIBITIONS
Joint Art Show -- The Wanfung Art Gallery is holding a group show
of modern ink paintings.
On show are more than 30 paintings done by ten Chinese-born
artists from Canada, Hong Kong and the United States.
The works on show eloquently demonstrate the artists' skillful use
of diverse techniques and successful exploration in modern ink
paintings.
Time: 9:30 am- 6pm, March 30-April 4.
Place: 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
Tel: 6512-7338.
One-man Art Show -- The Qin Gallery is hosting the solo show of
artist Sun Guangyi.
The 30 works, done with mixed media on cloth, display the artist's
abstractionist style with Chinese characteristics. They also
reveal the artists' inner feelings and his understanding of art,
life and the universe.
Time: 9:30 am- 6 pm, through April 3.
Place: Qin Gallery, 1 Ritan Dongjie, east of Ritan Park.
Tel: 6507-4062.
Masterpieces -- Late Peng Youshan's paintings of tigers, flowers,
birds and landscapes are on display at the China National Art
Museum.
Peng is well known for his drawings of tigers in various postures
and moods which show his deep love for the powerful creature now
on the brink of extinction.
Peng was born in 1911 to a scholar's family in Yugan, Jiangxi
Province, and died last year. He began studying painting as a
young boy. His teachers included Xu Beihong and Qi Baishi, two of
the most renowned contemporary Chinese masters. Later, he devoted
himself to forging a style which combines elements of Chinese and
Western painting.
Peng rose to fame as early as the 1930s.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, until March 31
Place: 1 Wusi Dajie, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6401-2252
East blends with West -- More than 30 representative paintings of
Austrian artist Max Weiler are on display at the China National
Art Museum until April 7.
Austria's most famous contemporary painter, Weiler has travelled
extensively in Europe and America to design frescoes for
world-renowned structures, and to hold or participate in more than
30 painting shows. He has won numerous prizes and honorary titles.
This is the first time his works, which have been deeply
influenced by the philosophy and landscape painting of the Song
Dynasty (960-1279), have been shown in China.
So infatuated was Weiler by the Chinese landscape paintings that
he decided to "return to the Chinese of the Song Dynasty."
By successfully blending the "artistic conception" of Chinese
landscape painting into his creations, Weiler's works are sought
by people in China and in the West.
The current 31 exhibits were finished by Max Weiler between 1983
and 1992.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, until April 7
Place: China National Art Museum, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6401-2252
Space Museum -- China's history of space exploration is showcased
at the China Space Museum, 10 kilometres from central Beijing.
Exhibits range from a replica of a CZ rocket launcher to the
recovered Fengyun meteorological satellite, the Dongfanghong East
is Red communications orbiter and a demonstration of the flight of
the CZ-2E launch vehicle.
Time: 8.30-11.30 am and 2-4.30 pm, Monday-Friday
Place: China Space Museum, 1 Nan Dahongmenlu, Fengtai District
Tel: 6838-4457
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_Date: 03/30/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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