Beijing's National Arts Gallery formally opens again on Wednesday following a large scale refurbishment. As a prelude to mark the event, the gallery is putting on an exhibition featuring many fine arts masterpieces from the 20th century.

The gallery with a new look welcomed in the first group of visitors on Sunday morning following its refurbishment.

Chinese fine arts had evolved into a variety of themes and styles throughout the 20th century, a period which saw domestic art prosper.

The exhibition features fine arts works dating back as far as 1900. Portrait of a Maid of Honor is a representative of China's earliest oil painting work and can be dated back to the end of Qing Dynasty. The exhibition also features the works of a number of traditional Chinese painting masters, such as Xu Beihong, Qi Baishi and Pan Tianshou.

The exhibits are selected from over 20,000 items originating in the 20th century. At present, the gallery has a large collection of 60,000 works.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2003)