A primary school student in Beijing, works on her pastel drawing hanging in the National Art Museum of China as part of the ongoing American art exhibition. 

The staging of the exhibition in China has been hailed by Pan Gongkai, president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts as absolutely "a historic event".

"The knowledge of American art was very limited for various reasons," Pan said at an academic symposium held at the National Art Museum of China last Saturday.

"Cultural and academic exchanges between China and the United States have increased dramatically over the past two decades thanks to China's opening up and reforms," he noted.

However, according to Pan's personal observations, most Chinese artists and art scholars have so far shown more interest in contemporary American art.

"This exhibition gives us a systematic picture of American art. Strolling the exhibition halls, I can even see and feel its vibrant growing process hidden behind the paintings, sculptures, installations and videos on show," said Zhang Qing, vice-director of the Shanghai Museum of Fine Arts and a key organizer of the Shanghai Biennale.

"Still grappling to find their own identity on the international art arena, contemporary Chinese artists can surely learn something from the rise of American art after World War II."

"After watching the exhibition, I feel even more confident about the future of Chinese ink art in the 21st century," Chao Hai, a Xi'an-based Chinese ink painter, renowned for his innovative ink portraits of rural Chinese at the loess plateau.

"In my view, Western art, including American art, is complementary to Chinese ink art," he said.

Apart from art academics and artists, the grand exhibition of American art has drawn throngs of common Chinese viewers since its opening last Friday.

"People of all ages have come to watch the show," said Li Yinan, an art management major with the Central Academy of Fine Arts . Li and a dozen others have been conducting a survey of Chinese visitors to the exhibition. She has collected at least 100 questionnaires filled by both adults and children who came for the show.

"Months ago, I watched the TV documentary Rise of the Great Powers on China Central Television," said Guo Tingchun, a retired clerk of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritages.

"That raised my interest in how Western countries such as the United States rose to power and prosperity. Now comes the exhibition of American art. I see it as a visual representation of American history."

Ma Xiaozhou, a young oil painter who currently studies art in Berlin, saw the exhibition as a rare opportunity for students majoring in Western art.

"Not so many of them can afford to see all these artworks in different museums abroad," she said.

"Printed catalogs and photos available through the Internet cannot substitute for the closer look at the subtle details of the original art works in person," she said.

To make it easier for Chinese viewers, the organizers, besides offering electronic audio guides, have trained at least 70 volunteer lecturers who will guide the visitors through the major showpieces, according to Li Jingyue with the General Office of the National Museum of China.

The exhibition has also been featuring a number of academic lectures, Li said.

After its Beijing debut, which ends on April 3, it will tour Shanghai Museum and Shanghai MOCA from May 1 through June 30, and then move on to other countries, according to Krens.

(China Daily February 26, 2007)