Chinese Nude Oils Exhibition

Chinese Nude Oils Exhibition (油画人体艺术大展) is the first public exhibition of nude art in Beijing and it is considered one of the most significant exhibitions in the history of Chinese contemporary art.[1] Opening on December 12, 1988, at the National Art Museum of China, this exhibition included over 136 paintings of nude art from 28 artists in Central Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition lasted for 18 days, with more than 220,000 visitors attended.[2]

Background and controversy

At this time, the introduction of nude models into the teaching of human body painting in Chinese art academies was less than ten years old, and the public was still controversial about human body painting. Models at the Central Academy of Fine Arts suspended classes to protest the school's breach of its promise to keep them confidential.[3] Since this exhibition, portraits and body paintings have gradually entered the Chinese public's horizons.

Representative Art works

The human body oil painting Girl in Front of Still Life (Yang Feiyun, 1988) was selected as the cover of the "Oil Painting Exhibition" album, and has always been considered one of the representative works of the exhibition. This work was auctioned at the Beijing Poly Spring Modern and Contemporary Art Auction held on June 2, 2012, with a starting price of 4.6 million yuan, and was finally sold for 34.5 million yuan.[4] Double Human Body (Jin Shangyi, 1983), another important art work presented during the Chinese Nude Oils Exhibition, is Jin Shangyi's largest human body work and was sold for 63.25 million rmb on the China Guardian Auctions at 2019.[5]

In addition, presented artists during the exhibitions include senior oil painting artist Lin Gang, non-oil painting teachers such as Guang Jun from the printmaking department, Sun Jingbo from the mural painting department, and young teachers who have just graduated, such as Meng Luding and Yu Hong.

Further reading

Works of the Chinese Nude Oils Exhibition — Guangxi People's Publishing House, 1988[6]

References

  1. ^ Kristof, Nicholas (1989-01-09). "Freshest Nuance in China's Art Is (Blush) Nudes". the New York Times. No. Section A Page 4. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  2. ^ Jiang, Jiqiang (1988-12-20). "<油画人体艺术大展>对话录 (<Chinese Nude Oils Exhibition> Dialogue)". Beijing Youth Daily (北京青年报). Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  3. ^ 龙翱凤翥. "因油画人体艺术大展引发，上世纪80年代末的一场人体模特风波". Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  4. ^ "1955 杨飞云 1988年作 静物前的姑娘". Beijing Poly International Auction CO., LTD. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  5. ^ "靳尚谊（b.1934） 双人体". China Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  6. ^ WU, Yongliu (1988). Works of the Chinese Nude Oils Exhibition, 油畫人體藝術大展作品集 (1 ed.). Nanning, China: Guangxi People's Publishing House, 廣西人民出版社. ISBN 9787805821894. Retrieved 26 December 2023.