To commemorate the centennial celebration of Central Academy of Fine Arts, the exhibition “Keep Pace with the Times – Artworks for the 100th Anniversary of CAFA”, hosted by CAFA and organized by CAFA Art Museum, was opened to the public on the second floor of CAFA Art Museum on March 22, 2018.
The exhibition features more than 140 classic artworks, covering Chinese painting, oil painting, prints, and sculptures. Based on the collection of CAFA Art Museum, it selected representative artworks created by the teachers and students from CAFA during different periods over the last one hundred years, such as the period of Beiping Art School, the period of Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in Yanan and the period of the founding of New China, etc.
By combing through CAFA’s history of artistic creations, the exhibition aims to exhibit the visual forms that can best reflect the revolutionary spirit of the 20th-century, to present a whole picture of Chinese art history and to show CAFA’s unique temperaments developed over the last century.
The 20th century was a cosmopolitan century, within which unprecedented great changes took place. As a part of the historical
transformation, China also went through a lot of political, economic and cultural changes，given which new forms of artistic creation and new methods of art education had emerged and developed; it is also a hundred years of transformation and innovation for Chinese art history. CAFA’s centennial celebration reflects on these artistic developments, offering a miniature of Chinese art of the 20th century; the history of CAFA is an indispensable part of the contemporary Chinese art history.
New forms of artistic creation and art education have constituted a new visual system, which can be traced in the one hundred years history of Chinese art. CAFA’s centennial celebration reflects on artistic creations of different times, it is a miniature of Chinese art of 20thcentury; the history of CAFA is an indispensable part of the Chinese art history.
Therefore, sorting out the history of CAFA equals to sorting out the history of Chinese art of the 20th century. Thus, during the 100th anniversary of CAFA, CAFA Art Museum offered the exhibition “Keep Pace with the Times – Artworks for the 100th Anniversary of CAFA”, focusing on the artworks created by CAFA’s teachers and students in modern times, which are now a part of the collections of CAFA Art Museum, and using a century as the time scale to briefly display representative artworks of different periods thus to reveal the interactions between art and society as well as art and the times. From another dimension, it showed the relationship between CAFA and Chinese art history in the 20th century, as well as the history of modern art education.
“Keep Pace with the Times – Artworks for the 100th Anniversary of CAFA” has proved to us CAFA’s leading role and model effect in art education, artistic creation, social influence and international cultural exchanges, etc. As a representative and symbol of the development of higher education, CAFA has left its footprint in the modern art history of China.
Central Academy of Fine Arts
March 20, 2018
The 20th century was a cosmopolitan century, within which unprecedented great changes took place. As a part of the historical
transformation, China also went through a lot of political, economic and cultural changes，given which new forms of artistic creation and new methods of art education had emerged and developed; it is also a hundred years of transformation and innovation for Chinese art history. CAFA’s centennial celebration reflects on these artistic developments, offering a miniature of Chinese art of the 20th century; the history of CAFA is an indispensable part of the contemporary Chinese art history.
New forms of artistic creation and art education have constituted a new visual system, which can be traced in the one hundred years history of Chinese art. CAFA’s centennial celebration reflects on artistic creations of different times, it is a miniature of Chinese art of 20thcentury; the history of CAFA is an indispensable part of the Chinese art history.
Therefore, sorting out the history of CAFA equals to sorting out the history of Chinese art of the 20th century. Thus, during the 100th anniversary of CAFA, CAFA Art Museum offered the exhibition “Keep Pace with the Times – Artworks for the 100th Anniversary of CAFA”, focusing on the artworks created by CAFA’s teachers and students in modern times, which are now a part of the collections of CAFA Art Museum, and using a century as the time scale to briefly display representative artworks of different periods thus to reveal the interactions between art and society as well as art and the times. From another dimension, it showed the relationship between CAFA and Chinese art history in the 20th century, as well as the history of modern art education.
“Keep Pace with the Times – Artworks for the 100th Anniversary of CAFA” has proved to us CAFA’s leading role and model effect in art education, artistic creation, social influence and international cultural exchanges, etc. As a representative and symbol of the development of higher education, CAFA has left its footprint in the modern art history of China.
Central Academy of Fine Arts
March 20, 2018
