2019 National Artwork Collection and Donation Rewarding Project Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China
Hundred Years of Glory · CAFA Masters
Broadminded like Clouds and Waters: Exhibition in Honor of Song Buyun’s 110th Birthday
Time: 2020/11/25 - 12/27
Venue: CAFAM Gallery 2A & 3A
Opening Time: 2020/11/25 2:30pm
Venue: CAFAM Lecture Hall
Organizer: Central Academy of Fine Arts
Undertaker: CAFA Art Museum
Supporter: Central Research Institute of Culture and History, Chinese Artists Association, National Art Museum of China, Shanghai Library
Note: Entry to CAFA Art Museum is by real-name advance ticket and capacity is limited. The opening hours are 9:30 - 17:00 (closed on Mondays). Tickets must be reserved online and wil not be available at the museum. Visitors will enter the museum by the reservation information and ID card. Reservation is open two days in advance. Tickets are available on first come, first served basis.
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"Broad-minded like Clouds and Waters: Exhibition in Honor of Song Buyun’s 110th Birthday" is organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and undertaken by the CAFA Art Museum. It is one of the "Hundred Years of Glory · CAFA Masters" exhibition series, as well as the first exhibition of Song Buyun’s artworks and relevant documents at CAFA.
Song Buyun is an important artist, art educator and art activist in the history of modern Chinese art. He has made important achievements in the creation and exploration of oil painting, watercolor painting, Chinese painting and printmaking. He has served as an associate professor and professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the staff of Central Research Institute of Culture and History. He was invited by Mr. Xu Beihong in 1946 to take over and establish the National Art School in Beiping with Wu Zuoren and others. He has made outstanding contributions to the development of progressive art education, to the establishment and maintenance of the school, and to the foundation of the new CAFA: an important note was left by him in the history of development of Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Lacebark Pine (Tuancheng), oil on canvas, 61.5 × 52.5cm, 1947, collection of CAFAM
In his creations, Song Buyun combined his artistic ideals with the reality of Chinese society on the one hand, and on the other hand, he also focused on the accumulation and merging of comprehensive learning. In convergence and collision of Chinese and western cultures, he tried to capture the essence of traditional and foreign art, and expressed his feelings with integrated ideas and language. Many of his wonderful works, such as ""Lacebark Pine (Tuancheng)", “Celebrating the Liberation", "Overlooking the Forbidden City", "Glass Tower", “Clear Sky after the Snow in the Heavenly Lake", “Picture of Longevity", etc., went into collections of cultural institutions including Central Research Institute of Culture and History, National Art Museum of China and CAFA Art Museum, and left an important mark in the 20th-century art history. In his twilight years, he was particularly good at painting peaches, and his many works on the theme of longevity peaches were selected as national diplomatic gifts.
Overlooking the Forbidden City, oil on canvas, 49.8 × 100.5cm, 1960, collection of National Art Museum of China
Picture of Longevity, ink and color on paper, 144 × 364cm, 1987, collection of Central Research Institute of Culture and History
This exhibition selects Song Buyun’s representative works throughout his life. It is divided into six sections based on timeline and artistic styles: "Wartime", “Mountains and Rivers of Sichuan and Chongqing", "New Appearance of Motherland", “Magnificent Scenery of Rivers and Mountains", “Brilliant Blossoms", and “Fleeting Time in Light and Shadow”, with approximately more than 150 works exhibited. For the first time Song Buyun’s precious documents on woodcut and photography are displayed in front of the public. The exhibition is also supplemented by interview videos and archival objects from the perspective of restoring context and history. It shows a full picture of Song Buyun in the history of Chinese art development in the 20th century, especially in the history of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
The exhibition received great support from institutions including the Central Research Institute of Culture and History, the Chinese Artists Association, the National Art Museum of China, the Shanghai Library, as well as the family of Mr. Song Buyun.
About Song Buyun
Song Buyun was born in Wei County, Shandong in September 1910.
In 1932, Song Buyun enrolled in Beiping Jinghua Academy of Fine Arts to study western painting, and later was admitted to the Western Painting Department of the National Hangzhou Academy of Art and became student of Lin Fengmian. During that period, he joined the "Hangzhou Art League" and the "Wood Bell Woodcut Society".
In 1934, Song Buyun was admitted to the Art Department of Nihon University, learning from Japanese painter and sculptor Kenichi Nakamura. During his time in Japan, Song participated in the New Woodcut Movement and created a number of woodcut works and published them in the journals of the League of the Left-wing Writers.
Song Buyun with his “Picture of Exile" in 1936
After returning to China to participate in the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Movement in 1937, he organized awar-of-resistence publication "Anti-Japanese Popular Pictorial" and set up the China Woodcut Research Association in Chongqing.
In the 1940s, Song Buyun at the National Art School in Beiping
From 1941 to 1945, Song Buyun taught oil painting and watercolor painting at the Art Department of National Central University in Chongqing and Chongqing National Art School. He held seven solo exhibitions on oil painting and watercolor painting in Chongqing, Chengdu, Neijiang, Jiangjin and other places, and was highly praised by professionals and friends. He had become the pioneer and outstanding representative painter of early oil painting and watercolor painting in China.
In 1946, invited by Xu Beihong, Song Buyun assisted Xu in taking over and preparing for the establishment of the National Art School in Beiping. There he taught watercolor painting, and served as associate professor and general affairs director, responsible for school personnel and administrative management. During his tenure, he recovered the Shuaifuyuan campus for the National Art School in Beiping, built an auditorium, and implemented more than a dozen houses as teachers’ dormitories and residences with various basic teaching facilities.
In 1950, referred by Xu Beihong, he worked in the Science and Technology Popularization Bureau of the Ministry of Culture.
Song Buyun doing outdoor sketching in the 1950s
In 1950, Song Buyun took a group photo with Xu Beihong, Liao Jingwen and others in their old residence on Shoulu Street. From left: Liu Jintao, Xu Beihong, Liao Jingwen, Sun Zongwei, Xiao Shufang, Song Buyun, Gao Shuzhen, Wu Zuoren
In 1958, he was invited to be the chief designer and art consultant of the Ningxia Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
In 1961, introduced by Wu Zuoren and Fu Baoshi, Song joined the Chinese Artist Association.
In 1983, Song retired and enjoyed the treatment of retired cadres.
In 1985, he was hired by the General Office of the State Council to work at the Central Research Institute of Culture and History.
In 1990, Song Buyun Art Museum was established in Weifang, Shandong.
In 1959, as the chief designer and art consultant of the Ningxia Hall of the Great Hall of the People, Song Buyun went to Helan Mountain for outdoor sketching. He then created the "Long March of the Red Army".
In 1962, Song Buyun took a photo with his friend and classmate in Japan Fu Baoshi at the Qianmen Hotel
Song Buyun creating "Recalling the Heroes in Changbai Mountain Forest " at Changbai Mountain Hotel in 1982
Song Buyun in his studio in 1983
Select Exhibits
Wartime
Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 64.5 x 53cm, 1946
Song Buyun's Wife Gao Shuzhen, oil on canvas, 91.2 × 73cm, 1940s
Two Rivers Meet in Chongqing, oil on canvas, 50 x 72.5cm, 1940s
Sunflowers, oil on canvas, 56 x 69cm, 1940
Mountains and Rivers of Sichuan and Chongqing
Jialing River Scenery, watercolor on paper, 38 x 53cm, 1942
Duyou Street in the Rain, watercolor on paper, 38 x 53cm, 1942, collection of the National Art Museum of China
Lonely Boat in the Wind and Rain, ink on paper, 40 x 41.5cm
Waterfall by the Precipice, ink on paper, 65 × 32.5cm, 1945
New Appearance of Motherland
The Meridian Gate, oil on wood, 46.4 × 56.3cm, 1947
Celebrating the Liberation, oil on canvas, 81 × 100cm, 1949
Swimming Pools in Shichahai, oil on canvas, 89.1 × 115.7cm, 1950s
Ancient Observatory, oil on wood, 46.4 × 56.3cm, 1956
Magnificent Scenery of Rivers and Mountains
Winter Forest in the Sunset, ink and color on paper, 101 × 51.5cm, 1982
Guanqiao Bridge in Tianchi Lake, watercolor on paper, 27.2 × 39.3cm, 1982
Recalling the Heroes in Changbai Mountain Forest, ink and color on paper, 103 × 158cm, 1982
The Great Wall in the Dawn, ink and color on paper, 100 × 198cm, 1983
Brilliant Blossoms
Noble and Graceful Blossoms, ink and color on paper, 132 × 64cm, 1985
Wisteria Blossoms, ink and color on paper, 136 × 65cm. 1986, collection of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History
Clivia, ink and color on paper, 79.5 × 63.5cm, 1986
White Grapes, ink and color on paper, 136 × 68cm, 1986
Fleeting Time in Light and Shadow
Group photo of teachers of the Art Department of National Central University in Chongqing after the celebration ceremony of Xu Beihong's return from abroad (Photo by Song Buyun)
Group photo of founding teachers of the National Art School in Beiping at 14 Yangyi Hutong in October 1946 (Photo by Song Buyun)
Photo of teachers of the National Art School in Beiping at the Tiantan Park, 1946 (Photo by Song Buyun)
Photo of teachers by the time that the National Art School in Beiping was moving from Gongyuan Xijie to its new address in the autumn of 1947 (Photo by Song Buyun)
Photo of teachers of the National Art School in Beiping in 1947 (Photo by Song Buyun)
