Exhibition View
Recently, “RISING AT DAWN: Beijing-Themed Artworks from CAFA Art Museum Collection” made its debut at Capital Library of China, Beijing. Featuring Beijing-themed artworks, it was co-organized by CAFA Art Museum and Capital Library of China. The exhibition aims to showcase the vigorous atmosphere of the urban culture in Beijing and selected artworks depict the cultural landscape of the ancient capital emerging at dawn in history. The symbiosis between the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the urban development of Beijing reflects a brief history of the practice of art intervening in urban civilization. The exhibition brings together 60 masterpieces by artists of different generations since the 1940s, reflecting their contemporary spirit and cultural ideals conveyed by their continuous exploration of urban themes.
Exhibition View
The Group Photo of Honored Guests
Morning
Diverse moments of morning captured by artists construct a dynamic atlas of urban humanities. These works expound in a visually poetic way: the morning light does not just represent a physical moment of alternation between day and night, but it is also an aesthetic representation of the urban vitality.
Liu Jingui, Cleaners, 173cm×460cm, Ink and color on paper, 1984, CAFAM Collection
Xie Yan, Forbidden City in the Morning, 185cm×205cm, Oil on canvas, 1997, CAFAM Collection
Prosperity
The attention paid by artists of different generations to urban life conveys the diverse profiles of urban ecology in different decades. These works deconstruct “prosperity” into a continuously growing organism and they become another dimensional yardstick for measuring the progress of urban civilization.
Guang Jun, The Street in Festival, 90cm×70cm, Colored woodblock printing, 2018, CAFAM Collection
Qu Guangci, Wangfujing, 40cm×35cm×118cm, 50cm×65cm×116cm, 50cm×43cm×106cm, Colored fiberglass, 1994, CAFAM Collection
Renewal
The visual dissection of architectural texture and cultural memory of artists reveal the deep logic of the renewal in the ancient capital: they are not only the reorganization of physical space, but also the transplantation of collective memory and the reconstruction of spiritual fields.
Dai Ze, Ban Bi Bridge in the Summer Palace, 41cm×55cm, Oil on canvas, 2002, Private collection
Zhang Guilin, Memories No. 5, 45.5cm×67.5cm, Silkscreen print, 2008, CAFAM Collection
The Central Axis
Artists transform the wisdom of urban construction into visual grammars. The central axis is not only the center of the physical space, but also the spiritual anchor of civilization identity.
Ai Zhongxin, Remaining Snow on the Forbidden City, 38cm×70cm, Oil on wood panel, 1947, CAFAM Collection
Zhou Jirong, Landscape - Drum Tower, 60cm×75cm, Silkscreen print, 2013, CAFAM Collection
About the Exhibition
RISING AT DAWN
BEIJING-THEMED ARTWORKS FROM CAFA ART MUSEUM COLLECTION
Dates: April 18–May 18, 2025
Organizer: Central Academy of Fine Arts
Co-organizer: CAFA Art Museum, Capital Library of China
Support: Academic Research Office, CAFA
Courtesy of CAFA Art Museum, edited by Publicity Department of CAFA.
