Exhibition celebrates artist's legacy

One of the first things visitors encounter at an ongoing exhibition of Pang Xunqin (1906-85) at the Tsinghua University Art Museum is a group of lively horse drawings from the 1970s. They grew out of his studies of decorative objects and paintings from the Han (206 BC-AD 220) to the Tang (618-907) dynasties.

The horse was Pang's zodiac sign. Like a spirited steed galloping freely, he pursued artistic and design reforms with tireless energy, seeking to reshape the country's aesthetic identity.

"All my life, I have explored, explored, and explored further," he once said.

Pang was among the founders of the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, established 70 years ago as the Central Academy of Arts and Design.

As one of the academy's anniversary celebrations, the exhibition, which runs through Nov 18 and is titled The Splendor of the Grand Master, the Luminary of Guanghua Road: Pang Xunqin Special Exhibition, navigates through his life and career, including the years he devoted to nurturing new generations of artists and designers.

Guanghua Road, home to the academy, is now part of Beijing's bustling central business district, lined with high-rises that help define the capital's skyline. In Pang's time, however, the area was quieter and less developed.

Yet, as he once put it, he carried a "fiery heart" within him.

Art ignited that passion and sustained it throughout his life.

After dropping out of medical school, Pang arrived in Paris at 19 to study oil painting and music. There, he was also struck by the flourishing modern design movement and its role in driving industrial development.

Returning to China five years later, he sought to reform the arts, seeing them as a way to strengthen the country and broaden people's horizons.

In Shanghai, he co-founded the Juelan She (Storm Society), an artists' group that championed a radical break from outdated conventions. Its manifesto declared: "With enthusiasm and reason, we are to create a world in which color, line and form interweave. We note that painting is not an imitation of nature, nor a rigid repetition of forms. With our whole heart, we must express, straightforwardly, the vigorous spirit of ours."

Among the works from this period on display is Son of the Land, an evocative watercolor depicting a sick child held in his father's arms, while the mother raises a hand to her head and weeps. The scene captures the hardships endured by rural families at the time.

While drawing on Western influences to renew Chinese art, Pang also delved into the country's rich and diverse cultural traditions, seeking to bring them into the present through reinterpretation.

One of his major contributions was studying, applying and cataloging the artistic styles of ethnic groups in southwestern China — costumes, accessories and the decorative patterns they pass down through generations.

The exhibition shows his paintings of the Miao ethnic group — he visited their villages on several occasions — dancing and playing flutes during festivals, picking oranges, and working on the farm. These works have been described as giving the classical literati painting tradition a modern energy while bringing its subjects closer to everyday life.

"What he did represents an original aspiration of artists of his time, that is, to strengthen the nation with art," says Liu Jude, a professor at Tsinghua University and a student of Pang.

"While tracing sources of Chinese culture, he worked to render it greater glory and show the distinctiveness and eternity in our cultural identity, enabling us to be self-assured in the shifting trends of the world."