The Exhibition "Chinese and French Popular Prints," organized by
the Central Academy of Fine Arts and French Cultural Centre, was
opened recently at The Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts,
displaying collections of print works by Henri George and Wang
Shucun. The print works from two printmaking centers, Yangliuqing
in China and Epinal in France, document the ordinary lives of
people living in two widely different countries in the past
century.
Originally, Chinese prints were carved into stone. The
representative work is Wuruitu (Carvings of Five Auspicious Things,
171 B.C.) in Cheng County, Gansu Province. The printmaking
technique then was not complete because of limited papermaking
techniques. With the popularization of papermaking arts and woodcut
techniques, the handicraft workshop for creating "menshen" (a
door-god whose picture was often pasted on the front door against
evil spirits), and "nianhua" (Chinese New Year prints) developed
rapidly, and the woodblock prints came within reach of common
folks.
In France, printmaking appeared in the 14th century, focusing
mainly on religion and decoration. Popular printmaking in the 15th
century was intended to educate the illiterate rural population.
The print works in Epinal recorded the folk customs, religion,
history and even the popular novels at that time. Then blank
pictures were changed into more complicated ones combined with
words, decorations and lyrics.
Wang Shucun, born in Tianjin in 1923 and Henri George, born in
France in 1924, started to collect and study printmaking almost at
the same time in two different countries. For these two collectors,
the childhood years they spent in Yangliuqing and Epinal
respectively are closely related to their interests in popular
printmaking.
Printmaking in Epinal originated in the 17th century. In 1938,
the first Popular Printmaking Festival was held there and what
impressed Henri George most was the paper-made soldiers,
bombardiers, infantrymen and hussars, equal to the size of the real
people. However, a real war, WWII broke out in 1939, and George was
forced to go to Paris. After that, he began to study and collect
popular French print works, even when printmaking gradually lost
its popularity to newspapers, picture albums and cartoons. The
collectable print works were only seen in special stores and at
public auctions.
Yangliuqing, formerly known as Liukou, means the port for willow
trees. It is celebrated for a group of artists seeking refuge there
in Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). Like Epinal, the printmaking
industry in Yangliuqing originated in the 17th century. Wang
Shucun, who lived in Tianjin in his childhood, spent many happy
hours in Yangliuqing. People went there to watch the traditional
operas and buy nianhua.
Among various folk handicrafts like clay figures and paper
cutting, the woodblock prints are Wang's favorite. With the
invasion by the Japanese, he was driven by the wish to protect
traditional heritage and went to study at the Tianjin Academy of
Fine Arts and Central Academy of Fine Arts later.
Now, Wang Shucun has published more than 50 books and more than
100 papers and he is also director of the China Folklore Society
and a researcher in the China Art Academy. George has contributed
to preserving popular French printmaking, especially those made in
Epinal.
The Kitchen God, Qing Dynasty(AD1644-1911),
Tianjin Yangliuqing, painted xylograph with process printing and
hand painting.
Compared with the mainstream arts, traditional folk art is also
deeply favored by the common people. As stated in the introduction
of the exhibition by Pan Gongkai, president of the Central Academy
of Fine Arts: "It is due to the efforts of observant persons like
Wang Shucun and Henri George that we are able to see the
traditional arts today untainted by the clash between the east and
west, and to think about another possibility of developing our
tradition."
(Chinaculture.org July 25, 2007)
