China-Spain show in Beijing reveals universal focus on humanity through art realism

The "Width of Realism - Contemporary Figurative Paintings from China and Spain" oil painting exhibition was inaugurated at the National Centre in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Screenshot from website

Celebrated by artists from both China and Spain, an oil painting exhibition was launched at the National Centre for the Performing Arts NCPA in Beijing on Monday. 

The show displays a total of 109 oil paintings created by 103 artists from China and Spain. While these works are rooted in different cultural contexts, they are connected by their art style. 

A major cultural event held in 2023 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Spain, the art show has been given a profound name Width of Realism - Contemporary Figurative Paintings China and Spain. 

Xiao Minjun, a Chinese art critic, told the Global Times that the "width" refers to art's specialty of depicting scenes in everyday life, while it also tries to suggest art realism's focus on humanity as a universal topic shared by artists worldwide.  

The opening was attended by guests such as Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo, the Spanish Ambassador to China; Jin Shangyi, an important figure in China's contemporary oil painting; Wang Ning, the head of NCPA; and also Fan Di'an, a veteran art educator who was the former dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. 

At the event, Ambassador Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo said that the exhibition is like a "window" that remains open for cultural exchanges as well as for artists to establish cross-cultural connections. 

By expressing his gratitude to participants at the event, the ambassador emphasized that cultural exchanges between China and Spain can be fulfilled through diverse approaches such as painting and music. 

Back in 2020, an art federation called the Beijing Forum for Performing Arts provided opportunities for the NCPA to collaborate with the Teatro Real opera house in Madrid.  

Wang Ning, who was speaking at the event's opening, said the collaboration further encouraged diverse art forms to be exchanged between China and Spain. 

"Artistic exchanges reveal the international friendship between countries," Wang remarked. 

Prior to the Beijing stop, the China-Spain exhibition had toured to Hangzhou in November. Cao Yiqiang, the curator of the exhibition, said that the concept of "realism" is defined differently in Chinese and Western art and it is due such a difference that artists can grasps the true diversity of the industry gifted by creativity. 

The exhibition is organized and supported institutions such as the China Academy of Art, the Spanish Embassy in China and NCPA.