It has been twenty years since Mountain Art Foundation has been devoted to China’s mainland art in 1987, from concerning about the mainland artists and supporting their works to joining in and promoting the development of the mainland art. An art revolution started since the mid of 1980s, with great transformation of conceptions and arts in China’s art filed. In the spirit of tolerance and conformity to the times, Mountain Art Foundation supported the mainland artists and advanced their exploratory experiment in art history and collected a large number of precious historical paintings and documents during the big event from 1980s to the new century. In Taiwan, it has also published more than thirty art books related to mainland’s contemporary art, including catalogues for artists, magazines on art, collections of art criticism, art albums, anthologies, etc. It has hosted about eighty exhibitions related to the mainland art both in mainland and Taiwan, conducted and hosted solo or joint exhibitions for artists many times, and given guidance and help to new and younger art talent. Nurturing students from academies of fine arts and caring about the new talent in art have been regarded as the foundation’s duty for many years and “Mountain Art Foundation: ‘Luo Zhongli Scholarship for Oil Painting’” was accordingly established. The series of activities in mainland and Taiwan is part of the objectives that the Mountain Art Foundation has been intended to do – to promote Chinese art abroad.
Being based on the mainland while confronted to history and looking into the world, I believe that 21 century in China would be the period most fastdeveloping, most prosperous in economy and most glorious times in art after Han and Tang Dynasty. With the background of China’s modernization, there are unprecedented changes in contemporary Chinese art, mostly to be involved in globalization, conducting a dialogue with the world. China, with its profound and incomparable art tradition, is fully prepared to revolution in art from form to conception. Moreover, China has the most artists and art talent in the world; I believe that there are a large number of artists and artworks emerging with Chinese features and characters, different from western aesthetic conception. In recent years, with the Chinese art springing up vigorously, there are more and more people paying attention to Chinese art and its development from all sectors of society and all over the world. Having the honor to take this opportunity, the Mountain Art Museum will go further with the art promotional plan – Chinese Art: Deep Tillage in Mainland and Pushing to the World, including carrying out some publishing plans and hosting a series of exhibitions, introducing local artists and disseminating their artworks as well as drawing the attention and understanding of the society and the world to contemporary Chinese art. |