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Chinese Watercolour Art's Journey Over the Past Century

favoured by both professionals and amateurs across the country, explained Huang Tieshan, adding that teaching watercolour to Chinese primary school pupils has no doubt played an important role in promoting the art. However, during the catastrophic "cultural  revolution" (1966-76), watercolour was marginalized as it was considered not suitable for expressing political ideologies, pointed out Huang. The representative artists of this era include Wang Weixing, Guan Weixin, Chen Juju, Zhang Kerang, and Huang Tieshan.

 Golden age

It is not until the early 1980s that emerged the golden age of watercolour in China.

Particularly, "over the past two decades or so, watercolour has made dramatic headway," pointed out Ma Shulin, vice-director of National Art Museum of China, a key organizer of the exhibition.

Since 1984, the art genre of watercolour has been put under an independent category in the biennial Nationwide Fine Art Exhibition and Competition.

It is estimated that at least 3,000 well-trained Chinese artists from across the nation have engaged themselves in watercolour painting. And some Chinese artists have even won fans from overseas art markets.

 Current Situation

Nowadays, watercolour is taught in most primary schools and in at least 20 universities and art academies in China. And numerous watercolour societies have been set up in almost all the Chinese provinces and autonomous regions, except Tibet and Qinghai, according to Ma Shulin. "The number could be much bigger if taking into account the amateurs," said Ma, admitting that oil painting, most probably because of its stronger visual impact, remains the most popular art genre in China.
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