From December 9, 2025, we will be presenting a temporary exhibition of Chinese painting from the 19th and 20th centuries in the East Asia exhibition.
In the past two centuries, Chinese painters were looking for ways to modernize the tradition of Chinese painting. In the 19th and 20th centuries, trade and colonialism brought Imperial China into increasingly frequent contact with European countries. As Europe embraced artistic modernism, Chinese painters grappled with a question: how could they balance traditional legacies with emerging styles? Responses varied: some integrated European techniques, while others upheld traditional methods. Moving beyond the binary of Chinese and Western paintings, it was an era marked by stylistic pluralism, reflecting a dynamic interplay of visual languages under a common wish to bring ink paintings to the wider world.
The selection of 20th-century Chinese paintings curated by Hiu Yeung Chan (Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University) features works by renowned artists, including Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Huang Binhong, Li Keran, and Liu Guosong, who made influential contributions to the transformation of the Chinese art scene in the 20th century.
Here we present a few of the works on display.
The pine tree symbolizes longevity and endurance. Li Keran is known for his dramatic contrasts between light and shadow, which lend his works a powerful expressiveness and are inspired by Impressionism. He is considered one of the most important Chinese artists of the second half of the 20th century and influenced an entire generation of Chinese artists at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Xu is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century in China. He became famous above all for his powerful depictions of horses, which were often interpreted as allegories for the longed-for resurgence of the Chinese nation, humiliated by colonialism.
The hanging scroll depicts a white crane standing on a gnarled pine branch in a sketchy style. Cranes and pine trees are popular motifs in traditional Chinese art, usually symbolizing the desire for a long life.
