Today was "art discovery day"!

I went to Liu Li Chang St. which is a very well known area in Beijing for art galleries and calligraphy shops, there are a lot of Beijing hotels around here.

Good luck to me, I found one very interesting gallery which carries a peculiar form of art called "farmers' painting". 

What's a farmer's painting? Farmers' paintings originated in the 50s, when the government encouraged rural communities to engage in art.  

Beijing Hotels: Nearby Beiping Huadian Shop

So this style of paintings was created by common people expressing their emotional world. It survived the Cultural Revolution in the 70s, and has flourished ever since China opened its doors to the west in the 80s. 

There aren't many galleries and shops that sell this form of art in Beijing. BeiPing HuaYuan is one of them, and it is situated in the west side of Liu Li Chang St. The owner is Ms. Zhang, she is from the western province of XinJiang. 

I took a few photos which I'll comment here:

This painting is about happiness brought about by a good harvest. Farmers often paint what they wish for, or what they are thankful for: warm home, healthy children, dreams of a happy life.  

This painting is about a good harvest as you can see from the corn cobs. You may wonder why the corn is red rather than yellow. The reason is because red is a symbol of happiness and celebration in China. The painter used the red color to express his thankfulness for the good harvest.

This painting is called ‘Cutting Wheat'. It's about an educated urban youth working on a farm. It depicts one of millions of Chinese urban teenagers who were required to learn farming during the Cultural Revolution. Ms. Zhang the owner told me several of her customers had confided that this painting reminded them of their youth days during these chaotic times.

I also noticed a few unusual paintings in the shop. One is called ‘Eight Strange Things about Northeast China' depicts how women like to smoke pipe tobacco there. In the picture, the grandmother is smoking with an extra long tobacco pipe. A common scene in Northeastern China.

The BeiPing HuaYuan shop displays about 50 framed farmers' paintings. There are well over 200 in the back of the place though.

Ms. Zhang also offers something different to her customers - a form of art called "Iron Painting". Iron painting is an ancient form of art dating back over 400 years. The artist used metal in place of paint, and a hammer in place of a brush. The works displayed in the gallery are all from WuHu, the capital of iron painting in China.

This painting is about several reclusive men enjoying their retreating life and internal peace

Most of the works are inspired by the two main themes of Confucianism and Taoism: harmony and virtue.

I liked this particular painting which shows two reclusive men in the wild. You can see the mountains, trees, rivers, and meditating scholars. They are all typical subjects of Taoist art, and depict harmony between man and nature.

Ancient Temple Gallery offers beautiful Chinese flower paintings

Hello, I'm David. I live in Beijing.

With the Olympics near, I wish to do something to help you understand our culture and history, and to welcome you to Beijing.

Today, I'd like to introduce you a traditional Chinese painting shop in Liulichang area, a historic district in the middle of Beijing. 

Mr. Xie, the owner, is an accomplished artist of traditional Chinese painting. At the time when I visited his gallery, he was working on a painting of peony flowers ordered by a foreign tourist.

Mr. Xie has been painting since he was 15 years old. And that was 39 years ago. As he lived near an art academy growing up, he always wanted to be a painter. Later he was accepted into the academy. That's when he learned to paint.

The shoo owner, Mr Zhang, being in the business for 20 years, is familiar with almost all the national painter and their style in China. He firstly introduced the abstract style painter Wang Senran, and his work to me. I guess few people will know the objects on the paper are cabbages at first glance. Because Bai Cai (cabbage) is homonymic with the word that means being rich in Chinese, the painting expresses good wishes for wealth. Mr Zhang highlighted the essence of the picture lies at the intervals of light and dark ink usage and the vertical and horizontal layout of the five cabbages, showing good balance.

I personally in favor of the comedic style painting, featuring one character in Outlaws of the Marsh monk Lu Zhishen, nicknamed the "Flowery Monk". In the painting, He has a round face and big ears, a straight nose and squarish mouth, with a face overshadowed by his beard. By just simple lines, his character is fully reflected in the painting.

As most paintings of San Jiu are real work by famous painter, the prices are comparatively higher, ranging from RMB 10,000 to RMB 30,000.

A few days ago I visited a calligraphy shop in Dong Fang Gu Yuan Art Market. There I met Mr. Ma Wen Yuan, the owner of the shop and a famous calligraphist.

His shop holds a large amount of Chinese paintings and calligraphy. Mr. Ma told me he started to learn calligraphy at the age of 8 when he had no teacher. So he learned by copying the works of the famous calligraphists. One of his teachers in the primary school was amazed at his handwriting and gave him a nickname: Wen Yuan, which means the origin of calligraphy. This name encouraged him to strive to be a great calligraphist. Everyday he spends at least 2 hours on practicing. For the past 60 years, calligraphy has been the greatest pleasure in his life.

Mr. Ma can write one character in 25 different ways, but he personally prefers the cursive style. I noticed his wide range of styles while looking around. Some show vigor and strength, while some exhibit simple elegance.

Before I left his shop I asked him if he could write something on the spot for me to see. He satisfied my requirements. While watching his writing, I said to myself: without numerous practice years after years, how a person can demonstrate such wonderful skills of calligraphy?

Mr. Ma Wen Yuan is present at his shop almost every day. As a friendly old man, he would love to share his experience in the art of calligraphy with everyone who visits his shop.