The forms of positioning of Russian fine art in the cultural space of modern Shanghai

Pan' Lyan Postgraduate student, Department of History and Theory of Design and Media Communications, Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design 191028, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Mokhovaya str., 26 panliang@rambler.ru Other publications by this author

Many researchers from both Russia and China turn to issues of cultural communication between the two countries: it should be mentioned, for example, such scientists as I. M. Popova, A. A. Kamensky, Wang Jiechi, Guo Li, etc. Cooperation between Russia and China in the field of contemporary fine arts is also given considerable attention in Russian science. Thus, V. B. Timofeeva devoted part of her publication to a review of a number of exhibition projects ^[1]. An excursion into the process of formation of artistic ties between Chinese and Russian authors at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries, including on the example of the creative and pedagogical activity of the St. Petersburg painter A. K. Bystrov, was proposed by Yu. A. Pleskach ^[2]. I. R. Seligeeva and S. Syzhui together consider the experience of interaction between countries in the field of training painters ^[3]. A great contribution to the research of this subject area is made by S. M. Gracheva, who studies the mechanisms of cultural exchanges between Chinese and Russian artists in the space of academic painting and contemporary art in general. She notes that "interesting processes of interaction and mutual influence of different cultures take place in St. Petersburg art. St. Petersburg is becoming the center of the intersection of East and West. These changes concern even such a stable school as the academic one, associated with the traditions of realistic art. This phenomenon needs to be studied" ^{[4, p. 86]}. The modern artistic life of the Chinese cultural capital is studied by M. A. Neglinskaya ^[5], V. Wenfei ^[6], O. S. Meshcheryakova ^[7], D. V. Kalugina ^[8] and others. Meanwhile, the artistic space of Shanghai in the 2000s-2020s is practically not considered, while its characteristics at the beginning and middle of the XX century in Russian science are presented at a sufficient level in the works of H. Wenwen ^[9], S. Yu ^[10], V. G. Sharonova ^[11], Ts. Bai ^[12] and some other authors. In the light of these works, the novelty of the proposed article consists in addressing not just a review, but an analysis and classification of significant events in Shanghai cultural life related to the representation of Soviet and Russian, in particular Leningrad and St. Petersburg art. Using the example of exhibition projects in museums and galleries, the art center of the Chinese city, the features of artistic interaction of artistic traditions that are largely close to each other are revealed. Moreover, consideration of this topic in scientific research discourse may entail certain changes in the established approaches and directions of analysis of the problem addressed in the presented article. The study of the mutual influence of different cultures due to intercultural interaction and the facts of the manifestation of such mutual influence in the subjects of artistic culture is of undoubted theoretical and practical interest and can serve as a source of further research.

A sign of fruitful cooperation between Shanghai and St. Petersburg was a small Jiangnan-style park located in the center of the northern capital called the Garden of Friendship. It was a gift from Shanghai on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg. In Shanghai itself, in the center at the intersection of Yueyang Road, Fenyan Road and Taojiang Road, there is a bronze statue of the Russian poet of the XIX century A. S. Pushkin. For a long time, writers who left their homeland for various reasons traditionally gathered at the monument. Every time a high-ranking Russian delegation comes to Shanghai, an important event is the laying of flowers to it. The Shanghai Exhibition Center, which previously had a different name – the "House of Sino-Soviet Friendship", is located nearby. The building was built in the classical style according to the design of Soviet and Chinese architects, in particular Guo Haman and Ji Chaoding. It houses the first existing exhibition hall in the city, designed with the help of specialists from the USSR.

Describing the links between the cities, Bi Hongye, director of the Center for Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai University of International Studies, said the following in an interview: "Shanghai has always played an important role in Sino-Russian relations, which are not limited to the humanitarian sphere, but also affect politics, economics, education and other aspects; they were not only in the past tense, but continue now and will strengthen in the future."^[5] Shang Hui Na, President and editor-in-chief of the Art magazine, commented at the opening of one of the joint exhibitions of painting: "As for oil painting, the importance of St. Petersburg for Russia is the same as Shanghai for the development of China. Both cities jointly assumed responsibility for the introduction and development of oil painting in their countries, and became indispensable academic centers in the study of the localization of oil painting in their countries" ^[6].

In 1996, at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, the heads of China and Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed an agreement on strengthening military cooperation in the border territories, marking the beginning of the "Shanghai Five". In 2001, the Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was signed at the Shangri-La Hotel. For several decades since then, Shanghai has witnessed the development of cooperation between countries, including in the field of culture. Long before that, in 1987, Shanghai and St. Petersburg became twin cities. One of the largest joint events in the field of art was Russia's participation in the World Exhibition in Shanghai in 2010. Shanghai also organizes an annual trip of secondary school students to Russia to participate in an International Youth Summer Camp, supports the Russian-Khabarovsk Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries, the St. Petersburg Association for International Cooperation, etc. As part of this interaction, Chinese and Russians, including St. Petersburg residents, have the opportunity to visit the city, work and study here. Young Shanghainese go to study in Russia, in particular to art universities. Exchanges between Chinese and Russian youth give confidence in the development of contacts between the two countries and cities.

Fig. 1. V. M. Oreshnikov. Woman. Canvas, oil. 1960. A. A. Mylnikov Museum of Painting, Shanghai

Since 2010, a special place in this interaction belongs to the private Mylnikov Museum of Painting in Shanghai with an exhibition area of 400 square meters. Exhibitions of famous masters of painting, both Russian-Soviet and Chinese, who focus on Chinese-Russian contacts, are periodically held here. Every year, a traditional event is held here, associated with the demonstration of landscape works by artists from China and Russia. One of the largest exhibitions within the framework of this tradition was the project "The Color of the Sea and the Waves" (2017), which focuses on comparing the approaches of Chinese and Russian painters. The project was created to implement the national strategy "One Belt, One Road" in cooperation with the Zhujiajiao Art Museum, the A. A. Mylnikov Museum of Painting in Shanghai, timed to coincide with the 260th anniversary of the founding of the I. E. Repin Academy of Arts and the 29th anniversary of the status of the twin cities of Shanghai and St. Petersburg ^[7]. The material presented at the exhibition within the framework of the project is the works of painters from the I. E. Repin Academy of Arts, Chinese who studied there, as well as original Chinese artists who not only turned to the image of the sea, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and other water sources, but also showed images related to the life of two river and the coastal twin cities (fig. 1). One of the connecting motifs was the image of the Neva River flowing through the city in St. Petersburg and Huangpu in Shanghai. Using their example, national peculiarities are revealed, modernist and modern realistic painting, the rigor of Russian academism and the free style of writing of Chinese painting are compared. The exhibition featured more than 80 oil paintings.

It was important for the organizers to draw the attention of the audience to how the development of Chinese oil painting took place in the second half of the 20th century, since it began with strict adherence to the principles of Soviet oil painting and realism associated with it. It was only after reforms and openness that Chinese oil painting began to look for new ideas in the field of European and American contemporary art. However, to this day, the influence of Russian-Soviet painting is still felt in the works of Chinese masters. Perhaps it is no coincidence that a significant part of the works of Soviet painters at the exhibition were sketches and sketches that revealed the specifics of the construction of the artistic form, the relationship to color, characteristic of the Russian-Soviet and, in particular, the Leningrad-Petersburg art school. The works of Shanghai artists demonstrated the search for the essence of European classical realism, but at the same time a different understanding of form and color through the prism of Chinese art.

Here you could see paintings by modern Chinese painters Yu Xiaofu, Wei Jingshan and many others, as well as the Moscow master V. M. Tarasov and the representative of the Leningrad school V. M. Oreshnikov. Such a comparison is important, since masters from China studied in the Soviet Union or Russia at one time, and were students of those who received such training. For example, Zhou Benyi was a student studying in the Soviet Union who was sent by the Chinese government to the I.E. Repin Academy of Arts in the 1950s. Xu Manyao is a student of the artist Quan Shanshi, who studied in the Soviet Union. Qian Yimin copied works in the Russian Museum under the guidance of his mentor Quan Shanshi, one of the last foreign students of A. A. Mylnikov's workshop. Qian Yimin, the organizer and participant of the exhibition, who was influenced by Russian painting, noted in relation to the works of modern Russian authors: "It's hard to say which of the Chinese and Russian works is better. These are just academic differences. The expressive language of Russian works is simple and majestic, whereas Chinese paintings are complex. It is noticeable that Russian painting is changing now, and it is also influenced by Western art, everything is gradually integrating and developing" ^[7].

The A. A. Mylnikov Museum of Painting in Shanghai periodically exhibits the works of A. A. Mylnikov himself. In 2019, in honor of the centenary of the painter, a retrospective project "The Road to the Master" was opened. One hundred original works were specially selected for her, including oil paintings, watercolors, ink, sketches and sketches. Thus, among them appeared the "Portrait of Tong Jinghan", which the master created in 1956 as a sign of gratitude to the translator Tong Jinghan when he first came to China. Jin Shangyi, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association and former President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, noted the following: "Mylnikov's work cannot be done with one stroke more or one stroke less. The charcoal painting "The Girl" is a precious masterpiece created when the master was already 91 years old, just six months before his death."^[8] The exhibition featured rare photographs from the artist's first lecture in China, as well as palettes, brushes and other objects that he used during his lifetime.

Fig. 2. Works by Russian painters presented at the exhibition "Russian Oil Painting: Landscape and Still Life" (2013, Shanghai Soviet Art Museum).

Another point on the city map featuring art from Russia is the Shanghai Soviet Art Museum, which is located in the prosperous Changning district. His exposition is devoted to fine and decorative arts, and his collection covers the time period from the Soviet period to modern Russia. For art lovers and historical researchers, it provides an insight into the art and culture of Soviet Russia. Thanks to these works, visitors can gain a deeper understanding of public life, historical events and the work of artists from Russia. In addition, the museum often holds temporary exhibitions. One of the largest was "Russian oil painting: Landscape and Still Life", which took place in 2013. It was organized by the Shanghai Association of Foreign Exchanges, the Consulate General of Russia in Shanghai and the Shanghai Association of Foreign Chinese Collections ^[9]. It featured more than a hundred landscapes and still lifes by Soviet authors from the collection, which were created in the last 50 years (fig. 2).

A kind of continuation of the line of presentation of Soviet and post-Soviet art in Shanghai was the retrospective exhibition "Ideal City" with works by Ilya Kabakov and his wife Emilia (2015). The former is considered the originator of Russian conceptual art and one of the representatives of non-conformism. Art historian Claire Bishop called him "an example of an installation artist" whose practice has changed the nature of contemporary art in Russia ^[9]. It is quite natural that the site for the exhibition of his installations has become a relatively new art space for the city - the Shanghai Powerhouse of Arts (PSA). It is important to note that I. Kabakov studied at the Leningrad Academy of Arts named after I. E. Repin and graduated from the Moscow Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov. The exhibition featured a set of installations under the general title "Ten Characters", which imitated the appearance of the communal apartment in which I. Kabakov lived as a child, where an invisible character lived in every room. This work is taken from the series "10 figures" created by the author in the 1970s. The last page of each album was a blank piece of paper announcing the death of this character and his destruction. The most famous work is "The Man who flew into space from his room." The creation contrasted sharply with most of the works of the Soviet Union at that time. Russian Russian artist "I am not a Russian artist who wants to show Russian art to the West! Conceptually, the position is to see life in the Soviet Union through the eyes of the "other" who came here," I. Kabakov once said in an interview ^[9]. This project aroused the interest of the local public, largely for this reason, the work "Vertical Opera" by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov was exhibited at the Rockband Art Museum in Shanghai in 2019.

Exhibitions dedicated to major auctions, including those related to Russian painting, have a wide practice in Shanghai. One of the first such projects took place in 2018 as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the unification of Shanghai and St. Petersburg, and the event itself was organized by the Shanghai International Commodity Auction and the St. Petersburg Art Center, the Shanghai Municipal Trade Commission, the Consulate General of Russia in Shanghai and the St. Petersburg Union of Artists. The exhibition and auction were collectively called the "Jingyuan Elegant Collection". The project was curated by Ji Ming, artistic director of the St. Petersburg Art Center. He suggested focusing primarily on contemporary oil painting in St. Petersburg. The authors of the works presented here are members of the Union of Artists of St. Petersburg, who graduated from the I. E. Repin Academy of Arts, many of them are teachers of the educational institution. Landscapes performed by V. M. Oreshnikov and his pupil A. I. Sokolov from the collection of the painter's family became a key work, a kind of tuning fork. The rest of the paintings are modern works that were personally selected by Ji Ming when visiting the workshops of St. Petersburg artists. To allow high-quality Russian oil paintings to enter people's homes in China, all the lots did not have a starting price. To familiarize the general public with them, the auction was combined with an exhibition that lasted for three weeks. At its opening, Director of the Shanghai Art Museum Zhu Gang noted: "Russian oil painting has a unique and high status in the history of world art. The unique national style and deep cultural overtones of Russian oil painting have a great influence on the development of art. The art of oil painting and art education in our country have experienced strong Soviet influence, and this exhibition will help us learn from these masterpieces of Russian oil painting and stand on the shoulders of giants to rise to the artistic peak of a new era!"^[10].

In 2022, another event appeared in Shanghai that allowed local residents to get in touch with the work of Russian landscape painters – "Poetry and Images of Nature – The Salon of Chinese-Russian Friendly Exchange." Representatives of not only the artistic world of the two countries, but also figures of different types of art: literature, music and painting united here. Music is a universal language that does not need to be translated. That is why musician N. I. Shamov, along with pianist Kun Xiangdong and artists from the Shanghai International Children's Choir, performed several compositions. The concert was surrounded by paintings made by two Shanghai artists who studied in St. Petersburg in different periods (Soviet and post–Soviet), a young author Li Shoubai and a representative of the older generation Tang Xilan. Together they showed different corners of the Chinese city: its old part, the panorama of Lujiazui, the girls in cheongsam, etc. Through landscapes with local flavor, as conceived by the authors of the exposition and the entire event, the influence of the spirit of Russian culture on the manner of performance and stylistics of works was demonstrated ^[11].

Since 2016, a Museum of Modern Art has been operating in Shanghai, which is open in the building of a former coal storage facility known as the coal warehouse in Laobaidu. It hosts exhibitions related to the work of Russian artists, including painters. So, in 2023, an exhibition of Chinese-Russian art was held here as part of the "One Belt and One Road" strategy, organized by the Chinese International Center for Cultural Communication in honor of the first decade. Thus, the chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, Fan Dian, noted in his congratulatory letter that "the joint exhibition as an artistic event dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the initiative is an example of an original cultural dialogue that will help consolidate and continue to deepen artistic exchanges between China and Russia and make a new contribution to expanding mutual learning between civilizations and building a community with a single destiny" ^[12]. The exhibition features 36 oil paintings by Xu Li, Deputy Chairman of the Association of Chinese Artists, and more than twenty sculptures by A. N. Kovalchuk, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Artists of Russia. The combination of works of different types of fine art is done intentionally, because they show different possibilities in creating artistic images. A. N. Kovalchuk combines the traditions of Russian plastic art and the language of modern public art to demonstrate an innovative spirit and distinctive personality. His works have deep humanistic overtones. Xu Li, having studied in St. Petersburg, seems to be setting up a synthesis of Chinese and Western, including Russian, art by means of painting. He combines Chinese elements in oil paintings, drawing on the composition and methods of classical landscape painting.

There is a special phenomenon in the cultural space of Shanghai, due to the strong ties of modern Chinese painters with the artistic world of St. Petersburg. In the city, those authors who previously trained at St. Petersburg art and art pedagogical universities cooperate quite closely with each other. This is a special environment that forms the Chinese art school in the Shanghai spirit in synthesis with the traditions of the Russian version of realism, including academicism. So, in 2023, graduates of the I. E. Repin Academy of Arts of the 1960s and 1990s united within the boundaries of one space in the Shanghai House of Foreign Students at an exhibition entitled "Returning still Young". The project is dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the establishment of the Association of European and American Graduates. As the visitors of the exhibition noted, "when you enter this exhibition, a strong sense of Russian style is reflected on your face. Many works, regardless of their subject matter, images, creative techniques and ways of expression, bear the imprint of the manner of I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov and other artists of Russia" ^[13].

Fig. 3. Zhu Dan. Wonderful landscapes of the Gobi desert. 2020s. Private collection

Of course, this exhibition was not "Russian". Artists returning to China after studying in Russia are constantly developing, but at the same time they rely on the "Russian style", which has become the main criterion for selecting works as a result of the competition. More than a dozen authors sent their works, but only nine of them became participants in the exhibition. Currently, most of them teach at various universities in Shanghai and are professional artists: painters, graphic artists and architects. The exhibition featured paintings by landscape painters Wang Yuan, Zhu Dan and Wang Jianfeng. The masters demonstrated an excellent knowledge of the basics of realistic landscape, but at the same time – the attraction to finding their own manner, innovation. For example, the oil painting "Wonderful Landscapes of the Gobi Desert" by Zhu Dan is distinguished by strict composition and complex modeling of form (fig. 3). It shows how traditional techniques and concepts of Russian-Soviet realistic painting can be combined with the vision of a modern Chinese master, his studies of expressive language and emotions, dreaminess. Obviously, the organization of this exhibition is designed to demonstrate the achievements of a new generation of Shanghai students studying in Russia – this is mainly an occasion for comparisons and reflections.

The range of events in Shanghai, which included works by Russian artists in the 2010s and early 2020s, covers thematic, retrospective, individual exhibitions and auction exhibitions of Soviet painters associated with China, modern Russian authors, as well as works by Chinese masters who studied in Russia from the 1950s to the present; events related to Russian-Chinese cultural contacts, which include small individual expositions. The works of Russian artists presented at Shanghai exhibitions are accumulated at such venues as the Mylnikov Museum of Painting, the Soviet Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Shanghai House of Foreign Students and other locations that traditionally present Russian art. They exhibit works, first of all, by Soviet masters who influenced the development of the Shanghai oil painting school – A. A. Mylnikov and V. M. Oreshnikov.

Curators are paying more and more attention to the work of contemporary St. Petersburg artists, especially those associated with such an iconic educational institution as the I. E. Repin Academy of Arts. The main works of these exhibitions are works written in the spirit of Russian realism, close to the academic tradition. These are mainly landscapes, portraits, genre scenes that depict the image of real life, including the poetic atmosphere of the Northern Capital. Often, the organizers of such projects personally, while in St. Petersburg, select works, looking for samples of the "Russian style". Chinese painters who participate in joint Russian-Chinese exhibitions undergo a similar selection. As a rule, they are graduates of St. Petersburg art universities. Their paintings, as the exhibition projects show, are of great value, as they demonstrate the search by Chinese painters for their own language of artistic expression through the fusion of the "Chinese style" and the Russian academic tradition. This is the didactic function of such events, as they demonstrate the achievements of Shanghai authors for new generations of painters, giving them a reason for comparisons and reflections.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the development of Chinese and Russian painting in our time is not just a one–sided borrowing of the traditions of the Russian school by Chinese artists. Now the artistic circles are in a different state, which can be described as communication and dialogue. Russian realistic painting of the past and present, while preserving national characteristics in the same way as the Chinese, explores how to organically combine academic rigor with a free manner of writing. Many works at joint exhibitions of contemporary art are considered by the organizers as a study of the links between Russian and Chinese art, the similarities between them and the differences. The value of Russian painting for Chinese viewers is represented by their thoughts and feelings expressed in artistic images; color ratios and compositional structures.