Interview with Wu Weishan, Director of the National Art Museum of China: How can the museum become "beautiful"? How does "beauty" spread forever?
Reporter: Ying Ni Gaokai
Similar to the many “great beauties” in the world, the ultimate presentation of the beauty of the museum also requires countless daily and meticulous. Every collection in front of the audience is in perfect condition, and behind it is the full guarantee of restoration, preservation, display and other links.
If you want to understand the "daily life" of many art treasures, you can follow Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China, to see the "customized service" provided by this rich collection of national museums for each piece of art.
Wu Weishan (third from left), director of the National Art Museum of China, took a group photo with the audience.
Photo by Du Yang
Customized "Diagnosis, Treatment and Rehabilitation" Plan: From "Being in Bed" to Back on the Wall
On August 1, 1927, the left wing of the Chinese Communist Party and the United Nations Democrats fired the first shot of armed opposition to the Kuomintang reactionaries, which opened the prelude to the independent leadership of the armed struggle by the Chinese Communist Party and the creation of a revolutionary army.
Walking into the National Art Museum of China, the audience can look back at the five leaders of the Nanchang Uprising, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, He Long, Ye Ting, and Liu Bocheng, in front of the Jiangxi Grand Hotel of the General Headquarters, doing the historical moment of the last mobilization before the uprising. .
In "Nanchang Uprising" by the famous painter Li Binghong, Zhou Enlai stood on the steps and gave a mobilization speech, with his right hand akimbo and his left hand waving, with a firm expression.
The other four leaders stood or sat behind them, listening attentively to the speech with the soldiers surrounding them, their eyes full of conviction of victory.
The light sources in the picture have also been handled ingeniously. The wall lamps on both sides of the entrance of the uprising command department echoed the bright sky in the distance, indicating that the uprising will bring light to China.
When people feel the light and shadow brushwork in front of this painting, and lament the historical torrent, it may be difficult to imagine that as an art collection, the oil painting "Nanchang Uprising" was "bedridden" before finally "recovered". Back to the public view.
Wu Weishan introduced that the draft of "Nanchang Uprising" was created with oil paint on paper.
Because the load-bearing capacity of paper is weaker than that of canvas, the penetration of chemicals in the oil paint makes the paper fibers deteriorate faster, and some parts have been torn; the pigment layer has local instability and lack, so it can only be laid flat before repairing. Cannot be displayed on the wall.
The repair work solved the instability and damage of the work itself, restored the integrity of the picture, and designed a unique mounting method according to the characteristics of the oil painting on paper, so that it can be safely mounted on the wall.
Through various efforts, an originally "bedridden patient" was finally able to "recover" and rejuvenate.
For the audience, the process of visiting the museum is to have a dialogue with the artwork again and again. For the museum, letting the artwork appear in its best appearance is the top priority of the responsibility.
As the world’s most extensive collection of art treasures in China since the 20th century, the National Art Museum of China carries out a "customized edition" rehabilitation plan for each collection.
Su Shi's "Bamboo and Stone Picture" has become a masterpiece that people will never tire of with its perfect combination of close and distant scenes and full use of light and dark brushwork.
Wu Weishan said that this famous silk painting heart donated by Deng Tuo to the National Art Museum of China is easily damaged due to its age.
In 2018, the restoration experts of the National Art Museum of China conducted a special inspection on this work, and concealed and reinforced a ten-centimeter-long fracture in the center of the painting, and also protected the other creases one by one.
After careful restoration, this art treasure, which can be called a national treasure, is presented to the world.
The stains and dust on the works are effectively removed, but the traces of the vicissitudes of the years and their historical information are reasonably preserved, and they are stronger than ever.
In this way, today's audience can better appreciate the charm of Su Shi's literary paintings.
The oil painting "Before the Attack" was painted by the painter He Kongde in 1963, reflecting the historical events of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Due to the large difference in the thickness of the paint layer, the oil paint shrinks unevenly during the drying process, and the canvas is severely deformed, showing "relief"-like undulations; the paint layer also has local loosening and large areas of whitening in dark parts.
The National Art Museum of China carried out a comprehensive restoration in 2016 to solve the problem of instability in the material and material structure of the work, remove the visual interference in the picture, restore the color saturation and the overall color relationship of the picture, and give it a completely new look.
The staff are observing the oil painting "Father" preparing to repair.
Photo courtesy of National Art Museum of China
"Personalized customization" of daily preservation: synchronized upgrade with high technology
In addition to the need for special pertinence in restoration, the daily preservation of artworks also requires top-level customized standards.
The National Art Museum of my country is the only national museum of plastic arts in China. It currently has more than 120,000 pieces of various collections.
It is divided into Chinese paintings, oil paintings, prints, sculptures, New Year pictures, comics, watercolors, gouache, calligraphy, lacquer paintings, photography, and folk art.
There are also different requirements for the "habitat" of such many types of artworks.
Wu Weishan introduced that most of the collections have basically the same preservation environment requirements. For artworks that require "individual custom" storage standards, he pointed out that some special categories of collections have certain storage characteristics, such as the storage of photographic works. Special low-temperature warehouses, and collections of silk and wool, also require special settings for the warehouse environment.
In addition, under normal circumstances, collections with outer frames, such as oil paintings and Chinese paintings with outer frames, should be hung and stored on a grid storage device; Chinese paintings in scroll form and works that have not been mounted are mostly closed. Storage with drawers; three-dimensional collections such as sculptures are placed in open shelf storage racks; collections such as ceramics, jade and stone sculptures are also equipped with pockets for further protection; large and heavy sculptures or installation works are usually stored on the ground with the help of wooden pallets , You can also use a forklift or hydraulic lift truck to store on the load frame.
In the selection of collection equipment, acid-free materials are also the mainstay.
At the same time, among the many collections of the National Art Museum of China, in addition to the masterpieces of art masters and famous artists that have appeared in China, there are also folk art treasures such as embroidery, paper-cutting, shadow puppets, and clay sculptures that are listed on the intangible cultural heritage protection list.
In order to further enhance the "customization level" for the "shelter" of so many art collections, the current technical conditions for the storage of collections in the National Art Museum of China have also advanced along with high technology.
The first is a constant temperature and humidity air-conditioning system, a stable gas fire extinguishing system, an advanced safety precaution technology system, and various forms of intensive drawing cabinets and easels to meet the storage needs of various types of collections.
On the premise of meeting the current national regulations, the National Art Museum of China has adopted a stable gas fire extinguishing system based on the principles of effectively protecting the safety of the collection, the fire extinguishing system itself does not cause secondary damage to the collection, and the mature technology and cost-effective principles.
In addition, the security protection technology system adopted in the warehouse of the National Art Museum of China is supported by computer technology, electronic technology, sensor technology, automatic control technology, communication technology and intelligent technology, which greatly improves the efficiency of the security system and can achieve Quick identification, quick analysis, and quick response.
In addition, the collection of modern and contemporary artworks has been a huge challenge in recent years.
Professional museums not only need to properly protect and exhibit old art collections, but also need to respond to the conceptual and creative needs of contemporary artists.
In this regard, Wu Weishan introduced that with the continuous development of modern and contemporary art, new art forms such as installations and new media continue to emerge.
The materials, media, and presentation methods that installation art relies on are complex and changeable. Artists often use some fragile, vulnerable, and temporary materials, or even ready-made products, for creation. This constitutes the preservation and management of museum collections. A huge challenge.
He said that under normal circumstances, installations and new media art works are usually relatively large and require a relatively large space for preservation.
In view of the diversity of materials used in installation works, the preservation of such collections cannot be based on a single medium, but must integrate various material characteristics and make comprehensive judgments on the basis of mutual checks and balances and influences.
For different materials and shapes, individualized storage methods need to be customized.
The daily inspection of the status of the work should also be strengthened, problems can be found early, and reasonable intervention and maintenance should be carried out.
In November 2017, during the "Beauty in the New Era" Collection Special Exhibition, the audience lined up in front of the National Art Museum of China.
Photo courtesy of National Art Museum of China
Collection activation: the treasure of the town hall is not the "town" in the warehouse
Good works created by artists should be preserved, and more importantly, they should be handed down.
After the works cannot be collected by the art museum, they "lie" in the warehouse and will not be exhibited for decades. The art museum staff must activate the works in the collection to give full play to the true value of the works.
How to let these art lying in the treasure house go out of the dusty space and meet the broad audience with the warmth of art?
The concept of "collection activation" proposed by Wu Weishan, and a series of exhibitions derived from this, made it possible for the museum to have more and more collections in front of the audience.
The National Art Museum of China has been holding a series of exhibitions "Reactivation of Collections" since 2014.
Through the series exhibitions, the audience can get a closer look at the masterpieces of fine arts that were only available in books and prints in the past.
In 2018, the "Beauty and Beauty-International Art Exhibition from the Collection of National Art Museum of China" was crowded with people.
Photo courtesy of National Art Museum of China
In recent years, long queues of spectators have repeatedly appeared at the gate of the National Art Museum of China, ranging from "Beauty in the New Era" to "Beauty in the Common-International Art Exhibition of the National Art Museum of China", from the "Excellent Collection of National Art Museum of China" From "exhibitions" to various thematic exhibitions, the National Art Museum of China frequently reveals the background: works by Wu Changshuo, Chen Shizeng, Qi Baishi, Fu Baoshi, Ye Qianyu, Li Keran, Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Pang Xunqin, Wu Zuoren, Wu Guan and others appear in rotation.
In Wu Weishan's view, the audience's enthusiasm for the exhibition is the result of "collection activation", and "collection activation" is to meet people's needs for beauty.
“In the past, the collections were kept in the warehouse. They were indeed very famous. They were all in the textbooks, but we didn’t see the original works. When we took the original works to the exhibition hall for exhibition, everyone immediately saw the original works very warmly. ."
He still remembers that Luo Zhongli's work "Father" has not been out of the museum since it was collected in the National Art Museum of China in the 1980s.
"A few years ago, our collection revitalization exhibition took this work to its'hometown' Chongqing for exhibition. That day happened to be Father's Day, and Luo Zhongli went to the art museum with his father, son, grandson and four generations of grandchildren. This incident caused a strong sensation. This is the first time this work has returned to Chongqing, and the author has also received great spiritual comfort. This is not only the activation of the work, but also the activation of the'human'."
"The treasury of an art gallery is a cultural treasure house of the country. Just like bank deposits have to generate interest, our art works should be better organized and exhibited, and enter the hearts of the people, so that great artistic creations can educate, inspire, and inspire the people. It is huge'interest'." Wu Weishan said.