No one would disagree that oil landscapes and traditional Chinese mountain-and-water paintings are two genres, each with distinctive characteristics and unique aesthetic values.

But questions remain: Is there anything the two have in common? How far can they go to draw inspiration from each other? Are crossovers and hybrids the natural logic of their future development?

These are some of the key issues to be addressed at an academic seminar of art enthusiasts, artists and art critics attending the 2005 Joint Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Oil Landscape Paintings and Traditional Mountain-and-water Paintings in Beijing.

The second of its kind since 1998, the grand art show, being held from July 12 to 24 at the National Art Museum of China, presents in all nine exhibition halls on the first floor of the museum a total of 349 selected works by 295 veteran Chinese artists, of either oil painting or traditional Chinese mountain-and-water painting, from across the country.

The art exhibition is jointly sponsored by the Chinese Oil Painters Society, the Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Paintings and the Li Keran Art Foundation.

Seven years ago, the exhibition went with a theme of "Encounters of Western and Eastern art and their Possible Fusion."

This time, it is going for "Nature and Mankind," said Zhan Jianjun, director of the Chinese Oil Painters Society and chairman of the judging panel that had to select 177 oil landscapes from about 5,000 entries. Nine selected works snatched top awards.

Oil painting is a mature form of art in the West and was introduced to China about a century ago. Generations of Chinese artists, deep-rooted in Chinese culture, have tried in different ways to find their own voices and styles with the new medium, said Zhan last weekend in Beijing.

"Headway has been made. But a long way lies ahead. Learning from traditional Chinese art, such as centuries old mountain-and-water painting, may be one of the most important methods," Zhang said.

"Very often the art of traditional Chinese mountain-and-water painting is called Chinese ink landscape painting. But the word 'landscape' is somewhat misleading in this context," said Long Rui, director of the Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Paintings.

Long headed up a judging panel singling out 172 works of Chinese mountain-and-water painting from hundreds of entries for the exhibition. Ten selected works won the top awards.

"What traditional Chinese mountain-and-water painting deals with is far more than just depicting natural beauty. Such paintings are far more philosophical, when compared with Western landscape painting," said Long.

"To be more precise, traditional Chinese mountain-and-water paintings, in essence, are symbolic instruments of the artists, and especially the intellectuals in ancient China, to express their inner feelings, their interpretation of the concept of the 'oneness' or 'wholeness' of nature and mankind, and even their social ideals."

In Long's view, "The harmonious relationship between nature and mankind is not only an ancient Chinese faith and philosophy but a conviction widely accepted by an increasing number of people in today's world."

The continued popularity of Chinese mountain-and-water painting in the 21st century may indicate that the centuries-old art still radiates, Long said.

As the times and human society are changing fast, people's tastes are changing, too.

So Chinese mountain-and-water painting will evolve in one way or another to depict the inner world of artists today and reflect the spirit of the new century, he said.

He believes that "a Chinese artist could do a Western landscape with ink and brush on rice paper, and a Western oil artist could also copy a Chinese mountain-and-water painting with oil and paint brush on canvas."

But he holds that imitating the superficial imageries of each other while ignoring the differences in aesthetic values and the nature of the mediums will never lead to the birth of genuine art.

Long said that the exhibition "would offer viewers a rare chance to ponder the future direction of the two art genres in contemporary China."

To make the exhibition even more provoking, each oil work on display is accompanied by a Chinese mountain-and-water painting and a one-paragraph note written by the artist.

After the exhibition, all the works exhibited and the attached notes will be included in an album to be published by Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House later this year, organizers said.

(China Daily July 13, 2005)