Photo: Courtesy of the National Art Museum of China

An art exhibition showing Chinese artists' interpretations of Yan'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, a holy place and cradle of the Chinese revolution, was recently launched at Beijing's National Art Museum of China. 

The exhibition displays 200 oil paintings of various sizes. While they cover a range of themes such as human figures and landscapes, these artworks share one similarity: They were created in Yan'an and depict the Yan'an Spirit. 

Yan'an served as the CPC's headquarters from 1935 to 1948, which was also the period that witnessed the CPC's growth from obscurity to a formidable political power. 

The Yan'an spirit, which was forged during this period, has become the CPC's most precious treasure.

The Central Committee of the CPC spent 13 memorable years in Yan'an among tough living conditions, yet it achieved major successes such as leading the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) to its final victory. 

Pinning down the Yan'an Spirit, hundreds of Chinese artists whose works are at the exhibition visited Yan'an's historic red culture sites such as yaodong, a traditional cave residence in Shaanxi Province. 

Chu Xin, a cultural sociologist, told the Global Times that works of art originate from a creator's "authentic passion" toward a subject. It "goes above words and language" to convey concepts to audiences through "heart-to-heart emotional exchanges." 

Vigorously Carry Forward the Yan'an Spirit and Proceed to the New Goal: Yan'an Described by Famous Chinese Oil Painters is the show's full title. The exhibition was co-organized by the Art Development Center of The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China and other cultural institutions such as the National Art Museum of China and the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). 

Renowned Chinese artists and scholars such as 89-year-old oil painter Jin Shangyi and Fan Di'an, the president of the CAFA, attended the show's opening ceremony.