Dramatic changes

Dramatic social changes in 20th-century China are reflected in the works of artists of the time, which, in return, helped promote reforms that shaped the cultural landscape.

The Pace of Times, a long-term exhibition at the Guangdong Museum of Art's Bai'etan venue, gathers selected pieces from its collection that spans from 1900 to 1978. One part of the show focuses on the efforts of artists in the early 20th century to modernize Chinese art and address evolving social needs. The second part focuses on the establishment of a new vocabulary of visual arts after 1949, the founding of the People's Republic of China.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 19 Bai'etan Nanlu, Liwan district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province.020-8890-2999.

Raw energy and style

Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), a prominent figure of 20th-century art, was known for researching the characters inscribed on stone drums, believed to be a legacy of the Qin state during the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BC) and Warring States (475-221 BC) periods. He introduced the raw, energetic style of these stone scripts into the creation of xieyi, a style of classic Chinese painting that features loose, carefree strokes and colors of lower degrees of saturation.

To celebrate the 180th anniversary of Wu's birth, Beijing's National Art Museum of China is presenting Beauty in Simplicity. The exhibition runs until Dec 19, displaying Wu's flower-and-bird style that exemplifies his iconic xieyi style. Peonies, begonias and daffodils are exuberant with liveliness, evoking deep feelings among audiences of his time.

The exhibition also shows the works of his contemporaries and painters of later generations influenced by Wu's reform in ink art. The late artist Chu Teh-chun was trained in China and France and is recognized as a pioneer of modern abstract art. He left an oeuvre of paintings that assume the poetic, reserved mood of Eastern art. His work Untitled is a monochromatic ink painting that celebrates the simplicity and variation of Chinese brushwork.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

Road to modernity

The international exposition of decorative arts and modern industrial arts in Paris in 1925 gave rise to Art Deco, a movement that boomed in the late 1920s and '30s. The era changed the idea of decoration, inspiring the exploration of new motifs and forms as the statement of people's aesthetic preferences changed.

A break from traditional principles, Art Deco works appear more simplified and present the beauty of form. At the time, Chinese students who studied art in Paris were exposed to the trend. Some later taught at the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University. They transplanted the decorative ideas into the soil of their home culture and cultivated new generations of designers to continue exploring the beauty of form. An exhibition runs until Feb 16 at Tsinghua University Art Museum, focusing on five such artists. It juxtaposes their works to see how they each have explored the path to modernity while meeting the preferences of their people and country.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. Tsinghua University, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6278-1012.