The Nanchang Uprising of August 1st 1927 marked the start of the Communist Party of China’s fight against the Kuomintang reactionaries and the birth of the revolutionary army, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (CPLA). Later, the Chinese Communist Party made August 1st “Army Day” to commemorate the birth of the CPLA and the hardships endured during the war of liberation, and to inspire the soldiers to defend the country.

This year’s Army Day will be the 90th. To mark it, Long Museum will hold an exhibition of paintings with a revolutionary theme to portray the spirit of the soldiers at the time and show how artists used their paintbrushes to add glory to the revolutionary cause. These classic works are of a unique historical value, given their historical and artistic context.

The exhibition will take place at Long Museum (Pudong), from August 1st 2017 to January 31st 2018. It will consist of hundreds of pieces, including oil paintings and prints, representing works from different phases since the 1930s.It will be divided into four parts. The first part, called "Lay the cornerstone for the times”, will show how, in order to make literature and art an integral part of the revolution, many literary and art workers of this period immersed themselves among the masses, learned folk art and created works that were different from previous ones in popular forms. The second part, “Serve the society”, will portray the social phenomena of people picking up their paintbrushes to serve society, for example, to explain the Korean War and show how defending the motherland had become daily work. The third part, “Train and consolidate the revolution”, will focus on how art can serve the nation and promote the revolution by showing the revolutionary struggle as planned, organized and focused.The fourth and final part, “Inheritance in the development”, will show works created after the 1970s, a time of change in which the reform and the opening up of society and the economy brought ideological emancipation in the art world and a flourishing of the arts.

In essence, the exhibition is a review of Chinese history, showing the spirit and character of the revolutionary era, while reminding us that the core spirit of the Chinese nation is unity, struggle, fearlessness and progress, and this spirit has a special significance for our time.