Artist, author, and academic Mu Xin’s honorary museum in his hometown of Wuzhen, China, is a haven for the artists of China’s future and many others inspired by Mu Xin’s revolution-driven legacy. Constructed on the shores of Yuanbao Lake at the site of Mu Xin's childhood residence, The Mu Xin Art Museum was designed by New York-based architects Hiroshi Okamoto, Bing Lin, and Fabian Servagnat of OLI Architects PLLC starting in 2011 after the passing of Mu Xin (1927-2011). Completed in 2015, the museum displays exhibitions of Mu Xin’s surviving ink/gouache lithographs and paintings of landscapes in China that blend traditional Chinese and Western Impressionist techniques, poetry and secret books written during his three stints of imprisonment throughout the Cultural Revolution in China, collaborative work created alongside his mentor Lin Fengmian, and much more from his lifetime spent between China and New York City.
RHa played a crucial role on the team responsible for construction of this honorary museum as the Concrete Consultants & Design Mix experts. RHa worked directly with OLI to consult on the concrete structures that make up the Mu Xin Museum, including the exterior board-form concrete that appears to be made up of wood. RHa, alongside the work of many other experts, helped the 72,118 sq. ft. museum design become a reality that continues to honor Mu Xin and his artwork.
Ten years later, the Mu Xin Museum remains a place for visitors to learn about the inspiring legacy of Mu Xin’s creation during revolution, and still represents Mu Xin’s visions for his honorary museum put most simply by himself as “wind, water, and a bridge.” While many of his artworks were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in China during his 18-month imprisonment and consecutive house arrest, Mu Xin's Museum is a testament to his integrity and protest through art, with his saying: "I want to prove that I'll create art to my last breath." (Wikipedia, 2024). Upon his passing in 2011, Mu Xin left behind approximately 600 paintings with an estimated 500 missing/destroyed, as well as 33 ink and gouache landscapes donated to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 2003. Mu Xin will forever hold the spot as the first 20th-century Chinese artist to have his work collected by the British Museum in London, England.
If you find yourself in Wuzhen, the Mu Xin Museum is open on Tuesdays-Sundays from 9:00-17:30 in the summertime and 9:00-17:00 in the wintertime. Visit The Mu Xin Museum's website for more information on current exhibit openings, adjustments to museum visiting hours, and a deeper history on Mu Xin’s young life, artwork, and artwork displayed.
Visit RHa’s pages on Concrete Consulting & Concrete Repairs, www.reghoughassociates.com, to get in contact with a representative about using our services for your concrete projects.
REFERENCES:
About Mu Xin. About Mu Xin-About us-木心美术馆 官方网站 英文版本. (n.d.-a). http://www.muxinam.com/indexen.php?m=Guanyuwomen&a=guanyumuxin
Mena, F. (2016, April 7). Mu Xin Art Museum / Oli Architecture PLLC. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/785110/mu-xin-art-museum-oli-architecture-pllc
Prieto, A. (n.d.). Landscape of Memory: The Art of Mu Xin. The Art of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes. https://sites.asiasociety.org/arts/muxin/
This article was drawn from the exhibition catalogue of "The Art of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes", originally published by Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, and the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, April 15). Mu Xin (artist). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_Xin_(artist)
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