ART

A nude painting titled “The Earth” has won a prize at the annual Shanghai art exhibition--the first time Chinese judges at a national art exhibition have awarded a prize to a nude. An abstract painting was also included among a total of 15 prize winners at the exhibition, which opened in Shanghai Dec. 14. Nude and abstract paintings have long caused controversy in China. It has been only recently that Chinese artists could openly exhibit paintings of nudes. “Although ‘The Earth’ is not perfect in its proportion and composition, it gives us a sense of purity with a simple, implicit style,” Ge Weimo, an exhibition judge, told the official China Daily newspaper. The 440 oil paintings shown last week at the Shanghai exhibition center drew large crowds, with young people in the majority. Only a few nudes and abstract paintings were included.