Show illustrates 70 years of art portraying life in New China

"The forms range from Chinese paintings, oil paintings, lithographs, sculptures to watercolors, traditional Chinese folk art and posters. There are nearly 500 works in total, occupying all of the exhibition halls inside the museum, as well as the outdoor space of the museum's compound," Wu says.

"It is a tribute to the history, the landscapes and the people, who have made contributions to the country. Also, it reflects and concerns the livelihoods of common people."

Changes in the way people have been depicted in Chinese art can be seen at this exhibition. Works from the 1950s and '60s mainly portray scenes of busy workers on the construction sites of major industrial projects or farmers laboring in the fields, showing a country's strong will to develop and eliminate poverty.

In the 1980s, more scientists began to appear, indicating the increasing importance of science and technology after China's reform and opening-up.

These days, however, artists focus on the twists and turns in the day-to-day lives of the country's people, such as migrant workers from rural areas and delivery people, who play a noticeable role in urban society.

Chen Lyusheng, a senior researcher at the National Museum of China, says when looking back the progress of China throughout the past seven decades, one will also find that "landscapes that depict industrial construction have been favored during different periods".

He says the artworks were created to address the country's needs at the time. For example, many of the works from the 1950s and '60s depict steel making at factories to reflect a boom in the industry. The completion of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in the late 1960s created a fashion among artists to portray the bridge and other similar projects in the 1970s. He adds that, as Chinese cities have experienced rapid urbanization since the 1980s, art depicting the country's cityscapes has risen, creating a new genre that explores the feelings of city dwellers surrounded by high-rise buildings and overpasses.