The exhibition by the German artists has the poetic name Moon in the Water, while the one at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum is simply titled 3+1.

A total of 41 watercolors and prints by Haupts and Grutzkes were published in a book titled "China" in Germany recently.

Their works elicited mixed responses among visitors when the joint exhibition opened March 7.
Some said they couldn't understand why young Chinese girls had been painted in such exaggerated or even ugly ways, while others praised the works, saying their paintings accurately depicted the daily lives of Chinese people.

"The German artists looked at Chinese people with the same curiosity just as Chinese people would look at foreigners," said Shenzhen-based art dealer Chen Jianguo after viewing the works.

"The fascinating charm of the two German artists' art came just out of their bold imagination and artistic exaggeration," he said.

Christoph Haupts, 46, had staged a one-man exhibition in the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute in 2001 after completing his stay in the city as a visiting artist as part of an exchange program between the sister cities of Nuremburg in Germany and Shenzhen.

"The Chinese girls with small eyes in my works actually depicted my understanding of China and its history as well as my liking for Chinese people," Haupts said.

An important realist painter in Germany, Johannes Grutzkes had never been to China before coming to attend the opening ceremony of his joint exhibition with his good friend Haupts.

"China has played a magic on me, which has motivated me to paint relevant subjects on China," said Grutzkes, who was born in 1937 but looks like he is in his 40s.

Grutzkes' works on display, including the "Tsingtao Girls" and "Increasing Height" series, show a humorous understanding of the country and its people and a deep admiration for Chinese culture.

Editor: Wing