1st Edition
Modern Art for a Modern China The Chinese Intellectual Debate, 1900–1930
How did art reform fit into the many initiatives for social and cultural change that contributed to the New Cultural Movement that transformed the Chinese cultural landscape during the Republican period?
"Modern art for a modern China" was the rallying cry of Chinese intellectuals, many of whom were artists, critics, writers, poets and educators. Wang describes how these groups discussed and implanted changes in China’s conception and practice of art. She demonstrates how art reforms fit into the many initiatives for social and cultural change that contributed to the New Cultural Movement that transformed the Chinese cultural landscape during the Republican period. In doing so, she analyses two key areas in the intellectual history of Republican China: China’s art reform in the early decades of the twentieth century; and the connection and intersection between colonialism, nationalism and cosmopolitanism, including their direct impact on the development of art and art practice in China.
Modern Art for a Modern China is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of China’s twentieth-century intellectual history and art history.
Chapter 1. Cai Yuanpei: His Vision for Art Reform in China. Chapter 2. The Other Lu Xun: Graphic Designer, Book Collector and Art Reformer. Chapter 3. Xu Zhimo: Public Intellectual and Art Reformer. Chapter 4. Art Exhibition, Art Reforms and the Debates. Chapter 5. Chinese Art Students in Lyon: Individuals and Institutions Part 1. Chapter 5. Chinese Art Students in Lyon: Individuals and Institutions Part 2. Chapter 6. Afterword: Questioning the Agency of the Semi-Colonised. Glossaries. Chinese and Japanese Names and Expressions; Schools, Associations, Institutions and Exhibitions. References
Biography
Yiyan Wang is Professor of Chinese at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her research is in the field of modern Chinese literature and culture. She has been particularly interested in the interconnection between modern Chinese literature and art and between the writers and the artists.
