The Art of Modern China

In the early twenty-first century, China occupies a place on center stage in the international art world. But what does it mean to be a Chinese artist in the modern age? This first comprehensive study of modern Chinese art history traces its evolution chronologically and thematically from the Age of Imperialism to the present day. Julia Andrews and Kuiyi Shen pay particular attention to the dynamic tension between modernity and tradition, as well as the interplay of global cosmopolitanism and cultural nationalism. This lively, accessible, and beautifully illustrated text will serve and enlighten scholars, students, collectors, and anyone with an interest in Asian art and artists.

Julia Andrews is Professor of Art History at Ohio State University and is the author of several books, including Painters and Polictics in the Peoples’ Republic of China, 1949–1979.

Kuiyi Shen is Professor in the Visual Arts Department and Director of the Chinese Studies Program at UC San Diego.

Acknowledgments
Map
Introduction

1 Chinese Art in the Age of Imperialism: The Opium War to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1842–1895
2 Art in the Creation of a New Nation: The Overthrow of the Qing and the Early Republic, 1895–1920
3 Art in the New Culture of the 1920s
4 Modern Art in the 1930s
5 The Golden Age of Guohua in the 1930s
6 Art in Wartime, 1937–1949
7 Western-Style Art under Mao, 1949–1966
8 Ink Painting, Lianhuanhua, and Woodcuts under Mao, 1949–1966
9 Art of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966–1976
10 Art after Mao, 1976–1989
11 Alternative Chinas: Hong Kong and Taiwan
12 No U-Turn: Chinese Art after 1989
13 The New Millennium, and the Chinese Century?

Glossary and List of Characters
Major Events in Modern Chinese Art
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index