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The development of Chinese art must be viewed as distinct from the Western narrative, however, it can be made intelligible through Western terms for the sole purpose of familiarity. For example, the Scar Art and Native Soil movements resonate with primitivist tendencies due to their shared longing and idealizing of un-modernized times. Both the Chinese and Western institutions were acting in opposition to the process of modernization. It is interesting to note that the West originally sought to modernize by turning towards impressionism and cubism at the start of the 20th century whereas China adopted realism as a means to propel a modern social vision.

Art in China without a doubt was influenced stylistically by Western art, but the sociopolitical implications cannot be conflated. Viewing Chinese art from a Western perspective must avoid imposing its own associations. For example, the realist techniques in China were not as developed in the West, which focused on representational works for centuries. Artists emerging from the Western tradition launched experimental movements to deconstruct the forms of realism, resulting in the likes of suprematism and constructivism. Chinese artists had to first process realism through Mao’s romanticism, causing emerging realist styles to focus on asserting the empirical truth and anti-idealist conceptions.

Historically, China has demonstrated the ability to adapt and transform into a new China following the introduction of foreign culture. During the earliest dynastic periods, China embodied the culture found in the Heartland Northern territory. As the empire expanded, it first encountered Western, South, and Central Asia. Buddhism from South Asia was negotiated through native Daoist terms and existed as a religious pillar following the Han Dynasty. While the religion was imported, the civilization adopted and accepted it as its own. The Yuan Dynasty was the first foreign rule established but China preserved its virtues. When realism was introduced to China it was not the sole art movement; the incorporation of Western modernism was largely rejected because its ideology held no gravity within the sociopolitical climate of the time. As demonstrated by the treatment of realism, China has already made the Western world’s artistic influences their own.

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Photograph by Cai Wen-You of Cai Guo-Qiang's "Sky Ladder," 2015. 

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Photograph by Cai Wen-You of Cai Guo-Qiang's "Sky Ladder," 2015. 

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The heaven and earth are connected in Cai Guo-Qiang's miraculous "Sky Ladder," possibly alluding to the celestial connection China has upheld throughout history. The work conveys a sense of ingenuity. Gun powder was first discovered by Chinese who were seeking to create an elixir of immortality.  This content of this piece is not explicitly political, perhaps demonstrating the inclination to construct the Chinese individual without the burden of political terms. However, Cai did disregard getting government approval prior to lighting the immense firework ladder, resulting in him leaving China afterwards to avoid legal ramifications.

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Cao Fei, "Whose Utopia," photograph,  2006, MoMA PS1.

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Cao Fei, "Whose Utopia," photograph,  2006, MoMA PS1.

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Fei's work analyzes individuality as it is experienced in reality and in fantasy. This picture shows a worker dancing amidst a deserted factory, perhaps insinuating it is a day dream resulting from monotonous tasks. The picture is intended to be jarring by depicting a member of the collective as capable of subjective expression which was historically associated with the upper class. While the work feels freeing, it is also fleeting. The machines surround the dancer like an army and the buttons mimic watchful eyes which disapprove of inefficient work ethic.

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Wei Dong, "Kite Flying," ink and color on paper, 1995, Williams College Museum of Art.

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Wei Dong, "Kite Flying," ink and color on paper, 1995, Williams College Museum of Art.

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An attempt to reclaim traditional Chinese techniques was initiated in 1987. The background of this piece employs literati-style ink paintings. However rather than a regurgitation or imitation of the past, pieces like these seek to negotiate and play with the scholarly implications. The figures contrast with the background with both their color and their more realistic rendering. While this piece holds eccentricity, it also suggests a reclamation or authority over the past. The figure on the right sits upon the mountain like it is their throne.

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COMMENTARY ON CONTEMPORARY WORKS (1990s onward)

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COMMENTARY ON CONTEMPORARY WORKS (1990s onward)

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Stylistically, art in China was only beginning its journey towards acceptance of avant-garde pieces and installations. Artists were more focused on engaging with the tragedy of life and sought to reconstruct notions of individuality and modernization to process the trauma of the Cultural Revolution. Due to the disillusionment with the subjects depicted in  propaganda posters, the qualities of heroism were reinvestigated and defined.

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"Why?" depicts the Red Guards exhausted after turmoil during the Cultural Revolution. The title of the piece alluded to the thoughts which seem to run through the subjects heads: "Why do I have to serve?" They situated next to a sewer, emphasizing the undesirability of their station, and several have visible wounds. The overall grey tone of the piece communicates a sense of despair while the jarring red flag and arm bands mock the supposed glory of the Revolution.

Top: Gao Xiaohua, "Why?," oil on canvas, 1978.

Bottom: Photographs of paintings by Luo Zhongli c. 1980-1994.

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The Native Soil Movement was consistent with many of Scar Art’s ideologies but placed a larger emphasis on the native, un-urbanized landscape as its name suggests. It longingly recalled the society prior to the pollution of modernization. 

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Scar Art exposed the harshness of reality in opposition to Mao’s romanticized approach. These artists prioritized exploring human nature and the truth of living within the physical world by refusing to conceal the dirty or ugly. Firstly, it began to address the aftermath and failures of the Cultural Revolution. The hardships of peasantry and poverty were frequently represented in these works. However, their intention was not to condemn this lifestyle or underscore its unsavory aspects. The underlying moral current pushed the uprightness of living a humble and pure life. The movement viewed itself as  sensitive towards the rural population.

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Artist’s emerging from the Maoist doctrine created alongside China’s shift to reform and reopen to the world following Mao’s death. Art turned to embrace a humanist approach.

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Xian-ting, Li. “Major Trends in the Development of Contemporary Chinese Art.” (2016).

YI, GU. "The “Peasant Problem” and Time in Contemporary Chinese Art." Representations, no. 136 (2016): 54-76. Accessed December 12, 2020. doi:10.2307/26420578.

Zedong, Mao. “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art,” Selected Works, Vol. III, May 1942.

Yaochang, Pan. "The Posters of the Mao Era: A Perspective of Art and Society." Artibus Et Historiae 35, no. 69 (2014): 289-304. Accessed December 12, 2020.

Wang, Ban. (2016). 30. Revolutionary Realism and Revolutionary Romanticism: Song of Youth. 10.7312/dent17008-031.

Editorial, Artsy, and Sam Gaskin. “10 Artists Who Defined Chinese Contemporary Art.” Artsy, July 31, 2018. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-the-top-10-chinese-artists-not-named-ai-weiwei.

“Literati Painting.” China Online Museum, November 20, 2016. https://www.comuseum.com/painting/schools/literati-painting/.

Macdonald, Kevin. “Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang .” Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang by Kevin Macdonald | Review. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/arts/reviews/view/27765/sky-ladder-the-art-of-cai-guo-qiang.

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Wang Hui, "Sailing on the Sea Relies on the Steersman, Doing Revolution Depends on Mao Zedong's Thinking," poster, 1969.

The background of this poster shows buildings from multiple locations. Mao's prominence and presence is unbound spatially, exaggerating and distorting reality in order to highlight his command.

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Art was made accessible to the general public through replication in printed posters, books, or newspapers. Original artwork was simply sent to be reprinted, making the quality of materials used for the original work practically irrelevant  and devaluing it as simply a blueprint or design. Consistent with communist ideals, the mass production and accessibility of works during this time subverted the bourgeois and classist inclinations of the art world.

Top left: Lin Chunhua, "Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan," oil on canvas, 1967.
Top right: Photograph of people holding up copies of "Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan

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In its form, it is realistic, depicting objects, people, and the physical world in accord with biological principles. However, it implemented romantic tendencies by striving to uphold the possibility of a perfected state through communal effort—distinct from harmful individualistic fancies which romanticism is usually associated with. In total realism, the cruel reality of belonging to the peasant masses would be exposed. In revolutionary style, the subjects were common people elevated and glorified as heroic. The proletariat's competency was conveyed by the proud, brave posture and bright smiles on the subjects’ faces. Their poses were arranged as if the subjects were performing on a stage or posing for a photograph; this performatism signals the public aspect of art in contrast to a privatized, intimate practice. Mainly bright colors were used and a bright, atmospheric background was maintained. Motifs included red sun rays, halos, and army uniforms, all of which signaled towards the expanse and splendor of Mao’s authority.

Right: "Long live our great leader Chairman Mao," poster, 1975.

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Art during the Communist Regime was burdened by a teleological mandate. During the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art, Mao explicitly circumscribed the proper sphere and use of art within a communist Chinese society: to serve a political and social end. He considered art to be a reflection of social reality and experience. Thus, works during a formative period must uphold revolutionary values to communicate that the Party’s ideology was the only one worthy of existing as a social reality. This aesthetic philosophy is called revolutionary realism and romanticism.

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Xu Beihong (1895-1953) - considered the leader of the realist art movement in China

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Xu Beihong (1895-1953) - considered the leader of the realist art movement in China

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Above: Xu Beihong, "The Courtyard of the Temple on Jizushan (Jizu Mountain)", oil on canvas, 1942, Xu Beihong Memorial Museum.

Right: Xu Beihong, "Hercules (plaster)," charcoal on paper, 1920, Xu Beihong Memorial Museum.

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Xu Beihong, "Portrait of a Woman with a Fan," oil on canvas, 1920, Xu Beihong Memorial Museum.

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While the components of each painting are clearly recognizable (ie. tree, mountain, water), the composition has clearly been manipulated for pleasant viewing effect. There is a symmetry to the landscape and the waterfalls in Zhu and Zhengming's works serve to direct the eye vertically.

"Autumn Colors on the Que Hua Mountains" strives to evoke the psychological experience of remembering a mountain retreat. Its vitality is serene and evenly balanced, allowing the viewer to escape into the pictorial plane.

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Beginning in 1919, the May 4th Movement provided the framework for art to be reimagined alongside sociopolitical reform. Students returning from international institutions brought knowledge of Western-style realism to China in the 1920s and 30s. These artists had lived through fragmentation and foreign occupation and were fueled by a nationalist hope to affirm China’s dignity. Intellectuals who blamed traditional values within the governmental system for allowing the subjugation of China were able to articulate their defiance through realist artworks. While lacking in artistic individuality or autonomy, realism was thought to respect nature and display engagement with the world. Art during this period almost unanimously favored realism in order to defy the established literati subjectivity. Furthermore, the literati artist's concern with emotional expression and orientation towards fantasy seemed to underscore the government's incapability to exist in concrete reality. In the art’s indisputable depictions, realism was also thought to be more effective in mobilizing the common people towards revolution, foreshadowing its continued use during Mao-era China.

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(L to R):

Zhao Mengfu, "Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains," ink amd color on paper, Yuan Dynasty, Taipei, National Palace Museum.

Shen Zhu, "Lofty Mount Lu," ink and color on paper, Ming Dynasty, Taipei, National Palace Museum.

Wen Zhengming, "Old Trees by a Cold Waterfall," ink and color on silk, Ming Dynaty, Taipei, National Palace Museum.

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The tradition of Chinese literati painting established during the Song dynasty were considered characteristic of old culture ideals. These ink paintings were practiced by scholars who aimed to illustrate the spirit and vitality of the natural world. The artist’s inner subjectivity was revealed, allowing the audience to view art as an endearing and sincere display.