DOCSLIB.ORG

Final Paper: Art Museums in Maoist China

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Final Paper: Art Museums in Maoist China 1 Final Paper: Art Museums in Maoist China In the first half of the twentieth century, China was ravaged by wars and rarely had a stable or powerful central government. In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Mao Zedong took power and quickly consolidated its rule over China. The CCP sought to radically transform almost all aspects of life and art and art museums were no exception. The CCP sought to reshape art and art museums according to their revolutionary political ideas. According to these principles, museums such as the Museum of the Chinese Revolution were effectively overseen by the CCP’s propaganda department and there was little room for independent art. The Cultural Revolution furthered these trends when many priceless artifacts were destroyed by paramilitary Red Guards who associated the artifacts with traditional Confucian ways of thinking. The Cultural Revolution also inflicted incredible suffering on many individuals and families who were often groundlessly fingered as being counterrevolutionary. However, somewhat surprisingly institutions such as the Shanghai Museum cooperated with Red Guards to enrich their collections. The CCP also extensively utilized art-historical expertise during this time to export art for foreign exchange. This paper will begin with a historical overview of the period as the political context had an important effects on Chinese art during this period. We will then discuss 2 the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and its founding in 1960 as one of the major case studies in this paper. The Shanghai Museum which opened in 1952 is the other major case study. These cases illustrate that while politics generally dominated art during this period of Chinese history; art and art museums managed to avoid complete domination and in some respects art-historical expertise became more important. This complexity problematizes the conventional narrative that Maoist China and particularly the Cultural Revolution were a terrible time for art which while accurate in many respects does not fully capture the subtleties of the period. These subtleties would become very important later on in the case of the Shanghai Museum where the curatorial expertise gained during this period placed a crucial role in the museum after 1976. The CCP was founded in 1921 and in its early years allied with the Nationalists in fighting warlords. Yet in 1927 Chiang Kai-shek turned on the CCP which was driven out of the coastal urban centers where its support had originated. By the mid-1930s the Communists were on the run and the Nationalists had consolidated power. The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937 at which point the CCP and Nationalists nominally formed an alliance against the Japanese. In reality, the Communists began to take territory from the Nationalists government which was forced to move its capital inland to Chongqing as Japan conquered the coastal cities. After Japan’s defeat in 1945 the Chinese Civil War resumed in full force. In 1949, the Nationalists were forced to retreat to Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China was founded. The early 1950s were a time of dramatic social change in China with land reform and Communist control transforming the economy. The economy grew at a relatively 3 rapid pace which led Mao to order the Great Leap Forward in 1958. The Great Leap Forward turned out to be an unmitigated disaster with tens of millions starving between 1958 and 1961. Relations with the Soviet Union also worsened during this period. After the failed experiment of the Great Leap Forward life normalized somewhat in the mid-1960s until the Cultural Revolution began in 1966. The Cultural Revolution attempted to eradicate traditional influences on society which led to harassment of former land owners and destruction of many traditional artifacts. After Mao’s death in 1976 the CCP became more moderate under Deng Xiaoping and independent art developed to a much greater extent. The CCP was from its early years very aware of the importance of using culture to initially spread its popularity and later when it took power in 1949 it used similar methods to legitimize its rule. The Party even began to think about building a museum devoted to artifacts and art during its difficult years in the early 1930s when Nationalist forces had chased it out of the major cities where it had originated (The Red Line 915). Although such plans did not materialize for decades due to the turbulent political environment and continuous armed conflict it is representative of the Party’s approach to power. For example when the CCP took Beijing in 1949 it began collecting items for what would eventually become the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, which would not actually open for more than a decade. The first item for the museum was the scaffolds used to execute Li Dazhao, one of the co-founders of the CCP. The CCP also developed a type of oil painting which they called, ““revolutionary history painting” to recount and glorify the history of the party (Oil Paintings and 4 Politics 785). The use of oil paintings as a political tool is particularly interesting as oil paintings could have been considered a sign of individual expression influenced by the bourgeois West instead of a proper proletarian art form. Yet the CCP relied on this paintings extensively to present their preferred historical narrative to the Chinese population. Art was a particularly important medium of communication during this early years of the PRC as most of the population was rural illiterate farmers. The oil paintings were also influenced by Soviet Socialist Realism as there was widespread cultural exchange between the PRC and the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The addition of art to the Museum of the Chinese Revolution had its roots in these exchanges. Wang Yeqiu visited the Soviet Union in 1950 and was so impressed by the Soviet National Museum of the Revolution that he proposed adding oil paintings to the Museum of the Chinese Revolution (Oil Paintings and Politics 786). The next year his proposal was accepted and plans were made to commission historical oil paintings for the museum. Although many museums commission artwork for exhibits this case was unusual in how strictly the Party proscribed the historical topics to be painted. Influenced by similar Soviet museums the organization of the museum was to follow the then orthodox view of Party history laid out in Hu Qiaomu’s Thirty years of the Chinese Communist Party, which was based on Mao’s 1940 essay, “New Democracy” (Oil Paintings and Politics 791). Some technically skilled and politically loyal painters were assigned to make paintings for the museum a task which they eagerly applied themselves due to a mixture of belief in the communist cause, desire for national recognition, and financial support. 5 Although there was general consensus in the Party over its history; the role of Mao in the Part proved a much more challenging topic. While the Museum of the Chinese Revolution was originally planned to open in October 1949 as part of celebrations for the PRC’s 10th anniversary its opening was delayed for two years because of this dispute. The disagreement centered on whether Mao was a singular figure in the Party history or whether he was one of several important early Party leaders. Eventually the Museum opened with something closer to the latter view although Mao was still portrayed as the most important figure. Although the dispute over Mao’s centrality was particularly divisive it was far from the only politically motivated dispute during the founding of the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. Many artists struggled with the difficult task of having their works “reflect the revolutionary movement of workers, peasants, and soldiers and their revolutionary wars [against imperialism and capitalism], and portray the determination and integrity of revolutionary heroes” which was the official standard for artworks in the museums (Oil Paintings and Politics 801). Many works of art produced for the museum were rejected on these grounds although we do not have statistics on the exact number because museum archives are closed to the public. Several paintings portraying Communist martyrs were rejected for being too gloomy. Nor did political interference in art end when the artworks were completed. For example, Dong Xiwen’s 1953 oil painting The Founding Ceremony of the Nation features Mao Zedong addressing hundreds of thousands in Tiananmen Square gloriously announcing the formation of the People’s Republic. Although contrary to history, in the 6 painting Mao stands along with a group of senior Communist leaders watching close by. As the painting was initially politically popular and regarded as one of China’s best oil paintings over 500,000 reproductions were made within three months (Oil Paintings and Politics 783). Yet during the continuously shifting political tides of Maoist China several of the senior party leaders in the painting were purged and Dong was ordered to remove them from the painting. Although Dong died in 1973 other painters restored the images of the purged leaders in 1979. These examples illustrate the centrality of politics to art and art museums during this period. Although technical excellence was not completely ignored it was certainly devalued compared to political correctness. As such while the Museum of the Chinese Revolution was officially under the Ministry of Culture the CCP’s Propaganda Department played an even more important role (The Red Line 923). Yet there was still limited room for artistic innovation during this period. The CCP was keen to see the development of a new Chinese form of painting and as long as the paintings were sufficiently politically correct and met certain basic artistic tenets the artists had reasonable freedom.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mao's War on Women
    Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-2019 Mao’s War on Women: The Perpetuation of Gender Hierarchies Through Yin-Yang Cosmology in the Chinese Communist Propaganda of the Mao Era, 1949-1976 Al D. Roberts Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Roberts, Al D., "Mao’s War on Women: The Perpetuation of Gender Hierarchies Through Yin-Yang Cosmology in the Chinese Communist Propaganda of the Mao Era, 1949-1976" (2019). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7530. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7530 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MAO’S WAR ON WOMEN: THE PERPETUATION OF GENDER HIERARCHIES THROUGH YIN-YANG COSMOLOGY IN THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA OF THE MAO ERA, 1949-1976 by Al D. Roberts A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History Approved: ______________________ ____________________ Clayton Brown, Ph.D. Julia Gossard, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member ______________________ ____________________ Li Guo, Ph.D. Dominic Sur, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _______________________________________ Richard S. Inouye, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2019 ii Copyright © Al D. Roberts 2019 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Mao’s War on Women: The Perpetuation of Gender Hierarchies Through Yin-Yang Cosmology in the Chinese Communist Propaganda of the Mao Era, 1949-1976 by Al D.
    [Show full text]
  • How Oils Cross Oceans
    ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT BEIJING SPECIAL CHINAWATCH C H INA D AIL Y How oils cross oceans Master and mentor Editor’s note: Beijing, host city of the Olympic Games in 2008, is launching a week-long culture event, from July 24 to 31, in London, to celebrate the United Kingdom’s Olympic Games. By ZHU LINYONG More than 300 artists from China will present a variety of performing arts, such as Peking Opera, acrobatics, Western classical music, an oil painting exhibition and craftworks. In addition, there will be forums on culture development and heritage preservation. Reporters from China Daily interviewed the artists and culture officials behind the project. The art of oil painting was introduced by missionaries to the Chinese court during Emperor Qianlong’s era in the middle He has taught generations of of the 18th century. The most famous was the Jesuit priest Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), known by his Chinese name young Chinese oil painters, of Lang Shining. However, the art was not widely accepted until well into the and his works are much 20th century when young Chinese started going abroad to study. Within the space of just 50 years, it had become the appreciated in China. Now, most prestigious among contemporary art forms, a status it enjoys to this day. an international audience in Oil painting became popular in the 1920s when an elite group of Chinese artists, educated in London will be able to see Europe, Japan and the United States, returned to China at about why Jin Shangyi has such a the same time.
    [Show full text]
  • © in This Web Service Cambridge University
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-86322-3 - The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture Edited by Kam Louie Index More information Index Abbas, Ackbar, 310 Asian Games (1962, Indonesia), 351 abstract inheritance method, 11, 17 Asian values, 17, 151 academic research & debates Asiatic mode of production, 57–9 Chinese culture, 3 assimilation Christianity, 193 China’s peoples, 92, 95, 102, 109, 111–12 gender, 68, 71, 77, 80–2, 83 diaspora cultures, 116, 119–20, 122–3, 129, historiography, 58–61, 63–5 131 literature, 246 Australasia socialism, 193 art, 272 sociopolitical history, 38–9, 43 Chinatowns, 10 advertising, 322, 326–8 diaspora culture, 116–17, 122–4, 127–31 agriculture, 20–1, 40–1, 43, 57, 76, 159, 162, economic development, 108 166–7, 283 migrant society, 10, 16, 96 Ah Long, 223 sports, 347, 349 Air China, 323 Austro-Asiatic languages, 95, 201 Alitto, Guy, 143 Austronesian languages, 201 All China Resistance Association of Writers autonomous areas, 92–7, 99–102, 108 and Artists, 227 avant-garde All China Women’s Federation, 71, 75, 77, art, 291 80–3, 85 literature, 247–50, 251–2 Altaic languages, 201 anarchism, 27, 39, 156–63, 166 Ba Jin, 220–1 ancestor veneration, 173, 176–7, 182–3, 189 Baba culture. see peranakan Anderson, Benedict, 54 Bai people, 98–9 Anhui, 199 baihuawen. see vernacular language Appadurai, Arjun, 314–15 Bajin. see Li Feigan Apter, David, 57–8 ballroom dancing, 18, 43 Arabic language, 198 Bandung Conference (1955), 351 Arabs, 106 barbarism, 16, 49–50, 135, 284, 342 architecture, 8–9, 282, 287–8, 293 Barlow,
    [Show full text]
  • China As an Issue: Artistic and Intellectual Practices Since the Second Half of the 20Th Century, Volume 1 — Edited by Carol Yinghua Lu and Paolo Caffoni
    China as an Issue: Artistic and Intellectual Practices Since the Second Half of the 20th Century, Volume 1 — Edited by Carol Yinghua Lu and Paolo Caffoni 1 China as an Issue is an ongoing lecture series orga- nized by the Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum since 2018. Chinese scholars are invited to discuss topics related to China or the world, as well as foreign schol- ars to speak about China or international questions in- volving the subject of China. Through rigorous scruti- nization of a specific issue we try to avoid making generalizations as well as the parochial tendency to reject extraterritorial or foreign theories in the study of domestic issues. The attempt made here is not only to see the world from a local Chinese perspective, but also to observe China from a global perspective. By calling into question the underlying typology of the inside and the outside we consider China as an issue requiring discussion, rather than already having an es- tablished premise. By inviting fellow thinkers from a wide range of disciplines to discuss these topics we were able to negotiate and push the parameters of art and stimulate a discourse that intersects the arts with other discursive fields. The idea to publish the first volume of China as An Issue was initiated before the rampage of the coron- avirus pandemic. When the virus was prefixed with “China,” we also had doubts about such self-titling of ours. However, after some struggles and considera- tion, we have increasingly found the importance of 2 discussing specific viewpoints and of clarifying and discerning the specific historical, social, cultural and political situations the narrator is in and how this helps us avoid discussions that lack direction or substance.
    [Show full text]
  • Views of Hills and Streams
    University of Alberta Strange and Illusory: The Aesthetics of Distortion in Scenery of Shanbei by Shi Lu by Bingqing Wei A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture Department of Art and Design ©Bingqing Wei Spring 2012 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. Abstract The objective of this thesis is to consider modern Chinese painting of the Chang’an School, studying in particular an undated painting titled Scenery of Shanbei by Shi Lu. It investigates the fact that Shi Lu’s painting distorts the appearance of the depicted terrain of Shanbei, expressing what I term aesthetics of distortion. I address the question of the personal and political significance of distortion. Is Shi Lu’s use of distortion aimed at self-expression by means of landscape representation? Does it breach cultural conventions and political values preeminent in Shi Lu’s art-historical context? The primary aim of this thesis is to analyse Shi Lu’s aesthetics of distortion and deploy this analysis for arguing that distortion serves representational, expressive, and political uses.
    [Show full text]
  • ART in TURMOIL
    ART in TURMOIL King hi_res.pdf 1 12/21/2009 3:15:46 PM Contemporary Chinese Studies This series, a joint initiative of UBC Press and the UBC Institute of Asian Research, Centre for Chinese Research, seeks to make available the best scholarly work on contemporary China. Volumes cover a wide range of subjects related to China, Tai- wan, and the overseas Chinese world. Glen Peterson, The Power of Words: Literacy and Revolution in South China, 1949-95 Wing Chung Ng, The Chinese in Vancouver: The Pursuit of Power and Identity, 1945-80 Yijiang Ding, Chinese Democracy after Tiananmen Diana Lary and Stephen MacKinnon, eds., Scars of War: The Impact of Warfare on Modern China Eliza W.Y. Lee, ed., Gender and Change in Hong Kong: Globalization, Postcolonialism, and Chinese Patriarchy Christopher A. Reed, Gutenberg in Shanghai: Chinese Print Capitalism, 1876-1937 James A. Flath, The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China Erika E.S. Evasdottir, Obedient Autonomy: Chinese Intellectuals and the Achievement of Orderly Life Hsiao-ting Lin, Tibet and Nationalist China’s Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928-49 Xiaoping Cong, Teachers’ Schools in the Making of the Modern Chinese Nation- State, 1897-1937 Diana Lary, ed., The Chinese State at the Borders Norman Smith, Resisting Manchukuo: Chinese Women Writers and the Japanese Occupation Hasan H. Karrar, The New Silk Road Diplomacy: China’s Central Asian Foreign Policy since the Cold War King hi_res.pdf 2 12/21/2009 3:16:06 PM ART in TURMOIL The Chinese Cultural Revolution 1966-76 Edited by Richard King With Ralph Croizier, Shengtian Zheng, and Scott Watson King hi_res.pdf 3 12/21/2009 3:16:06 PM © UBC Press 2010 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from tfie original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis arxj dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or irxJistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print t>leedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black arxl white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Artx>r, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI STRATEGIES OF MODERN CHINESE WOMEN WRITERS’ AUTOBIOGRAPHY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jing Wang, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Xiaomei Chen, Adviser Professor Kirk Denton ______ Adviser Professor Patricia Sieber East Asian Languages and Literatures Professor Julia Watson UMI Number 9983003 UMI UMI Microfotm9983003 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
    [Show full text]
  • Chronicle of Events
    Chronicle of Events 1949 July January Congress of Chinese Writers and Artists (renamed to The China Federation of Literary 31 The name Beiping (北平) was reverted to and Art Circles) held the First National Exhibi- Peking (北京 adopted to Beijing in 1958) tion of Fine Arts at National Peking Art College. after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conquered the city. 2–19 The First National Congress of Litera- ture and Art Workers met in Beijing. A total of six-hundred-fifty delegates February participated the congress, including eighty-eight art workers. The China Fed- 15 The government took over the National eration of Literary and Art Circles Peking Art College. (CFLAC) was founded. 21 China Artists Association (CAA) was founded in Zhongshan Park, Peking. April The Exhibition of New Guohua, featured more October than eighty artists, was held in Zhongshan Park, Beijing. 1 The People’s Republic of China was founded. May November 25 Shanghai was taken over by the PLA. 23 National Peking Art College combined with the art department of North China Univer- sity, establishing the Central Academy of June Fine Arts (CAFA) in 1950. 6 Shanghai prepared to establish the Shanghai Artists Association. # Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 459 Y. Zhou, A History of Contemporary Chinese Art, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1141-7 460 Chronicle of Events 1950 November CAA published four issues of the art journal 7 National Hangzhou Arts College was Renmin Meishu (People’s Fine Arts). renamed to CAFA East China Campus (renamed to the Zhejiang Fine Arts Academy in 1958, and then to the China Academy of January Art in 1993).
    [Show full text]
  • Modernity Through Syncretism and Eclecticism: Wu Guanzhong's Artistic Practice in the Cultural and Political Environment of Th
    0 MODERNITY THROUGH SYNCRETISM AND ECLECTICISM: WU GUANZHONG’S ARTISTIC PRACTICE IN THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE PRC (1949 -1989) BY WENWEN LIU A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2019 Acknowledgments I wish to express my great gratitude to my supervisors Dr Luo Hui and Dr Dennitza Gabrakova for their wise guidance and full-hearted support. I also wish to express my great appreciation to Dr Rebecca Rice, Dr Ellen Soulliere and Dr Lidu Yi for their detailed and insightful comments on this thesis. I owe my special thanks to Professor Yiyan Wang, Professor Clunas Craig, Dr Keren Chiaroni, Dr Catherine Churchman, and Peter HaJecek for their helpful suggestions. This thesis is dedicated to my husband Liu Xin. Had it not been his love, this thesis would not have come to fruition. Abstract This thesis examines Wu Guanzhong’s 吴冠中 (1919-2010) art and art theory in the context of socialist and post-socialist China. Wu’s art came to maturation through a sophisticated syncretism of Chinese and Western painting styles and techniques. Aesthetic considerations notwithstanding, each of Wu’s artistic breakthroughs was also a direct response to the cultural policies of the Chinese Communist Party or to the larger cultural and political currents at important junctures of twentieth-century China. Mirroring the syncretistic style and political nature of his artwork, Wu’s art theory is characterised by an eclecticism that mediates between Chinese and Western artistic concepts and walks a thin line between creative agency and political correctness.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix the Dao of Ink and Dharma Objects—On Jizi's Paintings
    Appendix The Dao of Ink and Dharma Objects—On Jizi’s Paintings Gao Congyi The stance that the ancient Daoist philosopher Laozi took of his brush and ink were still on the distant horizon. Even in the world after he realized the “Way” ( dao), as everyone so, the paucity of his artworks in his early period allowed knows, was a rejection of the world. A modern Western ex- him, after weighing the matter over and over, to destroy ample would be Ludwig Wittgenstein who, after his Tracta- them voluntarily. Isn’t this also a kind of suicide? This was a tus Logico-Philosophicus, saw the “Way” ( dao), left the elite kind of cultural suicide that is different from the suicides of celebrity circle of Bertrand Russell, John Maynard Keynes the novelist Lao She (1899–1966) and the translator and art and others, and ran off to a far away mountain village to be- critic Fu Lei (1908–1966), who took their own lives. Chinese come an elementary school teacher and church gardener for intellectuals like Lao She and Fu Lei did not “endure”, while more than 15 years. Until his 27 June 2009 exhibition “The those like Jizi “endured” until after 1977, “endured” until the Way of Ink and Dharma Objects,” Jizi’s exhibition”, Jizi’s “science spring,” and “endured” until the “art spring.” personal life had been hidden from the world for almost 70 The 1980s were a watershed for the Chinese society and years. As for the contributions of his artistic career, Jizi had also for Jizi. The period just before the mid-1980s was the been painting in silence for almost 50 years! After hearing first period of his painting, the period of brush and ink land- this marvelous absurdity, one cannot but feel that it was a scapes.
    [Show full text]
  • From the Masses to the Masses Teachers' Guide
    From the Masses to the Masses Teachers’ Guide Masses to Masses > Intro Paragraph From the Masses to the Masses, the third installment of the Beyond the Border series, relates the story of an artist’s life in revolutionary China. Follow the life and career of Jin Zhilin, from his classical training and initial success under the revolutionary regime to his imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution and eventual redemption through the revival of traditional folk art after he was ordered to Yan’an, provincial cradle of the communist revolution. Featuring extensive interviews with Jin and former students from his days in Yan’an, and images of their original artwork, From the Masses to the Masses illustrates the difficulties artists face in times of political upheaval and government- mandated artistic standards. Masses to Masses > Bio of Professor Jin Zhilin Jin Zhilin is an accomplished oil painter best known for reviving the role of traditional Chinese folk art in modern China. He once served as director of research for the Department of Folk Art at Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts. Jin was born in 1928 in Luannan county, Hebei province. In 1944, he was accepted into the Beijing Training School, where he studied Chinese landscape painting under Mr. Wu Jingting. In 1947, he entered the Arts department of the Peking National Arts College, where he studied western painting from masters such as Feng Fasi, Wu Zuoren, Xu Beihong; and traditional Chinese painting under masters Li Keran and Qi Baishi. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1951, and began teaching in the academy’s Painting and Oil Painting departments, as well as the Dong Xiwen Studio.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of the Representation of the Male Figure in Chinese Cultural Revolution Oil Paintings
    Unstable Heroes: A Study of the Representation of the Male Figure in Chinese Cultural Revolution Oil Paintings Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Doctorate of Philosophy Degree in the History of Art Laura W. Fan August 2013 School of Theory, College of Fine Arts University of New South Wales Table of Contents List of Illustrations Introduction 1‐25 Chapter One: Forced Heroes 26‐97 Chapter Two: Fallen Heroes 98‐137 Chapter Three: Model Heroes 138‐210 Chapter Four: Cultural Heroes 211‐244 Conclusion 245‐261 Bibliography 262‐274 Acknowledgements Many thanks are in order. First of all, to Dr. Fae Brauer, my thesis advisor who urged me to pursue the more difficult topic and has been a steadfast source of support in this rocky journey. Tackling this subject has been challenging, not least because so much new information emerges every quarter, necessitating chapter revisions at speed. Nevertheless, a valuable side‐effect has been to broaden my own perspective and enhance my ability to perceive events from many different angles – whether in China or in the rest of the world. Thanks for this are due both to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) faculty including Dr. Ian Howard, Dr. Michael Essen, Dr. Leong Chan, and Dr. Alan Krell, and to my surrogate family in Beijing. The UNSW faculty have been encouraging and helpful in facilitating my interactions with Chinese and other academic institutions. My surrogate family in Beijing, which shall remain nameless, helped me to see the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath with more subtlety that I could ever have attained on my own.
    [Show full text]