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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6* x 9” black and 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 Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 WU CHANGSHI AND THE SHANGHAI ART WORLD IN THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Kuiyi Shen, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor John C. Himtington, Adviser Professor Ellen Johnston Laing Professor Howard Crane History of Art Graduate Program Professor Xiaomei Chen UMI Number 9971636 UMI’ UMI Mfcroform9971636 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Belt & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Kuiyi Shen ©2000 ABSTRACT This dissertation, which focuses on the late Qing and early twentieth century Chinese artist Wu Changshi (1844-1927), argues that fundamental changes took place in the economics of the Chinese art world at the end of the nineteenth century that led to basic shifts in the attitudes of artists and patrons to each other and to art itself. The remarkable career of Wu Changshi, China’s most famous painter at the time of his death in 1927, makes possible a case study of the transformation of China’s cultural world between about 1895 to 1905 and of the contradictions inherent in the life of a modem traditionalist artist. Bom and educated into the Confiician literati class, Wu spent the first fifty-five years of his life seeking to become a scholar-official. Ironically, he failed at this traditional career path, and by 1900 found himself at the center of a burgeoning urban art world, where he became a great success in the highly commodified Shanghai cultural scene. The four chapters of this dissertation discuss the economic, cultural, and social background of Shanghai in the period; patronage of art in Shanghai, including the growth of art shops and art societies; Wu Changshi’s biography, social network, and painting, with reference to his unpublished correspondence; and his modem legacy. Despite selling in an increasingly anonymous market, where buyers might include foreigners and u uneducated merchants, Wu remained faithful, in many respects, to his scholarly ideals. Most significantly, he succeeded in bringing the aesthetics of ancient epigraphy (finshixue) into his painting, calligraphy, and seal carving. His fundamentalist reform of Chinese painting imbued it with an archaeological flavor believed to embody the most authentic qualities of China’s ancient culture and aimed to rescue Chinese art from its late Qing dynasty decline. Ultimately, Wu’s art came to represent for sympathetic critics the strength needed to prevail in the modem world againstthe invasion of Western culture. He was successful in his own work, but his achievements ultimately failed to survive his own lifetime. Despite many competing claims to this title, we consider Wu Changshi to be China’s last great literati painter. m To my parents IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first of all like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, all of whom have given me the warmest advice and fiiendship over the years. John C. Huntington, as my mentor, has opened my eyes to new worlds of study and encouraged my work on Shanghai school in its early phases. He has been a steady source of intellectual and professional support throughout my graduate career. I am particularly grateful to Ellen Johnston Laing, my outside reader, whose contributions to my career and scholarly development are far greater than can be described here. Since she first learned of my Shanghai project in 1994, she has, with great generosity, offered useful advice and assistance. In particular, she has guided me to literary and art historical materials that were critical in my early explorations of the topic. Howard Crane has served as a role model in all aspects, as a scholar, as a teacher, and as an example of coUegiality. Xiaomei Chen’s open-minded, energetic, and creative approaches to the study of China in this country are a constant encouragement to my efforts and have also served as a model. I owe a great debt to the many fiiends and colleagues who provided me access to invaluable documentary materials and works of art. Chen Xianxing, head of the rare book section of the Shanghai Library, has been particularly generous in finding for me unpublished correspondence by Shanghai school painters. Shan Guolin and Lu Fusheng not only provided me essential access to original works of art in the collections of the Shanghai Museum and Duoyumcuan, but also have provided lively and helpful intellectual exchanges on many occasions. Ding Xiyuan kindly sent me his important publications on the Shanghai school. Michael Shih enthusiastically took time firom his busy schedule to show us an extraordinary number of wonderful paintings. Zheng Wei very generously shared his study of fan shops with me. Wu Changshi’s family members, particularly his grandson Wu Changye and his great-grandson Wu Minxian, Wang Geyi’s son, Wang Gongzhu, and Wang’s disciple Gao Yongping, were extremely helpful in showing me works of art and in answering my questions. 1 am also extremely grateful to Yang Xin and Shan Guoqiang of the Palace Museum, Zha Yongling of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Gu Sen of the China Academy of Art, Xue Yongnian of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhu Junbo and Xue Jingqing of Duoyunxuan, Hu Jishen and Kuang Deao of the Anji Wu Changshi Memorial, Bao Yufei, Zhang Rend, and Zhao Guohui of the Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, Liu Yushan of the People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, Beijing, Ding Maolu of the Xiling Yinshe, Zhao Songhua of the Shanghai Pictorial, Ju-hsi Chou, now of the Cleveland Museum of Art, James Cahill of the University of California, David Sensabaugh of Yale University, Mayching Kao, formerly of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Christina Chu of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hatano Fumio and Funayama Masayuki of Kodansha, hnai Ryosetsu of Tokkai University, Maxwell Hearn of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jane Debevoise of the Guggenheim Museum, Tung Wu of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Julia White of the Honolulu Art Institate, Joseph v i Chang of the Freer Gallery of Art, Elinor Pearlstein of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lo Ching o f Taiwan Normal University, Yuba Tadanori of the Idemitsu Art Museum, and the staffs of the ShanghaiHistory Museum, the Shanghai Archive, and the Shanghai Wenshi Guan. In the early 1980s, my study of Shanghai school was encouraged and helped by Fu Hua, Cai Geng, and Hu Haichao. All of these individuals encouraged and facilitated my research. Without financial support firom The Ohio State University, including a Presidential Fellowship firom the Graduate School, History of Art travel grants, a Research Associateship and Teaching Associateships in the History of Art, my graduate training and this project could not have taken place. 1 would especially like to thank Susan Huntington, Christine Verzar, and Judy Andrews. 1 owe a debt to my daughter Jingjing, who as a little girl slept under my computer table in the OSU library. Now she is big and will soon start college, but she lent me Lily to give me joyfid breaks firom my writing. Finally, after I have used all my words, 1 cannot find enough to express my warmest thanks to Judy for her constructive criticism, encouragement, and tremendous help. vu VTTA June 17,1954 ....................................Bom, Shanghai, China 1978 ...................................... .......... BA., Fine Arts, Shanghai Teachers' University 1978-1982 ........................................Assistant /Associate Curator, Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition Center 1982-1985 ......................................... Editor, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House 1985-198 6 ......................................... .Exchange Editor and Researcher, Department of Fine Art, Kodansha Ltd. Publishers, Tokyo, Japan 1986-198 9 ........................................ Deputy Editor-in-Chief; Director of the Art Book Division; Editor-in-Chief (Shanghai)