A Modern Miscellany Ideas, History, and Modern China Edited by Ban Wang (Stanford University) Wang Hui (Tsinghua University) Volume 12 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ihmc A Modern Miscellany Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei’s Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926–1938 By Paul Bevan LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Anon, Shanghai Fengjing 上海風景 (Shanghai Landscape), in Shidai manhua 時代漫畫 (“Modern Sketch”) no. 1 (15 April 1934) [p. 23]. Modern Sketch (Shidai manhua); Colgate University Libraries Digital Collections, with permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bevan, Paul, Ph. D., author. A modern miscellany : Shanghai cartoon artists, Shao Xunmei’s circle and the travels of Jack Chen, 1926–1938 / By Paul Bevan. pages cm. — (Ideas, History, and Modern China ; volume 12) Outgrowth of the author’s thesis (Ph. D.—University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2012) under title: Manhua artists in Shanghai 1926–1938 : from art-for-art’s-sake to wartime propaganda. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-30793-3 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-30794-0 (e-book) 1. Caricatures and cartoons—China—Shanghai—History—20th century. 2. Art and society—China— Shanghai—History—20th century. 3. Art—Political aspects—China—Shanghai—History—20th century. 4. Shao, Xunmei, 1906–1968—Friends and associates. 5. Chen, Jack, 1908–1995. I. Title. NC1696.B48 2016 741.5951’1320904—dc23 2015031754 Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. issn 1875-9394 isbn 978-90-04-30793-3 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-30794-0 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. 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Contents Acknowledgements ix Note on the Illustrations xii List of Illustrations xiii Notes on Romanization and References xvii Note on Sources xviii Introduction 1 A Modern Miscellany 1 The Cartoon as Part of the Modern Art Scene in Shanghai 7 The Manhuahui 11 Part 1 The Beginnings of the Modern Chinese Cartoon 1 Manhua Artists in Shanghai 17 Marc Chadourne and Paul Morand 20 Vanity Fair 25 Western Models of Art and Literature in Shanghai manhua 29 English Decadence in Shanghai 33 The Modern and the Decadent—The Cubist Shanghai Life, Lust, and Snake and Woman 37 Conclusion 50 2 Shao Xunmei and his Circle 53 Shao Xunmei and Pictorial Magazines 53 Shao Xunmei and Salon Culture 60 The Yunshang Fashion Company 71 The Zhang Brothers—Designers 80 A Depiction of Shao Xunmei by Wang Zimei 85 A Letter to Emily Hahn 90 vi contents Part 2 Adoption of Foreign Models in Art and Literature 3 Miguel Covarrubias 95 Covarrubias Goes to China: 1930 100 Covarrubias Goes to China Again: 1933 104 Covarrubias’s Illustrations to Chine (China) 115 Chinese Artists and the Covarrubias Style 117 “Impossible Interviews” 122 Large-scale Group Caricatures 125 Ding Cong and the Mexican Muralists 126 The Legacy of Covarrubias 133 4 The Chinese Cartoonists and George Grosz 135 The Art of George Grosz in Shanghai 135 George Grosz and China 143 Proponents of the “Grosz-style” 144 A Foreigner’s View of the Grosz Imitators 150 Cai Ruohong: China’s “New Grosz”? 152 The Chinese View of Grosz’s Work 156 Conclusion 165 Part 3 The Dissemination of Chinese Political Art 5 Jack Chen in China 169 Chen Arrives in Shanghai 171 The Cartoons of Jack Chen in Shanghai 175 Chen and Soviet Socialist Realism 179 The Letters of Jack Chen 192 From China to Moscow and London: The Beginnings of Chen’s World Tour 202 Anthony Blunt: A Champion of Chen’s Cause 204 6 The First National Cartoon Exhibition 214 A Suitable Venue: The Sun Company Building 215 The Exhibition 220 News in the Shanghai Press 221 Jack Chen: The Only Foreign Exhibitor 224 Contents vii Portraiture: A Genre for Political Persuasion? 226 The Paintings of Hua Lu: Lacking a Political Message? 230 Surrealism: Modern Art and the Manhua Artists 236 Cai Ruohong Remembers 243 Foreigners on Manhua: Two Contrasting Views 246 A Review by Jack Chen 246 An Anonymous Critique 254 Zhang Guangyu’s Cover Design for Manhuajie 262 Manhua: An Art for China’s Future 272 7 Chinese Art and its Part in the Worldwide Fight against Fascism 275 Hong Kong: First Port of Call 281 Guangzhou: Caught in the Air Raids 286 Chen is Sent to Europe and America 289 Hu Kao: A Shanghai Cartoonist 293 Hu Kao and Jack Chen go to Yan’an 303 Hong Kong: Last Port of Call 308 Epilogue 313 Conclusion 327 Bibliography 337 Index 373 Acknowledgements This book began life as a doctoral thesis undertaken at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. During its preparation I was the recipient of a tremendous amount of generosity from both institutions and individuals. My greatest debt of thanks goes to my doctoral supervisor Professor Michel Hockx for his excellent advice and constant encouragement. I would also like to thank other members of the SOAS teaching staff: in the Department of China and Inner Asia, Professor Andrew Lo and Professor Bernhard Fuehrer and in the Department of Art and Archaeology Dr. Stacey Pierson. I also owe my thanks to two former members of teaching staff at SOAS who during my time there offered me much invaluable advice, Dr. John Carpenter and Professor Craig Clunas. Thanks also to my former colleagues at the Institute for Chinese Studies, University of Oxford, for their support when I was revising my the- sis for publication during the time I held the temporary post of Departmental Lecturer in Modern Chinese Literature in 2013–14. I would like to give my warm thanks to Mrs. Lilian Grosz and the Estate of George Grosz for their generosity in allowing me use images of the artist’s work in the book. An equal debt of thanks goes to Mrs. Yuan-tsung Chen, for her permission to include the written and visual information related to Jack Chen; for agreeing to be interviewed her at her home in Hong Kong, and for generously supplying me with copies of material from Jack Chen’s scrapbooks. I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to Dr. Ralph Jentsch, managing director of the George Grosz estate, for his generosity in supplying informa- tion on George Grosz. In addition I am grateful to the curators of the British Museum, in particular Mary Ginsberg, for allowing me access to the collection of prints and drawings which was formerly the property of Jack Chen and to the museum for giving me permission to reproduce a number of these images in the book. Professor Adriana Williams, Professor Tom Wolf of Bard College and Mrs. Carolyn Wong of the Huang Yao Foundation were all generous enough to supply me with valuable material from their own private collections. Thanks also to Mr. Avis Greenaway of Lawrence and Wishart for giving permission to reproduce the front cover of Jack Chen’s pamphlet Five Thousand Years Young as an illustration. Libraries have been especially important for my research and I am indebted to the librarians of the following institutions for their help: the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Senate House Library, The Library of the London School of Economics, The National Art Library, Tate Gallery Archives, The Marx Memorial Library, the library of the University of East Anglia and x acknowledgements the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Thanks also to Dr. Frances Wood, formerly of the British Library. In China and Hong Kong I was assisted by the staff of several institutions, the Shanghai Library and its annexe the Xujiahui cangshulou, Hong Kong Central Library and the library of Fudan University. At Fudan, on two extended trips, I was able to consult a large corpus of relevant material and am particularly grateful for the generosity and patience of the staff there. I would also like to give my thanks to Anne Labitzky-Wagner of the library of the Institut für Sinologie, Heidelberg for her assistance during two enjoy- able visits and to Professor Barbara Mittler for giving me the opportunity, on both occasions, to present the results of my work in progress to staff and stu- dents there. Thanks also to the staff of the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives New York University, the Upton Sino-Foreign Archive, Concord, New Hampshire, and the libraries of the University of California Los Angeles and Columbia University. For supplying me with copies of valuable primary source material and other important information my thanks go to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University; the archivists of Emmanuel College Cambridge and Cambridge University; the staff of the Lilly Library, Indiana University; and Maria Elvia Catalina Morales Juarez of the Archivo Miguel Covarrubias, Sala de Archivos y Colecciones Especiales, Universidad de las Américas Puebla.