Contemporary Chinese landscape paintings: genealogies of form

ABSTRACT

This article examines differing conceptions of ‘form’ in Western and Chinese landscape traditions, leading to critical perspectives on contemporary Chinese landscape painting. The paper argues that Chinese oil landscapes tend to be conservative, while ink landscapes are more experimental. Furthermore, Western Formalism can be shown to influence Chinese landscape painting, expanding possibilities for both oil and ink contemporary works. Nonetheless, a longer tradition equally persists. Su Shi (1037–1101), for example, who prefigures the literati painting approach, remains an enduring influence. The scholarly style, experimental during the Song Dynasty, conveys a painting's spiritual expression over precise techniques. An examination across Western and Chinese traditions enables a genealogical reading of form in the work of contemporary Chinese artists, bridging history and modernity, Western and Eastern styles, and accounting for differing approaches to form.

KEYWORDS:

• Contemporary landscape painting
• form
• Chinese oil painting
• Chinese ink painting
• Su Shi

Acknowledgements

I sincerely gave thanks to my principal supervisor Elisabeth Findlay, Professor Sunil Manghani, my associate supervisor Laini Burton for their contribution to this article. The article as a part of my doctor research, along with encouragement, Elisabeth gave me indispensable instructions on the main idea, structure, and the feasibility of composing the article from the perspective of form. Sunil contributes a great deal to this article from the aspects of development of the contents and language embellishment to accurately and concisely articulate concept and ideas, especially on the clarification and differentiation of forms in Chinese and Western discourses and connection with the Su Shi’s influence on Chinese contemporary landscape paintings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The manuscript was composed in 1079 when Sushi was exiled for literary slander and dispatched to be a minor official in Huangzhou (Huanggang, Hubei) on Cold Food Festival which was celebrated in memory of Jie Zitui, a local hero and a loyal servant of Chong’er, the Duke Wen of Jin (697–628BC) during Spring and Autumn Period. Later, the festival was regarded as a general festival for the dead (Holzman 1986, 63, 68, 74, 79). The festival featured eating cold food and putting out fires (Holzman 1986). In the fourth month of Su’s third year in Huangzhou, he inscribed and transcribed his two poems on the Cold Food Observance in Rain in calligraphy to his handscroll. In this script, Su started with cherishing spring. The spring departed without lingering. After two months of autumn-like dreary weather, he suffered the drenching rain again. The force of the rain was unrelenting. Su’s house was like a fishing boat in the midst of fog and water. In an empty kitchen, Su boiled cold vegetables in a broken stove burning damp reeds beneath. The scraps of paper money picked up by the crows reminded him of the festival. This reminder exacerbated his misery when he recalled his exile experiences. He felt his heart was like dead ashes that could not be rekindled (National Palace Museum 2017).

2 View the image, please view online https://www.hauserwirth.com/ursula/22376-zeng-fanzhi-studio/ (the fourth figure).

3 View the video, please view online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuZs7EDaB2w.

4 View the image, please view online https://theme.npm.edu.tw/opendata/gSearch.aspx?cx=012903010085675386406:snfzap30cgu&hl=en&cof=FORID:10&ie=UTF-8&q=zhao%20gan&lang=2.

5 View the image, please view online https://www.ashmolean.org/event/wu-guanzhong.

6 View the image, please view online https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/382908486 (the sixth figure).

7 View the image, please view online http://ccwm.china.com.cn/lz/txt/2013-03/20/content_5815365_2.htm (the sixth figure).

8 View the image, please view online https://www.docin.com/p-1539018275.html (the third figure).

9 View the image, please view online https://www.docin.com/p-1539018275.html (the second figure).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Qing Yang

Qing Yang is currently conducting research in the Doctor of Visual Art program at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University and is undertaking research on landscape painting composition combined with Chinese and Western drawing methods. She explores her ideas through the theme of Chinese classical gardens and draws series of garden paintings. Her many works have been exhibited in provincial and national exhibitions in China. In 2021, her painting Garden-the Ideal Way of Lifes has been selected for the exhibition of the Schema and Spirit- the 2nd Chinese Oil Painting Biennale held by Chinese Artist Association.