Beijing Weekend
March 20-22,1998-13

Modern Chinese art
and the reaction to non-realistic art tendencies

Hans van Dijk 1998

Modern art began in China, just like in Europe, at the turn of the 20th century. But as different as it's art historical background and point of initiation was, modern art in China became defined by the search for and development of the entire spectrum of realistic art styles.

The influence of abstract artists or trends, such as Piet Mondrian or the constructivists, on modern Chinese art is a relatively small one. Compared to artists such as Van Gogh or the Impressionists, abstraction's critical reaction, as well as it's tangible effect on actual artworks was and is significantly less.

The main reasons are both art historical and social ones. Firstly, since the twelfth century, realism has played a subdued role in Chinese art. Secondly: both Chinese intellectuals and painters throughout this century have stressed the importance of an art that is accessible to a broad audience.

Over the last few centuries, traditional Chinese painting has seen artists and scholars concerned with the issue of how to continue this long tradition. Compared to the history of art in Europe, neither realism nor realistic effects has served as an important standard or objective for Chinese artists.Instead, the study and analysis , both, practical and theoretical, and the continuation of this impressive tradition had been the main inspiration and challenge during the history of Chinese art.

At the end of the Qing dynasty a broad attack was launched against the intellectual legacies of the passing era. The attack did not spare the so called 'Literati painting' which was accused of occupying an ivory tower position in society.

Except for some incidental introductions during the sixteenth century , the first profound contact with what was soon to be called "Western painting" took place at the end of the 19th century by Chinese artists studying in Japan. At the beginning of the 20th century a growing number of painters began to study in Paris, Berlin and Brussels. The majority of them were most impressed by European realistic painting techniques. Although at the time they were surrounded by what was considered revolutionary developments, in the context of western art history, they choose instead to devote themselves to studying academic and Salon painting.

Western realistic painting was quickly identified with science- the newly introduced western science - which promised to help regain a grip on reality after the recent decline of traditional society. Based on the 19th century motto "Chinese learning for the essence, Western learning for practical purpose" (Zhongxue wei ti, Xixue wei yong) a widespread import of realistic painting disciplines were undertaken.

After returning from their study abroad, most of the Chinese artists began to introduce and promote western academic painting-techniques in China. In fierce opposition to the ivory tower that Literati-painting had occupied this new style was meant to replace the highly sophisticated and principally non-realistic character of the Literati tradition. Based on a theory of giving the visual arts a broader social function, these artists set up art academies, schools and study groups where drawing and painting from nature was taught.

Later, in the twenties and thirties socialist and communist intellectuals , for similar reasons began to pay attention to the long neglected folk arts of China. They employed woodcut prints to spread and popularize their ideological beliefs. For more anthropological and scientific aims, such as studying the cultural richness of China's many non-Han minorities , artists were required to depict their subjects in a meticulous, realistic way.

Besides ideological and scientific motivation, the desire to reveal the results of civil war, colonialism, and poverty led artists to use a broadly accessible means of expression. Later at the end of the thirties another national catastrophe; the Japanese invasion, united formerly opposed artists in their choice of using a clear and therefore realistic style of painting to express their patriotism.

With the establishment of the People's Republic of China, a new artistic source utilizing realism was employed. Russian socialist realism was introduced and subsequently dominated the arts of China for the next three decades.

The opening up of the country at the end of the seventies marked an end to almost three quarters of a century in which Chinese modern art, first due to technical then to ideological reasons, responded directly to national events. The beginning of the eighties also marked a widespread introduction of western modern art to China.

In a rather arbitrary way a growing amount of information streamed into the country. Besides foreign catalogues and other material distributed by visitors, the first Chinese publications also began to circulate throughout the art community. These publications were for a long time of poor printing quality and used black and white illustrations. Since the mid eighties, however, color reproductions began to appear and the printing quality gradually improved.

During the early eighties this flood of foreign information caused heated debates in the art world. From both the official standpoint and the young generation, there was opposition to these outside influences similar to that felt during the twenties and thirties. Confronted with styles which could possibly lead art to an isolated position in society, like Literati-art did at the end of the Qing Dynasty, artists were hesitant to accept these new forms.

In 1979 and 1980, the then 60-year old artist Wu Guanzhong published a number of articles in which he argued that art should not aim at providing literary, historical, or any other content, as form itself is the substance of art, and the beauty of the form is independent of the depicted subject . He held that the content of the work is decided by the form as it develops during the creative process. Other authors rushed to support Wu's ideas, arguing that in Chinese calligraphy and traditional landscape painting, the aesthetic effects were not only created by the depiction of certain subject matter, but also by abstract qualities such as rhythm and composition.

"Flags" (fig.1) by Yuan Yunfu (born 1932), "Emperor's Tomb" (fig.2) by Chen Junde (born 1937) and "Trees" (fig. 3) by Huang Qingqi (1938-1982) can illustrate Wu Guanzhong's plea. Art works in the traditional media, ink wash on rice paper, like "Qiu Jin's former residence" (fig.4) by the author, Wu Guanzhong, also demonstrate the discussed themes.

Up till the end of the eighties all kinds of experimental works appeared that combined recently introduced information with pre-existing techniques and methods . There is no doubt that Li Huimin while painting "Red" (cover) was inspired by a Mondrian reproduction. Then in the tradition of Chinese landscape painting he added the sitting figure completing the work in a trice. Sheng Jun in "Suspension" (fig. 5), painted his Mondrian with a few expressive black brush strokes upon a three colored ground.

In the nineties theoretical discussions about realism versus abstract art made room for themes like 'cultural-' or 'national identity'. Strategies on how to gain international fame and observations and reports about the art market for Chinese 'avant-garde' art took precedent over aesthetic debates.

In the meantime, after about two decades of Chinese contemporary art, several artists, while ignoring the continual summons from the art theoretical front - both official and unofficial - to play a constructive and responsible role in society, developed a personal style and direction. Some of them can be related to western abstract art and some directly to Piet Mondrian.

However, for artists all over the world, especially for Chinese and other non-western artists, 'being influenced' no longer means following and studying one cultural tradition or one great master. In fact all relationships between artistic oeuvres have various configurations and aspects that can seldom be defined as a one-to-one relationship.

When we label the above mentioned "Red" of Li Huimin and "Suspension" of Sheng Jun as 'incidents', other contacts with Mondrian could be understood as meetings at 'cross sections', 'parallel roads' or at temporarily shared 'one way streets'.

Luo Qi in 1992 painted signs derived from archaic scriptures. The roughly painted black signs were done mostly on monochromatic backgrounds. The following years his paintings became more balanced, using finer structures with various harmonious colors serving as backdrops. In his most recent work painterly effects are left and the sign-like forms have become independently stronger shapes that dominate the composition and suggest the original representational qualities of the archaic script.

In Luo Qi's early script-like black signs, all spatial effects were absent . However, when his work developed in 95-96, the well balanced black line structures show a strong resemblance to Mondrian's compositions in line and color of 1913 . The development of Mondrian's work from then on continued towards abstraction. Luo Qi instead tended to accept the descriptive qualities of his work.

When the Fauvists at the turn of the century painted their expressive works they regarded the surface of a painting as two dimensional, having neither foreground nor background, bright colors laid side by side. Yi Ling developed a similar attitude and technique after making a long journey through China. He was fascinated by the folk art he saw on his trip especially it's strong, sometimes rude, expressive qualities. The elements of his paintings, although sometimes derived from realistic objects, are arranged in a flat bright colored pattern where a realistic end result is of little importance.

Mai Zhixiong's large canvasses show realistic, but schematically depicted, spaces and forms in strong, unrealistic colors. The texture of the paintings, consist of sprayed and painted acrylic surfaces divided by pencil lines.

For the past 5 years he has been teetering between abstraction and realism, evading both narrative scenery painting as well as abstract color field painting. This attempt to reduce as much as possible without completely crossing over into abstraction can be compared to the efforts of Bart van der Leck who also never completely abandoned his realistic subjects. But different from the Dutch De Stijl - painters, is Mai Zhixiong's willingness to use colors other than the primary ones.

In the early eighties Ding Yi, then inspired by the Italian painter Utrillio, started a process of gradually reducing his landscape painting. In 1988 only patterns consisting of black crosses, painted with the use of tape on colored backgrounds remained.

The cross, according to Ding Yi, represent the essential element: horizontal and vertical lines comprise all what is available for the painter. This can be read as a close encounter with the dogmas of De Stijl. However, Ding Yi accepts the materiality of his medium, the expressive richness of brush strokes, where Mondrian and the De Stijl-painters searched for purity in reducing elements and refining their symbolic means.

The above mentioned artists are only a summary of those Chinese artists who can be related to Mondrian, the list is far from complete. Of all those artists that have felt Mondrian's influence Liu Ye, undoubtedly takes the most prominent place.

Liu Ye places Mondrian's paintings in surreal landscape and interiors, often loaded with threatening elements: collapsing airplanes and sinking ships under dark skies. The Mondrians, all repainted after existing originals, function as the only resting point in a fearful world.

The witty figures can't hide his radical views on the recent history. Instead of "Chinese learning for the essence, Western learning for practical purposes", which in fact was never replaced by another approach, he bluntly shows children and the renowned artist Qi Baishi, confronted with threats from abroad, consulting the book "Piet Mondrian - Rot Gelb Blau" (Piet Mondrian - Red Yellow Blue).