This dissertation theorizes and examines the revival of interest in figure painting (renwuhua) in Republican China (1911–49). I argue that, in this period, figure painting assumed a central role to painters who sought to reform Chinese art, which was commonly understood as “declining.” This investigation will focus on the achievements of the Lingnan School (lingnan pai), which originated in the region of Guangdong but attained national recognition in the period of investigation. Attention will be paid to three painters of this school, namely Gao Jianfu, Fang Rending, and Huang Shaoqiang, whose figure painting was guided by divergent concerns to reform Chinese art. Chapter one analyzes figure painting as a discursive construct. By first tracing the emergence of discourses that Chinese art was “in decline,” the chapter will examine how such discourses endowed figure painting with symbolic meaning. The efforts to introduce European figure painting to China will also be investigated. Chapter two examines Gao Jianfu’s relationship with figure painting. The chapter traces this abnormal eruption of interest in figure painting and argues that it could be dated back to the 1930s when Gao was presented with a dilemma as his earlier successful formulae turned out to be not as effective. Chapter three delineates the career of Fang Rending, who was preoccupied with the concern to represent his “times” (shidai). By examining Fang’s exhibition activities in the Republican period, this chapter will show how Fang presented a different version of a “contemporary figure painting” each time, as well as his continuous effort to rebuild the vocabulary of the genre in ink and brush. The final chapter investigates Huang Shaoqiang’s quest to paint for “the people” by visualizing the experiences of the poor and the socially neglected. The discussion will examine the development of his idiosyncratic visual vocabulary and narrative strategies, which had a strong pessimistic flavor. This chapter will also demonstrate that his obsession with the realist ideal to “paint for the people” led him into structural difficulties that he was unable to resolve.

Creator

• Lam, Ka Ming Kevin

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-yvcg-4083

Subject

• Art history
• Asian studies

Language

• en

Alternate Identifier

• http://dissertations.umi.com/northwestern:14435
• etdadmin_upload_624695

Keyword

• Figure Painting
• Lingnan School
• Republican China

Date created

• 2018-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright