Chinese Art
• Chinese art can be monumental and grand but also small and precious
• Artists apprenticed with master; religious and political patrons
• Often reflect one of two different philosophies– Daoism– Confucianism
• Importance of calligraphy as an art form
• Love and respect of nature
Daoism
• Dao= “the way”
• Laozi
• Emphasized religious journey searching for self-expression
• Oneness with nature, balance
• Representation in art
Confucianism
• Confucius
• Stresses education, devotion to family, mutual respect
• Huge focus on tradition
• Behavior, relationships, duty
Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, terra-cotta, c. 210 BCE, Qin Dynasty, Lintong, China
A Chinese Army Marching Into the Next World
• Archaeology-1974
• 8000 warriors, 100 wooden chariots, 2 bronze chariots, 30,000 weapons uncovered so far
• Scholars believe the soldiers were not meant to be seen
• Elaborate mausoleum designed to take emperor into the next life
• Started by Emperor Qin when he took the throne
• Made great advancements in China but brutal
• 700,000 laborers worked on army over 35 yrs
• Daoism represented
Literati
• Scholarly artists formed a counter-culture
• Defied tradition
• Often painted on paper, symbolic
• Painted for themselves rather than for fame/mass acceptance
Scrolls• Handscrolls-horizontal, can be unrolled
• Hanging scrolls-vertical, meant to display short term
• Colophon panels
• Neither for permanent display
• Taken out and admired, placed in special cabinet
• Silks often used
• Read right to left
• Relationship of painting and writing-especially with Literati artists
Dong QiChang, Dwelling in the Qingbian Mountains ,
1617, hanging scroll, ink on paper, Ming Dynasty.
• Literati artist
• Wealthy art critic and collector, also accomplished artist
• Painted in a way that was modern– Treatment of mountains looks very pattern-like– Composition is flattened by technique
Shitao, Man in a House Beneath a Cliff, ink on paper, Qing Dynasty, 17th century
• Literati painter who started a bold new movement in landscape painting
• Monk isolated in forbidding landscape
• Inaccessible terrain
• Dots of color arbitrary
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