THESIS
2022
1 online resource (xv, 306 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color)
Abstract
The painting genre nude was conspicuously absent in Chinese traditional painting until the early 20
th century. One of the pioneers adopting the centuries-old Western subject nude presented with traditional Chinese ink and water method was indisputably Xu Beihong 徐悲鴻 (1895-1953), active between 1930s and 1950s. Xu, however, has left only a pittance of works in this genre. His student Yang Zhiguang 楊之光 (1930–2016), undisputedly, elevated this subject to a much higher level beginning in the early 1990s until his demise in 2016. He has produced a notable amount of nude works with his Realist method significant enough to be examined to reveal in this thesis an advancement not merely in techniques but also in content and modelling.
To highlight Yang’s achievements in advancing the nude art in...[
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The painting genre nude was conspicuously absent in Chinese traditional painting until the early 20
th century. One of the pioneers adopting the centuries-old Western subject nude presented with traditional Chinese ink and water method was indisputably Xu Beihong 徐悲鴻 (1895-1953), active between 1930s and 1950s. Xu, however, has left only a pittance of works in this genre. His student Yang Zhiguang 楊之光 (1930–2016), undisputedly, elevated this subject to a much higher level beginning in the early 1990s until his demise in 2016. He has produced a notable amount of nude works with his Realist method significant enough to be examined to reveal in this thesis an advancement not merely in techniques but also in content and modelling.
To highlight Yang’s achievements in advancing the nude art in modern Chinese art world, this thesis also analyses similar pursuits by his contemporaries, Xue Linxing 薛林興 (1951-) and Fu Xiaoshi 傅小石 (1932-2016), of their prolific output, personalized styles and vision in the same subject. As Yang’s version of Realism empathizes not merely verisimilitude but also lyricism with a note of sketchiness, a contrast between him and Lin Fengmian 林風眠 (1900-1991) whose nudes are known not for realism but strictly lyricism, is appended for a better understanding of Yang’s style and the possibility beyond realism of the nude in the modern Chinese art world.
To better understand Yang’s nude in the context of the Europe originated Realism, contrasts and comparisons with the European Realist nude painters will also be discussed. Three consequential European Post-Classical, or Modernist, nude painters: Gustave Courbet (1819 -1877), Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Edgar Degas (1834-1817), will be examined to better understand Yang’s performance in an East-West context.
The conclusion chapter will reveal Yang’s drawback and limitation in his presentations with regards to eroticism which is inexorable in (Western) nude art. How some of this works are close to voyeuristic indulgence will hence be discussed. Lastly, Yang’s influence in art education specifically on the subject nude will also be examined to offer an in-depth understanding of the possibility of nude art being presented with Chinese method and conception.
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