the new chinese landscape

The New Chinese LandscapeAuthor(s): Chu-tsing Li and Thomas LawtonSource: Art Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Winter, 1967-1968), pp. 142-151Published by: College Art AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/775109 .

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Chu-tsing Li and Thomas Lawton

The New Chinese Landscape This article is an introduction to an exhibition of the same title, consisting of paintings by six contemporary Chinese artists, most of whom are from Taiwan. It is

being circulated by the American Federation of Arts in this country. Some of the ideas of this article were in- cluded in a lecture on "Contemporary Chinese Paint-

ing" given by Chu-tsing Li in connection with the exhibition at the University of Minnesota, at Stout State

University (Wisconsin), and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Since the beginning of the Western impact on China, one of the main problems in the development of Chinese culture and intellectual history has been whether China should strictly follow traditional ways or adopt Western ideas and practices. After Japan was for- cibly opened to the West by Perry in 1853 and after modernization along Western lines following the Resto- ration of Emperor Meiji in 1867, the Japanese began to adjust to the Western development while the Chinese clung tenaciously to their long and glorious tradition until the early 20th century. Even today, more than fifty years after the founding of the republic in 1911, this issue is not completely dead in China. This is especially the case in cultural activities, although in ideology and technology Western ideas and methods have been almost totally accepted. It is in this connection that some of the recent developments in art, both in Taiwan and on the mainland, are of interest to us.

To begin with, contemporary Chinese art inherited a tradition of painting that has had a continuous development for more than two thousand years. Recently many writers have pointed out the fact that in this long tradition the Chinese have worked with many ideas closely related to those in modern Western art. Such major developments as modern expressionism, formal- ism, mannerism, abstraction, among others, have had their analogous approaches in China's past. Many art historical concepts now current in the West can also find interesting parallels in China. This is part of the reason why, in spite of the fact that Chinese painting is almost the last major form of Oriental art to be seri-

ously studied in Europe and America, there has been such a growing interest in recent years in it among Western artists and art historians.

CHU-TSING LI is in the department of the history of art at the University of Kansas and is also research curator at the Nelson Gallery. Thomas Law ton is new assistant curator of Chinese art at the Freer Gallery, Washington, D.C. I

Paradoxically, most of the contemporary Chinese artists have not been aware of the significance of this

great tradition. Since the late 17th century, the general acceptance of literati painting, then the avant-garde art of China, by the art-loving emperors and their courts, has led to the establishment of a kind of new academic

style. Dependent not so much on nature as on a thor- ough study of past masters, including their techniques and their expressions, literati painting is a highly symbolic form of expression, with rich associations with the

past, for the cultural elite. In time, with persistent court patronage, it became sterile and repetitious, lack- ing the creative and imaginative elements necessary to meet new challenges. Even under the very strong West- ern impact of the last century, many Chinese painters still clung to this approach as a means of salvation and self-protection.

During the last 50 years, several major directions were apparent.' Literati painting was carried another step further to their own individual styles by such painters as Huang Pin-hung and Ch'i Pai-shih. In contrast, modern European styles were brought back to China by many painters who studied in Europe, among whom the most outstanding were Hsu Pei-hung and Liu Hai-su. It is interesting to note that though many painters trained in Europe, most of them, after their return to China, gradually abandoned their Western experiments and went back to their native traditions. In this connection, the most notable is Hsu Pei-hung, who, in spite of his success as a student of the academy in France, eventually found more satisfaction in China painting horses and cocks, which were a result of his pre-European training in China. Although many of them carried on both traditional and Western styles, none of them seem to have worked out an approach that can synthesize both the East and West.

One of the more interesting experiments in this direction is the Lingnan (Cantonese) School. Founded by the brothers Kao Chien-fu and Kao Ch'i-feng in the early years of the republic as a response to revolutionary zeal, it attempted to blend traditional elements of Chinese painting with the new Western realistic elements that came through Japan. The brothers introduced new subject matters such as airplanes and trains, new stylistic elements such as bright colors, shading, and atmosphere, combined with traditional brushwork

'For a comprehensive discussion of various directions in modern Chinese art, see Michael Sullivan, Chinese Art in the Twentieth Century, Berkeley, 1959.

ART JOURNAL XXVll 2 142



and medium. While it was an extremely bold and imaginative experiment, the school as a whole later on mis- took new elements from Japan in the early years of the 20th century, such as romanticism and sentimentality, as the major European approach, without following up on Europe's later developments and ideas.

Since 1949, when the Communists took over the mainland and the Nationalists moved to Taiwan, there have been some interesting trends.

Before the Communists gained power over the mainland, their whole approach, in ideological and lit- erary, as well as artistic matters, was Marxist and Rus- sian-oriented. Limited to a small area of China and fol- lowed by a hard core of tough and mostly young cadres, they looked to Russia for inspiration, translated Rus- sian literature and introduced Russian Art theories and works, as a means of opposing the traditional values up- held by the Nationalists. From the 1930's to 1949, the most common artistic medium was the woodcut, in a style originating in German social realism, such as in the works of Kdithe Kollwitz. The woodcut, a comparatively simple medium, is easy to work in, since wood is available anywhere, and easy to reproduce in newspa- pers and magazines. As the Chinese have had a long tradition in woodcut, even people in remote villages are used to it. It was quite an effective medium for propaganda.

After 1949, with Communist domination of the mainland, the situation changed completely. Suddenly they were confronted with the whole Chinese tradition. As a result, adjustments had to be made to embrace the past and present, the East and West. At the same time, the ideology had to be retained, since they regarded art as one of their most important weapons of indoctrina- tion.

In the first stage, they were faced with a large number of artists already well-established and respected throughout China. Most of them worked in the traditional style. Except for those who openly opposed their regime, the Communists tended to accept these well- known painters. The most notable case was Huang Pin- hung, who, born in 1864, was already very old, and who, as teacher, editor and painter, had a tremendous following and influence among contemporary painters. He was accepted and his works were published in various art journals as those of a great artist.

As mentioned above, Huang was perhaps the most creative artist in the contemporary literati tradition. His past background, his breeding and his development, were all quite different from the proletarian tradition the regime wanted to emphasize. Furthermore, there is a strong contradiction between his art and the Marxist ideology. The literati tradition, as represented by Huang, is completely aristocratic and individualistic, which cannot be easily compromised with the socialist point of view. It can hardly be understood by the peas-

ants. It is a far cry from socialist realism, which is the official theory of art on the mainland.

This issue of the literati approach was perhaps the most difficult problem in the formation of a new tradition of art on the mainland. The fact that the literati tradition is the most persistent and most profound ex-

pression of Chinese art during the last 1000 years cannot be ignored. It was a great tradition. It is both dam-

aging and costly to reject this whole past, for thousands of traditionally respected paintings will have to be shelved, if not destroyed, and hundreds of great names will have to be downgraded in the history of China. Thus a rather curious double-faced development took

place. Museums display many works of literati painters and periodicals published them as part of the great cultural tradition, while the literati theory of art was

strictly condemned as anti-proletarian and feudalistic, not suitable for modern needs. A number of interesting happenings throw light on the conflict in relation to this theory. In 1957 a new journal called The Chinese

Painting was published in Peking. Beginning as a quar- terly, the first two issues devoted three-quarters of its

space, including reproductions and essays, to traditional

painting, and only one quarter to modern works. Most of the articles dealt with the artists and problems of literati painting. After three issues, the whole format

changed completely, with only about one fifth devoted to traditional materials and the rest to propaganda paintings. Even now, in spite of the large number of

publications on Chinese painting from the mainland, there is as yet no major article dealing with such important personalities in literati painting as Chao Meng-fu and Tung Ch'i-ch'ang.

In adjusting the established artists to the new ide-

ology, a number of artists received special attention. Hsu Pei-hung, who was trained in the French Academy, was appointed shortly after 1949 to the presidency of the National College of Art in Peking, the highest art

organization in China, partly because of his introduction of realism to China. He held the position until his death in 1953. In his biography, the Communist writers

specially emphasized the poverty of his early childhood and his years of struggle to become a painter, all of which fits into the ideal of the humble anti-bourgeois background. Much more publicized is Ch'i Pai-shih, who started as a carpenter in his childhood before be-

coming a painter. This fact alone caused him to be sin-

gled out by authorities as the model painter, and proba- bly led to his being awarded the Peace Prize in Moscow in 1956. This publicizing of the backgrounds of artists is still emphasized. Many paintings have been published specifically because they are works of peasants and sol- diers.

Many individual artists adjusted to the new ideol-

ogy simply by introducing new subject matter. Most

typical of this are landscape paintings in more or less

143 Li and Lawton: The New Chinese Landscape



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Fig. i. Li Shih-ch'ing, Moving the Mountain to Fill the Valley, 1958.

Fig. 2. Group pointing, The Rising of the Sun over Mt. Tai, 1957.

traditional literati manner with references to such new activities as building of highways and dams. An interesting example of this type is Li Shih-ch'ing's Moving the Mountain to Fill the Valley, done in 1958 (Fig. 1). One

finds such traditional elements as the lofty mountain, the vertical cliffs, and the mist and clouds in the mid- dle. In the midst of all this the image of hundreds of

people working to change nature can also be seen. There is such a great difference between the literati

landscape and the new enthusiasm for industrialization and nation-building that a resolution of the two seems to be difficult to reach. Here, the artist seems to be still in admiration of the power of nature, which is traditional, rather than of the power of man to overcome nature, which is in the new ideology.

This type of painting is part of a process very popular in China-old bottles for new wine. It is an at-

tempt that typifies many cultural activities during the

early stages of Chinese communist mainland development. Changes are made in the popular Chinese operas, plays, historical narratives, and movies to show the new

ideology as a means of filling the masses with revolu-

tionary ideas. Not long before his death, at the age of 95, Ch'i Pai-shih painted a very simple painting consist-

ing of a branch of hyacinth, in his very free style, with an inscription, "Long Live My Country!" Again, to celebrate the Peace Conference of Asian and Pacific Areas held in Peking in 1952, he did a large painting, "The Hundred Flowers and the Doves." Actually, aside from the titles, there is nothing revolutionary or socialist about these paintings, but they have been accepted as great works on the mainland.

Perhaps the most interesting experiment in answer to the new ideology is the two paintings mainland China sent to Russia to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Republic of Russia in 1957, when relations between the two countries were still good. Both paintings were group works, each done

by 9 or 10 painters, a definite reference to the new needs of collectivism. Both paintings are symbolic in nature. The landscape, called The Rising of the Sun over Mt. Tai (Fig. 2), symbolizes the rising of communism over the horizon. The other painting, called Pines and Cy- presses Enjoying Eternal Spring, goes back to the traditional idea of the two trees as symbols of eternal

youth and endurance. Actually, aside from the Red Sun, the subjects of these two paintings would have fit into the needs of the imperial courts of the past.

The most publicized of this type of painting, re-

lying heavily on traditional style, but injected with the new symbolism and meaning, is How Beautiful Is the

Country (Fig. 3), the title of which is derived from a

poem by Mao Tse-tung and written on the painting by him, and the painting done by two leading artists, Fu Pao-shih and Kuan Shan-yueh. Again the red sun is used as the symbol of the new regime, shining over the vast landscape that stretches endlessly to the horizon. The painting is now decorating the wall of the People's Assembly Hall in Peking. Another painting, In the War

ART JOURNAL XXVII 2 144



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Fig. 3. Fu Pao-shih and Kuan Shan-yueh, How Beautiful Is the Country, with inscription by Mao Tse-tung.

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Fig. 4. Shih Lu, In the War of Northern Shensi.

of Northern Shensi (Fig. 4), by Shih Lu, goes back to depict Mao Tse-tung in the days of struggle. Again the vast stretches of landscape, in rocky mountains, with the profile of Mao standing on the red cliffs, is intended to glorify the present leadership.

So far, most of the attempts shown above have been made on elements exterior to the formal aspects of art, such as the emphasis on the poverty and struggles of the artists' early life, the new subject matter, the col-

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Fig. 5. New Year Painting, Singing Folk Songs to Send Their Representative to the Meeting.

lective approach, and the new symbolism. None of them has anything to do with the creation of a new style to express the new content. Most of the artists have been those already established with distinctive personal styles of their own. They all have a great mastery of technique and craftsmanship. However, in face of the new ideology, especially in the demand to eliminate individ- ualism and personality-cults, the artists are placed in a difficult position. Since their art must now serve the country and the party, it would be difficult for them to explore the formal interest and spiritual content of their works. They have to do works that are easily understood by the people. The closest of all those works to a synthesis between the traditional and the new ideology is perhaps In the War of Northern Shensi (Fig. 4). However, there are still problems. One can hardly resolve the style of this painting with party-line socialist realism. But perhaps one can explain that use of traditional style for new ideology as not contradictory in this case. Doesn't Mao Tse-tung himself still write poetry in the traditional Chinese five-character or seven-character line form?

But during the last several years, even this kind of painting based on tradition cannot satisfy the hard-line




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Fig. 6. Hsiao I-li, Spring Wind and Rain Breeding New Seeds.

theorists. From the current publications one can see in- dications of things to come. Paintings in the traditional

style are fewer in number, while two types of works are

receiving greater attention. The first is a new kind of "New Year Picture," a type used in China traditionally as home decorations during every new year. The idea that it is a kind of folk art, dealing with Chinese leg- ends and stories, usually done by little known artists, fits into the ideology of the art of the people. The style itself, usually very naturalistic, with bright colors, elabo- rate details, and many figures, is very easily understood

by the people. Some of the subjects are "The Great

Happy News of the Chinese Peoples," "Unity of the Chinese People," "A New Locomotive Rolling out of the Factory," and "Singing Folk Songs to Send Their

Representative to the Meeting" (Fig. 5). The second is socialistic realist paintings, mostly in

oil on canvas. Completely Western in approach, it pur- ports to follow the style brought back first from the French academy and later from Russia. Yet this is the

type of painting very much promoted on the mainland, as an answer to their new needs (Fig. 6). The fact that China is following a hard-line Marxism, and criticizing the revisionism of Russia, is an indication that in the direction of art, they are also pushing 19th century realism as the most acceptable approach, with its long association with socialist struggles in Europe and America, and with its potential for a more profound expression of their ideology. Considering this, the days of traditional literati approach in mainland China seem to be numbered.

If the experience of Russia after their 1917 revolution can serve as a guide, it will not be difficult to see what lies ahead in painting on the mainland. In the

early days of the Russian Revolution, the Soviets attempted to identify themselves with all the progressive and liberal elements in the country. In art, they at-

• ............

Fig. 7. Chang Dai-chien, The Warmth of the Green.

tracted such leading artists as Kandinsky, Chagall, Mal- evitch, Gabo, Pevsner, and many others who were avant-garde artists in Europe. For some years after 1917, these artists seem to have worked well in their experiments towards their abstract, fantastic, suprematist, and constructivistic directions. But during the early 1920's, the party clamped down on them and laid down heroic realism as the strict line for art. From then on one after another left Russia (except Malevitch), to settle in Ger- many, France and England, to pursue their own art.

A similar situation seems to be happening in China. For more than ten years mainland authorities had to compromise with the long and strong literati tradition. Many of the paintings by these traditional painters still decorate public buildings and official residences of high officials. Now, however, the oldest generation of literati painters has passed away, and the hardening of the ideological viewpoint has also made itself felt in art. Among the leading members of the party in Peking, very few seem to have any basic understanding of art. Thus, during the several waves of persecutions and

purges, including the recent one, while there are large numbers of writers, dramatists, movie makers and critics being persecuted, comparatively few artists have suffered the same fate. But this ignorance of art among the lead- ers seems to be also responsible for this hard pushing of socialist realism. Under these circumstances, artists are restricted in their searches and explorations. In this situation, there is as yet no synthesis in sight in the art of the mainland. What lies ahead remains to be seen.

Since. 1949, many Chinese painters have lived and developed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and abroad. For them, the situation is totally different from that on mainland China. Left very much to themselves, without much public support, they have to depend on their art for a living. Many of them are teachers, advertising artists, decorators, or clerks. As such, they are free to ex-




plore into either traditional styles, as many of the liter-

ati painters still do, or the Western influences, as many

younger artists are doing, or the inner self, as a few of them are doing. In spite of the fact that sometimes com- mercial interests tend to dominate their directions, the more serious ones can usually be independent. Many of them are very dedicated artists who work under ex-

tremely difficult conditions. They have not had much

encouragement, either public or private, no financial

support, no opportunity to see Western painting, and no outlet for their paintings. Yet it is under these conditions that a number of artists have developed and established themselves.

During the last 17 years, some of the best devel-

oped artists are those Chinese who have been fortunate

enough to live abroad, in Europe, America and South America. With constant contact with the new currents of Western art, and with a solid training in traditional Chinese painting, they have taken various directions. Some of them have become established as painters in the international community of modern artists. The de-

velopment of such artists as Zao Wou-ki, now living in

Paris, and Tseng Yu-ho, now living in Honolulu, has been well-known. Another interesting example is Chang Dai-chien, who, in his advanced age, is now living near

Silo Paulo, Brazil. In an exhibition in London in 1965, he showed his vitality and creative aspect by experi- menting with some abstract landscapes in the traditional ink on paper medium (Fig. 7). Without his years living and travelling abroad, it is easy to see that his works would never have taken this new direction, which is quite a departure from tradition but achieves a new vision in landscape. In these three artists, there are some common elements. Born and raised and trained in

China, but with broad experiences in the West, they represent the modern Chinese artists who take the present world rather than that of the literati as their main source of inspiration. Thus the traditional style cannot serve to express their own feeling and their outlook.

They keep searching for the best means to objectify their experience. They constantly experiment with new

techniques, new media, new concepts of time and space, new symbols, in order to embrace the past and present, China and the rest of the world. But deep in their hearts, they seem to seek to perpetuate the profound ex-

pression of the traditional literati, in blending their

past dreams and present yearnings into a new synthesis. In a way, their success abroad has given inspiration to the younger painters from China outside of the mainland.

"The New Chinese Landscape" as an exhibition was intended to bring a number of these new directions to attention abroad. The basic unity of the selection is based on their attempt to be different, to be a-traditional and yet still traditional, to be modern and yet

still strongly Chinese. Two of these artists, Chen Chi- kwan and Wang Chi-chuan, have spent many years liv-

ing in America and are well-known in the American art world. But the other four have lived most of their lives on the mainland and in Taiwan. Most of them, though solidly trained in the techniques of traditional Chinese

painting, are not satisfied with simple imitation of the

past and are determined to find personal means to ex-

press their memories, dreams, anguish and suffering. Es-

sentially, in spite of their different styles and approaches, they share the same outlook as Zao Wu-ki, Tseng Yu-ho and Chang Dai-chien mentioned above.

One of the basic factors that characterize all of them is suggested by the title of the exhibition, namely their interest in landscape that has been the standard theme in Chinese art for many centuries. This means that a continual interest in the spiritual aspect of the Chinese literati painting tradition, which, through the centuries, has stressed painting as a means of self-expression rather than direct imitiation of nature. It is an in- tuitive and individualist art, but also maintains strong contact with the past through its emphasis on the study of the great masters. To a certain extent, in spite of their individual departures from the past, this group of artists seem to be interested in continuing the more creative and spiritual aspects of this literati tradition. Most of them have at least been trained in this tradition or have seen enough of the old masters to be interested in revitalizing this old tradition in the modern world.

To enhance their creative search for a more spiritual expression, all of them have experimented a great deal with techniques and media to find the best means for their art. In this Chen Chi-kwan is most interesting, having changed his approach many times during the

past 15 years. With a predilection for the long, narrow format, either vertical or horizontal, he will use simple black and white, or dazzling color, or exaggerated detail as in architectural drawing, but sometimes depend on a few bold, quick strokes as in a Zen painting, to capture his fascination with nature, either from his wartime ex-

perience in Chungking and the Yangtze River, or from his renewed contact with Chinese landscape in Taiwan. In contrast, Yu Cheng-yao, who never painted until his retirement a few years ago, is somewhat like a Chinese

"primitive," a Chinese Henri Rousseau. Because of his lack of traditional training, his brushwork is usually considered too raw and too undisciplined by many artists. But perhaps because of this quality, he is free from all the restrictions of tradition and has let fly his own

imagination derived from memories of his past travels on the mainland. On the other hand, Wang Chi-chuan, who was well-trained as a literati artist and achieved fame in China in the 1930's as a traditional painter, has, during the past decade while living in New York




and Hong Kong, tried to combine the boldness and vi-

tality of the Abstract Expressionism with his own back-

ground. His experiments have resulted in new textures and new images in his art, achieved by some of his special techniques of rubbing the surface of the paper or

letting the ink seep through layers of paper. The other three painters, Chuang Che, Fong Chung-ray and Liu

Kuo-sung, all members of the avant-garde Fifth Moon

Group in Taiwan, have been trained in both traditional and Western media. For some time in their de-

velopment, dissatisfied with the brush technique of the

past, they painted in the strictly Western oil on canvas. It was not, until 1963 that they began to experiment with bold techniques along with the traditional media.

Chuang Che, still clinging to the oil on canvas approach, has introduced collage technique by pasting Chinese

paper, often painted, to the canvas (actually a kind of coarse cloth produced locally in Taiwan). More re-

cently, he even drew upon the literati tradition by put- ting lines of poetry on his works. Fong Chung-ray, on the other hand, turned from a sensitive feeling for color in oil to paper. Instead of using the brush, he rolled up palm leaves that grow abundantly in Taiwan and used them as his brushes, achieving a startling but refreshing result. But the most interesting experiment on paper is found in Liu Kuo-sung's works. After moving from canvas to paper, he first tried to apply bold strokes to the traditional paper. Soon he began to use a kind of cotton paper with heavy fibres and achieved an astonishing result in textures. Eventually he ordered a special kind of extremely coarse cotton paper from the mills. After

painting on the surface, usually in dark ink, but sometimes with some color, he pulled out the heavy fibres and achieved a marvellous texture. By painting sometimes on the back of the paper and sometimes applying slight color on the surface of the dark areas, his surfaces

appear to be most complex and exciting. Through all these experiments, each of these artists

developed a very individual style of his own, a distin- guishing mark of modernity in a land that is very tradition-oriented. The style of Yu Cheng-yao, a retired general now in his 60's can be said to be the most traditional of the group. Reminiscent of such masters as Wang Meng (14th c.), Wen Cheng-ming (16th c.) and Wu Pin (17th c.), his paintings show mountains built

up from numerous little strokes (Fig. 8). Upon close ex- amination, these strokes do not seem to suggest very strong forms. But seen from a distance, they present a whole series of mountain formations, usually very craggy and precipitous, in sharp light and dark con- trasts, that are both real and imaginary, both familiar and fantastic. Having spent most of his life on the mainland, but now living alone in Taiwan, he devotes almost all his time to painting this kind of landscape as an expression of his heart's desire-a retreat or an es-

cape from the turmoil of the world.

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Fig. 8. Yu Cheng-yao, Lofty Mountain, Lake Vista.

In his attempt to combine traditional literati painting and Western abstract expressionism, Wang Chi- chuan brings the Chinese scholar-painter face to face with the modern West (Fig. 9). His years of travels in the world is but a re-affirmation of the literati motto "read ten thousand volumes and walk ten thousand miles." With a large number of Chinese painting from

Sung to the 20th century in his collection, he seems to have gained an insight into the creative minds of the

past and is determined to find his own place in the modern world. Thus his art is always a synthesis of the past and present. Images of such artists as Wang Yiian-ch'i, Shih-t'ao, Chu Ta and Kung Hsien recur in his works. Thus experience, travel, culture, taste, and zest for a gentleman's life, all these characteristics of a Chinese literati, are part of Wang's expression in the modern world.

With his youthful experience in mainland China and his training in American concepts of space and




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. . . . . . . .. . .. . . ............... . . . . . . . . .

Fig. 9. Wang Chi-chuan, Flowing Water In Spring Rivers, 1964, Charles Drenowatz Collection, Zurich.

Fig. 10. Chen Chi-kwan, Calls in the Mist, 1964.

time in modern architecture, Chen Chi-kwan, now in his 40's, has also the broad experience of Wang but lacks his literati background. Chen is fascinated by form, by visual excitement. Through his architectural training, he now sees the Chinese landscape with new eyes. Whether in linear patterns or color conglomera- tions, he would see mountains, rivers, waterfalls, tun- nels, the sun and the moon expand or shrink, not so much to shake our nerves as to lead us to new visual relationship (Fig. 10). There is always a surprise, an unexpectedness, a joyful discovery, and an excitement as if a whole new world is opened up. Although he only took up residence in Taiwan a few years ago, his works show the feeling of an artist, who, after wandering for many years around the world, has found a new identity in the soil of Taiwan.

As the leader of the Fifth Moon Group in Taiwan, Liu Kuo-sung, who is in his mid-30's, is perhaps the spokesman of the new generation of artists. He and his group, who came to Taiwan in their teens and spent all their adult years there, all looked to America and Eu- rope for new ideas and inspiration. In spite of the fact that they had almost no access to authentic Western painting in Taiwan, they absorbed the new trends from art journals and exhibition catalogues sent from abroad. Turning away from the traditional practice in art schools in China, Liu did not stay either within the "Chinese" or "Western" line of development, but crossed the lines as he deemed necessary. It was after years of agonizing search that he finally found his own way of synthesizing the traditional and Western painting into a new expression. Using brush and the cotton paper mentioned above, he painted abstract works, mostly in black and white, to which he gave titles from traditional Chinese paintings with motifs of mountains,

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clouds, rain, snow and trees (Fig. 11). With his new

techniques, he seems to be able to give these motifs an

ever-changing effect. In a way this is still an extension of the attempt of such Sung artists as Kuo Hsi and Ma Yiian to capture the fleeting effects of nature. But here, instead of copying the Sung masters, Liu is trying to

capture the spirit rather than the mere shapes or brushwork of them. Pushing these elements to their abstract level, he bridges the images of nature and the absolute formal values of our times. One of his most interesting paintings is the long handscroll in the exhibition, in which he uses the traditional format to achieve an abso-

lutely new expression of the traditional "spirit conso- nance."

Chuang Che is the son of the present associate di- rector of the Palace Museum in Taiwan, but in his artistic direction he is the most rebellious against the tradition. In fact, he is the closest to the "angry young man" of Chinese art today. Although his life is rather

simple and secluded on the outside, its inner aspect is intense and even violent. In his collages combining oil and ink, canvas and paper, he blends artistic shapes and written poems (Fig. 12). His forms are dark, heavy masses, sometimes precariously justaposed and sometimes violently clashing against each other. All these, as indicated by some of his poems, seem to express a persistent feeling about a country torn apart. This deeply felt anger and sadness is powerfully rendered in his

paintings. Undoubtedly, Chuang has found from the American Abstract Expressionism a means most suitable to reveal his intense feeling for the land, which he re- fers to in one of his poems as: "It was so beautiful, yet so desolate!"

If in the works of all those mentioned above some kind of reference to nature can still be found, in the

paintings of Fong Chung-ray there is complete abstraction (Fig. 13). Even the titles are given only in terms of

years and numbers. In spite of this, his works still evoke the mist-covered mountains or cloud strewn forests of traditional landscape in China, such as those of Mu-ch'i or Yu-chien of Sung dynasty. However, Fong, who was trained in both traditional and Western approaches, drawing from an almost Jackson Pollock technique, ex-

presses a kind of lyricism reminiscent of the late Monet.

Drawing from the colors, light and shapes of Taiwan, he strives for formal values beyond the actual shapes. Combining sensitive colors with dark ink tones, he leads us into a world of light-hearted poetry.

These six artists by no means represent all the

major directions of Chinese painting outside the mainland, but they are sufficient to indicate a new sense of

vitality. In spite of their departure from tradition, they represent the creative efforts of modern literati painting. Rather than living the old dreams in the formulas

developed by literati painters centuries before, they have tried to absorb modern elements, whether Chinese

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Fig. 11. Liu Kuo-sung, Mountains Covered with Snow, 1964.

or Western, to express their emotions and feelings. For the most part, living away from the mainland, in a kind of exile or semi-exile, they have cultivated in their art memories of the landscape of the mainland, or the sadness and suffering of the broken land, or joy or poetry in the discovery of Taiwan, or an extension of the Chinese feeling for landscape to other parts of the world. Their feeling is strong and genuine. In the typical Chinese tradition, they have objectified it in land-

scape painting, even though in some of them it is so abstract that it becomes pure form itself.

It is in this contrast between the recent developments on the mainland and those outside, especially in the Taiwan artists, that one can see the yearnings of both areas. In their strong urge for modernization and industrialization, mainland art today demands strict socialist realism as an answer to its materialistic needs. In spite of its adjustments, literati painting is facing a great crisis. Thus, there is as yet no synthesis in sight in the mainland development. On the other hand, among the many artists working in Taiwan, Hong Kong and abroad, as reflected in the work of the six artists in the




Fig. 12. Chuang Che, Sublimation, 1964.

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IX

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Fig. 13. Fong Chung-ray, Painting 1965-54.

exhibition, there seems to be, at last, a beginning of a

synthesis of the past and present, Chinese and Western. It can be seen as the renaissance of literati painting in the modern world, or the beginning of a development in Chinese painting to become part of the international art of the 20th century.

NOTE: Figures 1-5 are reproduced from Selected Paint-

ings from 1949-1950, Peking, 1960, Figure 6 from Mei- shu Monthly, 1965, 5, Fig. 7 from the catalogue of Chang Dai-chien exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 10

August-4 September, 1965. Fig. 10 is reproduced by courtesy of Mi Chou Gallery, N.Y.

The author, a frequent contributor to ART JOURNAL, is a professor of art history at State University College, New Paltz, N.Y. He revisited Japan in the spring of 1966. His book, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes (Charles Tuttle, Rutland, Vt. and Tokyo) was published earlier last year.

Hugo Munsterberg

Tradition and Innovation in Modern Japanese Painting

The great problem facing artists in all modern non-Western nations is how to meet the overwhelming influence of Western art without losing their national

identity. In China, India, Japan, Persia, and Africa, the

impact of European art has been so powerful that it has

virtually displaced the older, indigenous traditions. The reaction to this problem has varied from country to

country, depending on the vitality of the native culture and the strength of the Western influence, but the artists of all these countries have had to face this problem and in one way or another, accommodate themselves to the challenge.

In general, there have been three basic reactions. The first and most natural is to resist the encroachment of the foreign culture and try to preserve the native traditions. This has not been possible, however, since the new concepts do not exist in isolation but are part of a far more profound change which affects the entire social and cultural fabric of these countries, and at the same time, weakens the traditional culture, of which the older art is an expression. This is particularly true in Africa where the tribal art produced today is no longer a meaningful expression of African society, but is an imitation of older art forms which are reproduced to sell to tourists. The second response is an enthusiastic ac-

ceptance of Western art as the inevitable wave of the future, coupled with the rejection of traditional art as

something outworn which has no validity in the modern world. The third solution is to try to work out a

meaningful synthesis between the old and the new, thus

creating a modern but distinctly national art. The non-Western tradition which has proved to be

the most vigorous in the world today is that of Japan. In this country, where art has always played such a vital role, the impact of the West has been more far

reaching than in any place in Asia, so that the nature of this influence and the probable outcome can be more

readily assessed. There can be no question that the artistic life of Japan, especially in Tokyo, is the most ac- tive of all the non-Western countries, and that there are more art exhibitions and art magazines in Japan than

anyplace else in the world. Since Japanese scholars and art critics are keenly interested in this question, Japan

151 Munsterberg: Tradition and Innovation in Modern Japanese Painting



the new chinese landscape

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