Origins of the Chinese avant-garde : the modern woodcut movement / Xiaobing Tang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tang, Xiaobing, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wood-engraving, Chinese--20th century.

Wood-engraving, Chinese.

Avant-garde (Aesthetics)--China--History--20th century.

Avant-garde (Aesthetics).

History.

China.

Physical Description:

xi, 300 pages, 10 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2008]

Summary:

In "Origins of the Chinese Avant-Garde, "Xiaobing Tang studies the art and art theories of the first half of the twentieth century, when modern Chinese art and literature emerged. He argues that the most consequential expression of the avant-garde was the modern woodcut movement that thrived in China in the 1930s. In this innovative study--also the first comprehensive account of this Chinese movement available in English--Tang examines the aesthetic, intellectual, and social appeal of the modern woodcut and places the movement at the intersection of historical events, individual efforts, and competing discourses on art. He also shows how the woodcut movement drew upon international inspiration--from German Expressionism, Soviet wood engravings, and Japanese creative prints.

Contents:

1 The Beautiful Object of Art 9

For an Aesthetic Education

Echoes of a New Calling

In Pursuit of an Art Movement

2 Art Theory as Passionate Discourse on Subjectivity 43

The Expressionist Imperative

In the Whirlpool of Revolution

To Represent an Epoch

3 The New Art Movement and Its Field of Vision 75

An Aesthetic of Vigor

Art and Its Discontent

Seeing in Black and White

4 The Making of the Avant-Garde 113

From the Ashes of the First Shanghai War

1933: Hangzhou and Beiping

A Visual Esperanto

5 The Avant-Garde and the National Imaginary 165

For a Public Art of the Nation

Guangzhou as Epicenter

Farewell, Shanghai

Conclusion: The Origins of Roar, China!

On Vision and Voice in Modern Chinese Art 213.

Notes:

"Ahmanson-Murphy fine arts imprint"--Prelim. p.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-284) and index.

ISBN:

9780520249097

0520249097

OCLC:

141187997