Traditional Chinese painting was fundamentally an abstract art form. Although there were no absolute abstract Chinese paintings in its original meaning, objects in a painting were not a direct copy of the nature world following the principle of perspective. It was rather a combination or harmony between the nature world and human emotion, a product of “heaven (nature) and human”. The effect Chinese painters would like to illustrate in their paintings was not a visual effect of colors and patterns as their Western counterparts would like to achieve. The description of objects in their paintings was no means accurate and few concerned about such factors as colors, principle of perspective, anatomy, surface feel, and relative size. What they would like to achieve was a world in their mind of non materials. The nature world was not an object for them to make a true copy and it was rather elements for them to build their own world.
Lin Ci, original name Zhang Qian, graduated from the Zhejiang Academy of Art and China Art Research Institute, where he earned an M.A. degree. He was a research fellow with China Art Research Institute, specializing in art history and visual arts. His major books include Accordion Pleated Skirts, Gospel Valley, and Mango Trees.
【目录】
Foreword
From Gu Kaizhi to Wu Daozi
Tomb Chamber Paintings
The Most Romantic Painting
“Communication of the Soul”
Spring Outing (You-Chun Tu)
Emperors of Great Prosperity
Another Figure Painting
“The Painting Saga”
Famous Paintings Record of Past Dynasties (Li-dai Ming-hua Ji)
Desert Treasures
Buddhism Going East
Dunhuang Mogao Caves
Lucid Mountains and Remote Streams
Northern Painters and Southern Painters
Song Huizong and his period
Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Qingming Shanghe Tu)
Panorama Shanshui
Su Shi and Mi Fu
Scholar Paintings
Zhao Mengfu and “Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty”
Plum Blossom, Orchid, Bamboo and Stone
“The Southern and Northern Sects”
“Four Monks” and “Four Wangs”
The End of Scholar Paintings and Famous Chinese Painters of Modern Times
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