Chen Shizeng (1876-1923) and his practice for modernising Chinese scholarly painting in early twentieth-century Beijing

Abstract

This dissertation offers the first in-depth and comprehensive study of the approaches deployed by Chen Shizeng 陳師曾 (1876-1923) to modernise and revive wenren hua 文人畫 (scholar painting, scholarly painting or literati painting) in the early twentieth century. This study posits three general questions. Against the background of the eastward spread of Western learning, how did Chinese painterly traditions and ‘new knowledge’ interact and compete with one another in a process of reform? How did Chen Shizeng propel scholarly painting towards modernity and contribute to the formation of modern Chinese art in Beijing? What roles did Chen Shizeng and Jingpai 京派 (the Beijing School of Painting) play in reconstructing visual culture in northern China and writing China’s painting history during the first half of the twentieth century? The introduction elaborates on the art historical context of Chen Shizeng’s guiding principles of modernising scholarly painting. Chapter 2 presents Chen’s earliest attempts to fulfill this goal in his pre-Beijing era - the creation of manbi 漫筆 (monochromic ink painting produced casually with abbreviated brushwork) around 1912. Chapters 3 and 4 explore the formation and development of Jingpai as well as Chen’s role in this process, through a case study of the Xuannan huahui 宣南畫會 (Xuannan Painting Society) and research into Chen’s extended social network in Beijing. Chapter 5 extrapolates how Chen introduced the Western-influenced art salon to the art world in Beijing, and how the localised art salons shaped the professional practice of Jingpai artists and connected scholarly painting to modernity. Chapter 6 examines the introduction and promotion of tu’an hua 圖案畫 (graphic design) as a new elite art and the realisation of Pragmatism. The last chapter extrapolates the trend of Jingpai after Chen’s death in 1923, to see how the changes in political circumstances shaped the narratives of modern Chinese art history.