Visual Culture in Communist China

There was a Fu Baoshi exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC in 2012 that featured 129 of Fu’s pieces, titled Chinese Art in an Age of Revolution: Fu Baoshi (1904-1965). Online, the Met still has the exhibition overview on display as well as images of all the featured works from the exhibition. The exhibition overview provides great insight as to who Fu was and how he operated and the images of his works also help a viewer to get a better understanding of his style and motivation.

This video interview with the artist helps me understand the lifestyle of the artist and insight to his studio practices. He talks about the ideology of Chinese art, how he evolved has from traditional brush works to a more modern style. I find it interesting when he talks about his college life and how he did not pass the exam because of his modern approach to art. This video will helps me analyze and compare his artwork with western artist he is inspired by, since he mentioned his inspirations such as Van Gogh, surrealism and existentialism in this video. Finally, I find his situation ironic because he oppose the government and he refuse to participate in national show, however he considers himself “Chinese Artist” and he is among the most popular artist in China.

Bibliography:

Materials of the Future – Asia Art Archive. YouTube. February 07, 2011. Accessed February 04, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VLOmr0GD-E.

Link:

https://www.blouinartinfo.com/artists/-chen-yifei-3431

This link provides a great overview of the life of Chen Yifei and highlights some of his most important works such as The Seizing of the Presidential Palace, Leisurely Boat Ride, and Twin Bridge. This page also describes the role Yifei played in creating propaganda works for the Communist party, as well as his transition away from political work and toward romanticism. By reading this page, one can get a good sense of Chen Yifei’s change in ideology. He became increasingly commercial toward the end of his life. He often sold his paintings for record-breaking prices, and he decided to enter the culinary and fashion industries.

Bibliography

“Chen Yifei.” Blouin Art Info. Accessed February 03, 2019. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/artists/-chen-yifei-3431.

One of the links that I feel will help aid me in my research, and that I found very interesting was, https://caiguoqiang.wordpress.com/ This is a blog that is attached to his website that has conversations and insights on his projects and holds discussions that give more explanations about the paintings, including his ones made with the gunpowder which is what I am focusing on. On this blog, not only are outside viewers allowed to comment on the works of the artist, but he adds in his own personal commentaries that assist how the piece is perceived and what to look at and think about while viewing.

https://caiguoqiang.wordpress.com/

The Award and Feng Zikai

This link is helpful because it provides a history of Feng Zikai and the creation of his art. Included on the website is a statement from Feng’s daughter, Feng Yiyin, where she talks about her father’s values as an artist. Also included is a year-by-year analysis of Feng’s life, beginning when he was born in 1898, to when he passed away in 1975; the website gives a summary of the major events that happened each year.

References:

Feng Zikai Chinese Children’s Picture Book Award. Bring Me A Book (Hong Kong) Limited. https://fengzikaibookaward.org/en/about-the-award/the-award-and-feng-zikai/.

This link was beneficial in my art analysis.  The site has a vast amount of artwork from all kinds of artists, with great descriptions of both the art and artist.  Very helpful with my artist especially as his art sells for extremely high prices and is admired by the art community.  The site tells what the art is about and the time period, giving it some historical background.  It explains everything about the art from what it is made of, the dimensions, where its been, and where it currently is.

I found the Chen Yifei art analysis very well done.  The wording and description of what the art is trying to say are precise and helpful and helps me with the text for my artist.  I should incorporate more history and context to my art analysis as it helps a lot for Chen Yifei’s analysis.  This art and the art I chose are very different, but the way this is presented helps with the way I think I should show Qi Baishi’s, explain the art and then provide why.