Survival and Revival of China's Traditionalist Painting after the Cultural Revolution

The Arts: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)A salient feature of Chinese painting in the pre-modern period is the “three perfections,” the combination of painting, calligraphy and poetry within a single image. Despite the dramatic challenges to traditionalist Chinese painting that followed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, “the three perfections” is a legacy that was carried on by traditionalist artists. Tang Yun (1910-1993) was such a painter. He was active in both the Republican period (1912-1949) and the PRC. Tang Yun’s Twelve-leaf Album after Lu You’s Poems was painted in 1976, the final year of the decade-long turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). This essay is a case study of this 1976 album. It explores the thematic and aesthetic directions that the artist took to revive traditionalist Chinese painting, and suggests that Tang Yun’s efforts to revive traditionalist Chinese painting after the Cultural Revolution represent a literati approach, which is mainly demonstrated by creative motivation, the integration of painting and poetry, and the artist’s stylistic experimentation. This specific album was created as a symbol of friendship rather than as a means of financially supporting the artist. It expresses the artist’s melancholic feeling by exploiting the expressiveness of the ink and the interplay between painting and poetry. Finally, it demonstrates the literati approach because it shows the painter’s stylistic exploration and innovation based on previous masters’ styles.A five-year embargo was granted for this item