Non-Western Artworks

 

Chinese Artworks 

Qing Dynasty Artwork (1644-1911)

 

For my Non-Western blog, I am choosing Chinese artworks from the Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1911. Chinese artworks are organized by the Dynasty period when they were created, which I really like. It seems to simplify the categorization of the arts and makes the research much easier. 

It is also important to add, that there have been three main groups of artists present during the Qing Dynasty:

(1) The traditionalists, who aimed to modernize the reinterpretation of past models, 

(2) The individualists and scholar-artists, who pursued a personal style of art, often containing symbols of political defiance,

(3) And the courtiers and professional artists, who were employed by the imperial court. Their tasks were to record important state events.

Shown below, we can see three different artists with their artworks during this period, which are all incredibly unique and unalike to the art pieces we have seen in our past assignments.

Gong Xian

 

Gong Xian was a landscape painter through the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty he was forced to flee when the city fell to the Manchus in 1645, which was the change from the Ming into the Qing Dynasty. 

Unfortunately, he lost a lot of family members and therefore, he saw himself as a "leftover subject" under the new dynasty, which seems to be a fitting name.

"Mountain Valley with Cottages" was one of his paintings from 1671, done with ink and watercolor on paper, as an album leaf painting. Those are small paintings, made to fit into an album or a book-like covering.

In the lower left corner, he added poetry and I really like his technique with the shading and the little trees on the mountains. It is simple yet still beautiful with the ink strokes and the small details in the huts on the hills.

 

Bada Shanren 

 

Bada, who lived from 1626 to 1705, was a royal and a direct descendant of the Ming Dynasty, prince Zhu Quan. He decided to be a monk and follow the Buddhism after the overthrown of the Ming Dynasty and later, he took on the Daoism. 

Some of his paintings show, that he had a good humor, which was something unusual for this culture during those times. He also took his grief of losing his family heritage and it is said, that in his paintings, balance is maintained in a subtle but extreme way. That was not appreciated by everyone, but I think his paintings are very refreshing and kind of cute. 

 

 

 

One of his paintings was just simply called "cat" and unfortunately, I am not sure when exactly or where it was created but I am guessing that it was around 1680, because this was his most prolific time. 

I still really like it and think it is cute and he used a great ink washing technique, which was typical to this time. With shading, dots, and strokes, he made sure that the creature can be recognized as a cat, even without using colors. 

 

Jiao Bingzhen 

 

Bingzhen lived from 1689 to 1726 and became an incredibly famous painter and even an astronomer. His paintings are my favorites of this period, and he was the first one during the Qing Dynasty, who was influenced by the West. This came from his exposure to the Jesuits at the Directorate of Astronomy. At some point he even converted into a Roman Catholic and got exposed to new ideas on astronomy and religion.

His favorite subjects were people, landscapes, and buildings and even if that sounds a little boring and not unusual, his paintings were unique and beautiful.

 

 

 

One of his art pieces was "The Yongzheng Emperor's Nephew at a Daoist Ceremony for the Recovery of his Father" and just look at the colors. This is such a huge difference to the above-mentioned paintings and in so much detail. From the plants in the background, to the decorative drapes and flags. He put a lot of effort into creating this art piece and that shows. Which is one reason, that makes him to my favorite artist from this period. Not a lot of shading is going on or color washing, but he made sure to give it depth with the rectangular placements, which makes it all flow together. 

It was created between 1723 and 1726 in China with paint and ink on silk. I cannot even imagine how difficult that was to get so much detail into a painting on a silk drape. 

 

In each of the above paintings, you can clearly see the connection to the Asian world. If it is the calligraphy, style, material used, the architecture, or the persons shown, it clearly is very different to the European and American arts.

 

I really loved the assignment, because we got to work with some completely new art pieces and I have learned so much about the Chinese culture and their techniques. 

This time I cannot say that I or my children could do similar paintings, even if they look simple. I think there was a lot more to it than just "throwing" something onto a paper and this makes me want to keep researching and exploring other eras and art pieces. 

Thank you for reading and

stay safe

Sylvia

 

 

Works cited:

China-Underground, and China-UndergroundCinaOggi.it and China-underground.com are two websites focused on China and Chinese culture. The site includes thousands of articles on this country structured in categories: news. “The Art of Jiao Bingzhen during the Qing Dynasty.” China Underground, 3 Nov. 2020, china-underground.com/2019/12/27/the-art-of-jiao-bingzhen-during-the-qing-dynasty/. 

 

Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/65620. 

 

“Qing Dynasty Art (1644-1911) History, Types and Characteristics.” Qing Dynasty Art: Characteristics, Types, www.visual-arts-cork.com/east-asian-art/qing-dynasty.htm#introduction.  

“Bada Shanren – Seeking Happiness through Bitterness.” Alfalfa Studio, 3 Aug. 2020, alfalfastudio.com/2020/08/03/bada-shanren-seeking-happiness-through-bitterness/.

 

Heather. “Bada Shanren (1626-1705): Art and Life.” Asian Art Newspaper, 9 June 2021, asianartnewspaper.com/enigmas-the-art-of-bada-shanren/.

 

Rindsberg, Helen. “Major Cultures Of Non-Western Art.” 

 

Xian, Gong. “Mountain Valley with Cottages.” – Works – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1 Jan. 1671, art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/22797/mountain-valley-with-cottages;jsessionid=395C997CCFDCF41F47842FA072AC0793?ctx=503c48d6-2316-43a3-8905-dfbb1c60bf73&idx=10.