April 20, 2001

• i saw a few images from the modern chinese art movement (i.e. early 1900s) on a recent trip to the Met in new york and i was quite intrigued by the way the women were portrayed. given that many chinese artists were in paris at the turn of the century, absorbing all the avant-garde movements such as cubism and fauvism, why were they still portraying chinese women, in chinese dress?

  
  

  that era was a turning point in the way women were portrayed in chinese art as for the first time, chinese artists had nude models to study from. and they fully absorbed the modes of representation of nude women from western artists of the time.

  
  

  for example, Lin Fengmian's use of line in modeling the nude female body is distinctly like Matisse's, yet it is modulated in ink, after chinese calligraphic style. I can't find the image, but here's an example of Lin Fengmian's depiction of women: while the woman bears the modigliani-esque depiction of face in her elongated face and upturned eyes, the woman is put in a chinese setting and wearing chinese dress.

  
  

  from something like this it is very evident that chinese artists were not merely imitating western art wholesale stylistically (unlike the social realist art of the communist era) but instead absorbing these new ideas to formulate a new chinese mode of expression. of course the exhibition is more than just images of women and if you are interested in it you can visit the Met's site i have lots more to say, but there's also much more i want to mull over before i put my words to print! enjoy!

  • 10:35 pm
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