A Brief History of Chinese Painting
Chen Shizeng died in the centennial edition
A pioneering work in the study of the history of Chinese painting
Clarify the context of Chinese painting
Development, inheritance and transmutation
Reinvent the self-confidence of Chinese painting for thousands of years
Inherit the millennium glory of Chinese painting
A selection of 300 authentic ancient paintings
This year marks the centenary of the death of Mr. Chen Shizeng, a famous artist and art educator in modern China. Recently, the China Pictorial Publishing House specially launched a full-scale collection edition of Chen Shizeng's masterpiece "A Brief History of Chinese Painting".
This book is based on the lecture notes on the history of Chinese painting taught by Mr. Chen Shizeng at the art school. Chen Shi has studied Chinese and Western, and is particularly good at the field of fine arts. Based on historical data, taking the clues of time as the "classic" and the clues of painting genres, painters and painting techniques as the "weft", he is systematic but not verbose, concise but comprehensive, constructing a clear and complete historical grid of Chinese painting, clarifying the development, inheritance and transformation of the Chinese painting context. The wonderful development of Chinese painting is all in his pen.
The development of Chinese painting presents distinct phased characteristics, so the author divides the whole book into three periods: ancient history, medieval history, and modern history, and the narrative is unfolded sequentially in each period according to the order of dynastic changes, which is for the "classic", that is, vertical. Within each dynasty, the beginning summarizes the period, and then divides the chapters according to the genre, painter, and painting category, which is for "latitude", that is, horizontal. This narrative method is convenient for readers to grasp the framework of the development of Chinese painting from a macro perspective, and it is also possible to select chapters according to their own interests to carry out targeted reading.
Readers who love Chinese painting but have different levels of painting professional level can find a position that suits their interests from this book. Professionals can see the genres of Chinese painting, painters, the inheritance and development of works, the techniques of painting, the style of painting, the imagery and artistic conception of painting, which is the embodiment of the professional value of this book. Non-professional ordinary readers can see the wonderful process of the development of Chinese painting, feel the artistic beauty of painting works, and can understand the basic common sense of painting, and use this book as an introductory tool for learning Chinese painting, which is the embodiment of the universal value of this book.
Before the publication of this work, most of the works on the study of Chinese painting were mainly to comment on painters and painting techniques, and it was still blank in systematically summarizing painting theory. Chen Shi once took a unique approach, starting from multiple angles such as painting genres, painters, works, techniques and painting theory, and made a systematic and perfect summary and combing of the development of Chinese painting, which made people feel refreshed by the source of Chinese painting.
This book was recommended by four professors, Yuan Yunsheng, Liu Rong, Yu Yue, and Cao Qinghui of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. They wrote a preface and expressed their reading feelings, affirming the immortal value of "A Brief History of Chinese Painting" in the academic field and its important practical significance at present. Their affectionate and professional academic texts can also help readers better understand the rich history and heritage of Chinese painting.
In addition to the text content with high academic value, "A Brief History of Chinese Painting" also selects 300 ancient Chinese paintings to echo the text. The painting genres, painters, works, and techniques mentioned in the content of the article are accurately matched with the ancient paintings in the collection, one is to annotate the article, and the other is to construct a sense of picture, so that the reader can immerse themselves in it, as if talking and laughing with those thunderous giants of the painting world, and then more intuitively and deeply understand and feel the beauty of Chinese painting.
Let us follow the footsteps of "A Brief History of Chinese Painting", to feel the style of painting everyone, to feel the beauty of Chinese painting for thousands of years.
About the Author
Chen Shizeng (March 12, 1876 – September 17, 1923), also known as Heng Ke, was a native of Yining, Jiangxi (present-day Xiushui County, Jiangxi Province), a famous artist and art educator. Chen Shi was born in Xiangmendi and had a deep family, his grandfather was Chen Baozhen, the inspector of Hunan, and his father was the famous poet Chen Sanli. In 1902, he went east to Japan to study, and returned to China in 1909 to serve as the director of education in Jiangxi. From February 1911 to April 1913, he was invited by Nantong Zhang Xiao to teach at Tongzhou Normal School, specializing in natural history courses. In 1913, he went to Changsha First Normal School to teach, and later went to Beijing as an editor and examiner. He has also served as a professor at the Women's Higher Normal School, the Beijing Higher Normal School, and the Beijing Fine Arts College.
Title: A Brief History of Chinese Painting
Author: Chen Shizeng
Publisher: China Pictorial Publishing House
Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Wu Bo
Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, Xinhuacheng reporter: Wu Bo
Video/Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng Reporter: Wu Bo
Correspondent: Sun Xiaoyu
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Liu Liqin