Avenue) Saturday, March 19, 2016, 12:30 – 1:30pm The idea of history painting is alien to traditional Chinese art. The unworldly art of ink painting favours detachment and transcendence as its principal tenet. Its highly formalized idiom and primacy of landscape stand in sharp contrast to the normative heroic and figural grandstanding associated with Western canonical history painting. Did the transcendent art remain the same following momentous historical upheavals, such as the dynastic change of 1644? How did such changes impact the highly formalized art form? Granted, strong emotional responses are easily discernible in the works of so-called “Individualists.” What about those of the “Orthodox School” represented by the Four Wangs (i.e., Wang Shimin, etc.)? Denigrated in modern times for their allegedly uninspired mimicking of ancient masters, the Orthodox School works are the unlikely test grounds for signs of “history painting.” Are there any signs at all of anxiety and sentiment in response to the profound historical change? We are predisposed to regard the Orthodox masters as docile handmaids of the official ideology of the Qing rulers in favour of the even-keeled aesthetics of gentility and decorum. Is their art always that placid and uneventful? To address these questions, Professor Eugene Wang’s lecture will take a painting in the Mactaggart Art Collection as its point of departure. The work, an album leaf painted by Wang Shimin (1592-1680) in 1666, is an instance of the ink-wash landscape known as “cloudy mountain.” Since its inception in the twelfth century, cloudscapes of this kind had been received with ambivalence. While the liberal use of ink wash channels an expressive and forthcoming disposition, it may also challenge the sensibility that favours austerity, restraint, and reticence. All these came to a head in the decades following the dynastic change of 1644. Drastic changes called for strong expression. However, the gravity of the situation also induced reticence. In any case, something in the 1660s appear to have really roiled painters such Wang Shimin, generally known for his genteel aesthetical formalism impervious to personal assertion. Can he keep his cool? Can the seemingly formulaic cloudscape fulfill the role of the Chinese version of “history painting,” the absence of a single human figure notwithstanding? City / Town : Edmonton Event Venue : Downtown Short Description : The Mactaggart Art Collection Lecture Series: Visualizing China’s Imperial Order (1500-1800); Session 3: “Expanding China’s Imperial Order” Event Category : Education, Free / Budget, Other Cost : Free Contact Phone : 780-492-5834 Contact Email : museums@ualberta.ca More info : www.museums.ualberta.ca…
Event Details. Location:
University of Alberta Museums Galleries at Enterprise Square 10230 Jasper , Edmonton, AB