New Dimensions in Chinese Ink Painting: Works from the Collection of John and Alice Z. Berninghausen - James Francis Cahill - Paperback

On the occasion of this exhibition of paintings produced between 1986 & 1989, Professor James Cahill, eminent historian of Chinese art, places the revival of traditional Chinese-style ink painting in the context of the current socio-political climate. He explains this revival is part as a reaction "against the populist emphasis of earlier PRC painting." By providing a comprehensive historical view of his subject, Cahill also suggests that the "disengaged," refined, traditional styles of the past may have been cultivated precisely to transcend current historical concerns. Since 1977, the end of the Cultural Revolution, he writes, "...painting can be quite apolitical & employ styles that two decades ago would have been condemned as intolerably esoteric & elitist." Placing technical innovations as well as this historical revival in context, the essay offers a compelling discussion of the complex interrelationship between social forces & artistic forms. Cahill's timely essay & the brief introduction to Chinese aesthetic principles & techniques by Jen-mei Ma make this catalogue a concise & authoritative guide to developments in contemporary Chinese painting. Includes artists' biographies, a glossary of terms in Chinese characters & English transliteration, a map, & 29 illustrations.Cahill, James is the author of 'New Dimensions in Chinese Ink Painting: Works from the Collection of John and Alice Z. Berninghausen - James Francis Cahill - Paperback' with ISBN 9780962526237 and ISBN 0962526231.