Wang Yuanqi and the orthodoxy of self-reflection in early Qing landscape painting.
详细信息
文摘
This dissertation explores the life and art of Wang Yuanqi 1642-1715), one of the most influential literati artists of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911). As a representative of the so-called "Orthodox Painting School," Wang considered himself the heir to the genuine thousand-year-old tradition of Chinese painting. Throughout his lifetime, he made every effort to establish and consolidate the authority of his school of painting. Since his early years, he had been trained as a traditional Chinese literatus. Under the direct supervision of his grandfather, he practiced landscape paintings in the style of ancient masters, especially that of the Yuan literati painter, Huang Gongwang 1269-1354). However, he was never satisfied with the facsimiles of the old masterpieces. Beyond his models, he created new theories of composition and brushwork； he introduced a new style of light color landscape with unique techniques. Moreover, benefiting from the lenient cultural policies of the Kangxi emperor r. 1661-1722), he successfully led a movement of canon-formation in artistic circles. The research of this thesis is based on three types of sources: 1) Wang Yuanqis published writings, 2) his paintings, and 3) publications and manuscripts by Wangs contemporaries. Different from previous scholarship which mainly focuses on the classicism of Wang Yuanqis work, this dissertation provides a comprehensive study of Wangs life and his circle and investigates the reason and procedure of the rise of the Orthodox Painting School in the early eighteenth century.