“Art and Chinese Modernity in Connection with Paris and Lyon, 1920-1940”

Presented by Prof. Yiyan Wang (Chinese)

Abstract

In the early part of the 20th century, China underwent significant political, social and cultural transformations. Modernisation of art practice was an integral part of China’s national modernization project. Many Chinese students, funded by the government or their families, went overseas to study European art. Between the two world wars, France was the preferred destination. The art schools and art exhibition mechanisms in Paris and Lyon were instrumental in Chinese students’ learning and, upon their return to China, those educated in France played pivotal roles in China’s development of modern art practice. The French learning by the Chinese evokes Benedict Anderson’s assertion that the paths to modern nation building in many Asian countries were controlled by the bilingual intelligentsia, who, however, inevitably copied their colonial masters. This presentation will demonstrate the important aspects of the French learning by the Chinese and the significant impact of European art practice on China in subsequent decades. It will also probe the issue of agency on the part of the Chinese intelligentsia and answer the question whether China’s semi-colonial conditions entailed a different relationship with colonial powers, thus leading to a cosmopolitan approach to the project of national modernization.

Bio

Yiyan Wang is a Professor of Chinese at the School of Languages and Cultures, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her research is primarily in the areas of modern Chinese literature and modern Chinese cultural history. Her most recent publication is Modern Art for a Modern China: the Chinese Intellectual Debate, 1900-1930. London: Routledge, 2021.

ALL WELCOME | Seminar Convenor Prof. Yiyan Wang (yiyan.wang@vuw.ac.nz)