Inventing Chinese Modernism: The Art and Design of Pang Xunqin (Hiunkin Pang), 1930s-1940s
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Date
2019-09-18
Authors
Chen, Yinxue
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
As one of the first Chinese modernist artists to study painting in Paris in the 1920s, Pang Xunqin’s art and design projects were profoundly influenced by both Western European and Chinese aesthetics. From the 1930s to 1940s, his output shifted from cosmopolitan Shanghai-based paintings to Guizhou Miao ethnic paintings to traditional Chinese and Art Deco-influenced industrial designs. Integrating historical context, Pang Xunqin’s biography, and stylistic analyses, this thesis interprets how the artist's work transformed through particular social and political upheavals, including the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and conflicts between vying political parties in China. Studying Pang Xunqin’s overlooked artworks and designs and his attempts to invent a new Chinese art contributes cross-cultural perspectives to modern and contemporary art history.