Lecture on Chinese “amateur artists” held

A lecture entitled "Art: Why China values amateur artists" by Professor Fu Yanghua from the School of Art was held last Friday in RUC.

The lecture focused on the advantages and standards of literati painters, the reasons why they can be widely accepted, the challenges they have been facing and other issues, in order to explore the differences between literati painters and professional painters, and to clarify the development of Chinese art.

The lecture introduced that Su Shi in Song Dynasty elevated the status of literati painters to professional painters, and believed that only unprofessional artists could break away from utilitarianism and create good works of art. Therefore, literati painting became the main thread of Chinese painting for nearly one thousand years.

The lecture also explained that in the process of the development of the literati paintings, Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang and others further affirmed the identity of "amateur" artists from theory and practice. Under the background of the interaction between scholars and businessmen in Ming Dynasty, the literati painters tended to become more professional, while the professional painters developed certain characteristics of literati as well.

Fu Yanghua is a professor at the School of Art in RUC. Her research interests include the history of Chinese art, the history of Ming and Qing paintings, regional art, and painting appreciation and collection. She has published monographs including "Study on the Painters of the Ming Dynasty" and "Image Narration of the Paintings of the Ming Dynasty".