'As the Opium War unfold in Guangdong Province, the painter Su Renshan (1814—c.1850) exploded onto the art scene with a bold, paradigm-turning new voice. A Defiant Brush takes a fresh look at this underappreciated artist in the context of a nascent Chinese modernism.

In 1839, Guangzhou has shifted from a cosmopolitan trading center with a diverse art world into a place of violence. During the following decade, one voice of discontent and defiance rang out above all others: Si Renshan. His provocative, uncompromising, and sometimes ugly paintings berate Confucius for his hypocrisy. He turns his brush trace into graphic lines that mimic the printed page, and he depicts women as alternative exemplars of a moral intelligentsia. It is believed that his outspokenness prompted his father to place him in prison for filial impiety, where he probably painted his last work. During this turbulent period of incipient modernity, close readings of Su Renshan's paintings within the rich contextual history of art in Guangdong Province reveal how the trauma of war prompted a re-evaluation of social and political values, and indeed the moral responsibility of a scholar-artist.' - from the front flap

Includes notes and bibliography.
Access level

Onsite

Location code
REF.KYW
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2014

No of pages

228

ISBN / ISSN

9789888139613

No of copies

2

Content type

monograph

Chapter headings

An Introduction

Chapter One: Art and Trade in Guangzhou

Chapter Two: Su Renshan: Art in the Delta Hinterlands

Chapter Three: Art and War in Guangzhou

Chapter Four: Su Renshan: Politicizing the Vernacular

Chapter Five: Su Renshan: In the Company of Women

A Defiant Brush: Su Renshan and the Politics of Painting in Early 19th-Century Guangdong
Share
Citation
Rights statement

In Copyright

What does this mean?

This item is covered by one or more copyrights. It is available for research only or use within Hong Kong’s fair dealing rules. Please do not copy, re-use or reproduce this item without the permission of the copyright holder.

A Defiant Brush: Su Renshan and the Politics of Painting in Early 19th-Century Guangdong

Relevant content

1800CantoneseArt_list
Making and Breaking a Cantonese Art World in 1800-1850
Programmes | Mapping Asia

Making and Breaking a Cantonese Art World in 1800-1850

Fri, 10 Oct 2014