Chinese Painting

The tradition of Chinese painting is one of the oldest art forms in history. The earliest paintings were only decorations; the artists used different patterns of zigzags, spirals, or dots. The only representational paintings were those of animals. During the Warring States Period (403 – 221 BCE) painters started to create representational paintings – mostly landscapes.

Traditional Chinese painting is known as quo hau, which means “natural” or “native painting.” Quo hau is similar to Chinese calligraphy in that the artist uses a brush dipped in black or colored ink, which is applied to either paper or silk. The painted paper or silk is then placed on a scroll that can either be hung or rolled; traditional paintings were also done directly on walls or in lacquerwork.

The two most prominent styles of Chinese paintings are the meticulous (Gong-bi) and the freehand (Shui-mo). The meticulous style is noted by controlled brushstrokes, bright colors, and usually depicts a narrative. The freehand style is watercolor painting using black only and usually depicts landscapes.

Figures and Landscapes

Artists in the Han through the Tang Dynasties (202 – 906) focused on painting the human figure. Most of this period’s paintings are preserved on tomb walls. The tomb paintings depicted teachings of Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, and other illustrations that were suppose to protect the dead. Figure paintings of this time period were colorful and highly symbolic, using specific poses and signage to relay meaning.

The period from the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song (907 – 1127) is considered the Age of Chinese Landscape. The styles of the artists of the time were divided by north and south. In the north, artists painted large mountains with strong black lines and bold dots, while the southern artists painted more pastoral landscapes; rivers and hills with soft brushstrokes. The landscape period is considered to be the most important era of Chinese painting.

Modern Painting

The New Cultural Movement brought in a large amount of Western influence into China. Like most of the other arts, painting became more Western, using oils among other new materials to create works of surrealism, cubism, and other “modern” forms of art. During the early 1950s, after the People’s Republic of China came into power, only socialist realism was allowed as a painting style. Socialist realism stayed the prominent art style until the mid 1970s during the Cultural Revolution. As a result, Chinese artists were once again able to intermingle with Western ideas and techniques.