Social Expectations in the Artist’s Image Construction and Art Interpretation in Ming and Qing China



Author Information

Yuqing Sun, Charles University, Czech Republic

Abstract

Some of the renowned literati artists in Chinese art history possess distinctive images. As stated by Otto Kurz and Ernst Kris, it was society’s attitude toward the artist, consisting of the comments and views by contemporaries and posterity, that constructs the image of that artist. This is especially noticeable in the anecdotes included in artists’ biographies. Since Chinese literati, who were the authors of the writings that constructed the image of traditional Chinese artist, dominated art and social discourse, the artist’s image was molded to meet their social expectations developed in different eras. These social expectations would also be reflected in subsequent art creations and the interpretation of the works. This paper explores the social expectations surrounding the construction and remolding of an artist’s image in different times, with Ni Zan 倪瓚 (1301-1374) and Tang Yin 唐 寅 (1470-1523) as representative examples. These artists are well-known for their widely circulated anecdotes. This study delves into characteristic traits of certain periods in Chinese culture and history in order to reconsider the reasons behind the gradual construction of artists’ images and their role in the analysis of actual art works.


Paper Information

Conference: ACAH2024
Stream: Social

This paper is part of the ACAH2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Sun Y. (2024) Social Expectations in the Artist’s Image Construction and Art Interpretation in Ming and Qing China ISSN: 2186-229X – The Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities 2024 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 149-159) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-229X.2024.14
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-229X.2024.14


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Posted by James Alexander Gordon