| Abstract | Art schools and the modernization of Chinese art is one major topic in twentieth
century Chinese painting studies. Art schools are viewed as evidence showing Chinese art
responded to the ‘Western Impact’ and were an integral part in the Westernization process
of Chinese art. Grounded on solid primary sources, this research looks at the first 25
years’ history of the most important and influential art school in Shanghai, the Shanghai
Art College, by focusing on the art school’s interactive process with the modernization of
Chinese art. It argues the Shanghai Art College did not only respond to modern conditions
but also contributed to the modernization process. It created a new mode of art education
institution, new form of art education, new artists and through art education and artists it
also changed art. A theoretical framework is formulated by taking approaches including
Functionalism in Sociology of Education, micro-economics, an art historical approach
and an art institutional approach in Shanghai visual culture studies. The art school is
viewed as an organization that had operational goals and two most direct outputs of art
education and artists.
The first chapter views the organization as a whole. It shows the emergence of private
Shanghai art schools as a result of public demands for art and Liu Haisu created the
typical Shanghai private art school mode with a ‘market character’: the school followed
and mastered free market principles and the only operational goal was seeking survival
and development. Chapter Two argues that under the influence of the operational goal,
the school created a new form of art education. It created a popular mode of Western
painting education and commenced modern research on art-related subjects. Chapter
Three shows the Shanghai Art College modernized artists by incorporating them into
public space. It moved artists’ teaching and learning into the public environment,
incorporated artists’ economic mode into the public fabric and provided a shortcut for
artists to achieve fame. It also expanded the public space for artists’ activism and assisted
women artists in entering public space. Through art education and artists, the Shanghai Art College also modernized art by broadening the practice and study scope of art and
‘socializing’ art. It developed more social functions of art and exposed art to more social
influences. Besides, it also participated in the modernization of literati painting, a process
that scholarly thought was dismissed from painting.
The conclusion is that modernization in the Shanghai Art College was not a simple
process of ‘Westernization’. The Shanghai Art College contributed to new meanings of
modernity.
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