Create the Image•Portray the Appearance

Re-View——Opening Exhibition part of Chinese Painting•Western Painting

By Long Museum West Bund

Long Museum West Bund

Photo of the artists(from Internet)Long Museum West Bund

About 43 pieces (or sets) in the Long Museum's collection have been displayed in the“Portrait vs. Figure" module. They feature men and gods in ancient and modern times who represent existence and cultural construction,through which we may find the differences between the attitudes toward and the rules of portraying in Chinese painting and Western painting. Compared with the traditional way of narration in Chinese painting,the approach in modern China that developed from traditional Western painting can be labeled as third-person narration. The principle for this type of Chinese painting is to pursue the "creation”of the "image,”whereas the West requires the "similarity" for the "appearance".“Creation”means that the painter may sometimes depart from the authenticity of the object; "similarity,”however, allows of no such freedom at all. Therefore, to "create" the image, one has to carry forward the cultural inheritance in painting, including schema and experience.

Lady (1917) by Xu BeihongLong Museum West Bund

We can get a taste from the figures of ladies, literati, and immortals created by Qi Baishi, Pu Ru.Zhang Daqian, Huang Junbi, Hang Zhiying, Xie Zhiliu, Fu Baoshi, Xu Yansun, Huang Qiuyuan, Xu Beihong and Lin Fengmian.

Female Nude by Xu BeihongLong Museum West Bund

To achieve "similarity,”one has to gain a rich understanding and experience of the real conditions as well as the spiritual world of people living in the targeted society. This has been well indicated in the human body sketches and human figures of Xu Beihong, Fang Junbi, Zhang Qianying, Pan Yuliang, Fei Yifu, Sun Zongwei, Wang Jiyuan, Feng Fasi, Luo Gongliu, Zheng Yefu, Zhao Yannian, Li Zongjin, Huang Yanghun, and Ha Ding.

Portrait of a Lady in Pink, Fang Junbi (Fan Tchun-pi), 1926, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Lady in Bamboo Forest (1943) by Zhang DaqianLong Museum West Bund

Wrestling, Zhang Chongren, 1940’s, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Self Portrait (1936) by Zhang Qianying (Chang Chien-Ying)Long Museum West Bund

Eight Drunk Immortals, Hang Zhiying, 1930, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Literati gatherings under the pines (1937) by Zhang DaqianLong Museum West Bund

Curios or antiques by Huang JunbiLong Museum West Bund

Woman Lying on Her Side (1940) by Pan YuliangLong Museum West Bund

Reading Lady by Lin FengmianLong Museum West Bund

Artist and His Wife, Fei Yifu, 1941, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Camel Herding, Sun Zongwei, 1942, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Portraiture(Portrait of Guanyin Bodhisattva) (1943) by Xie ZhiliuLong Museum West Bund

Zhong Kui Practicing a Sword by Pu RuLong Museum West Bund

Woman in Red, Chang Yu ( Sanyu), 1940‘s, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Listening to Records, Jin Zhaofang, 1940’s, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Five Monkeys and Three Noble Sons by Xu CaoLong Museum West Bund

Self-Portrait with Pipe, Sun Zongwei, 1944, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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The Latter Painting of the Red Cliff (1946) by Fu BaoshiLong Museum West Bund

Poor People, Zheng Yefu, 1948, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Scholars Gathering in West Garden, Xu Cao, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Girl in Pink, Wang Daoyuan, 1950, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Rhymes of Beijing Opera (1950) by Wu DayuLong Museum West Bund

Interestingly, there has been an increasing tendency among mainstream artists in the West in modern days to step away from objective authenticity since the twentieth century. The images created by artists like Wu Dayu have demonstrated the influence brought by such a change. In the modern Chinese context, where art tended to be more and more associated with "the realization of enlightenment and the promotion of ethics and morality" in the hope to "save the nation" and "serve the people,”third-person narration that tended to stress and incorporate objective authenticity gradually became mainstream in the narration of Chinese culture in the twentieth century. This can be proved by a great number of portraits and self-portraits in this module.

Holidays, Dai Ze, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Labour’s Family, Qian Songyan, 1950, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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The Fiery Years, Li Zongjin, 1950’s, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Self-Portrait, Wang Jiyuan, circa 1950’s, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Grandmother and her granddaughter, Feng Fasi, 1953, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Self-portrait, Huang Yanghui, 1957, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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The Red Scarf, Luo Gongliu, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1961) by Fang Junbi (Fan Tchun-pi)Long Museum West Bund

Portrait of Ms. Meng Xia, Ding Yanyong, 1971, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Infantile Child, Wen Bao, 1972, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Girl in Natural History Museum, Wang Wenbin, 1977, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Dance, Guan Liang, 1978, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Portrait of Dunhuang Lady by Huang QiuyuanLong Museum West Bund

A Girl (1981) by Min XiwenLong Museum West Bund

Flower in the Heart of a Mother (1984) by Ha DingLong Museum West Bund

Girl In Colorful Coat, Wang Liuqiu, 1995, From the collection of: Long Museum West Bund
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Credits: Story

Director:Wang Wei
Curator:Wang Huangsheng, Cao Qinghui, Guo Xiaoyan

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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