In this original exploration of the dynamic and potent interface between Chinese culture and politics, Richard Kraus examines the impact of the market on the once-comprehensive system of state patronage of the arts in the PRC. The author uses all genres of art to explore the changing nature of politics, seen through such phenomena as ideology, propaganda, censorship, and the relationship of artists to the state. Kraus makes three provocative arguments: First, the commercialization of China's cultural life has been intellectually liberating, but also poses serious economic challenges that artists are sometimes slow to master. Second, despite conventional wisdom in the West that China's economic reforms have not been followed by serious political reform, he shows that the shift from state patronage to a mixed system of private and public sponsorship is in fact a fundamental political change. Third, Western recognition of the reformation in China's cultural life has been obscured by a combination of ignorance, ideological barriers, and foreign policy rivalry. Cogent, witty, and deeply informed, this comprehensive overview of the Chinese arts scene will be an essential text for all observers of contemporary China.

"This is the first English-language account of the modern history of China's art market that explains the radical transformations from the end of the Cultural Revolution, when a market for art and artifacts did not exist, to today. The book is divided into three sections: Part I examines how the art market in China was suspended during the Cultural Revolution, restarted, grew, and expanded into its current scale. Part II analyzes the distinctive value system of the Chinese art market where the state-run art system including academies, artist associations and museums co-exist with an independent market-oriented system; and traverses the most significant policies that drive decision making and market structure. Part III explores the driving force of art creation by telling the stories of five contemporary artists across three generations. Arts and culture professionals, scholars, and students interested in Chinese art, global art markets, Chinese government policy, and China will find this to be a valuable resource"--

Provides a new perspective on the Chinese avant-garde through the figure of artist and activist Tian Han

The relationship between politics and art in any society should not be seen simply as one of cause and effect. Political and artistic issues are linked to one another through a complex network of interactions and associations. In the People's Republic of China, where all aspects of society are directly related to politics, and where the creation of art is in itself considered a political act, this relationship is more clearly defined than elsewhere, though no less complicated. In China, the government plays a direct and active role in overseeing the nation's artistic production, and in determining the criteria for critical judgment. This study is divided into three sections. Chapter 1 outlines the major statements of artistic policy and the theoretical structure upon which the. policies are based. Chapter 2 deals with the effect of the artistic policies upon artists, and the reactions of painters to the political demands placed upon them. The third chapter will focus on the experiences of three such artists, Kuan Shan-yueh, Li K'o-jan and Ch'ien Sung-yen. All three specialize in landscape, a genre that has been especially problematic, and all three incorporate both Western techniques and traditional Chinese methods of drawing.

This book decodes the rhetoric of Chinas turbulent decade, a time of both brutal iconoclasm and radical experimentation in the arts, to offer new insights into works that have transcended their times.

In Politics of Art Zhiguang Yin investigates members of the Creation Society and their social network while in Japan. The study contextualises the Chinese left-wing intellectual movements and their political engagements in relation with the early 20th century international political events and trends in both East Asia and Europe. The Creation Society was largely viewed as a subject of literary studies. This research, however, evaluates these intellectuals in the context of Chinese revolution and elaborates their theoretical contribution to the Chinese Communist Party’s practice of “theoretical struggle” as a main driving force of ideological construction. As this study tries to demonstrate, theoretical struggle drives the ideological politics forward while maintaining its political vigour.

This book examines the complex relationship between art and politics in the People's Republic of China between 1949 and 1984. It focuses in particular on three important facets of this relationship, namely, the organizational structure of China's art establishment, the ideological framework for directing creative activity, and the political movement as a key method for periodically ensuring that artists follow the current official line.