A giant among artists of his generation, Wu Guanzhong is celebrated for his distinctive synergy of Western oil painting and Chinese ink aesthetics, as well as his modernisation of Chinese ink painting. This catalogue accompanies the National Gallery Singapore’s exhibition that showcases Wu’s oeuvre over five decades and inaugurates the permanent gallery dedicated to the artist. Accompanying essays within expand upon themes of the exhibition and offer insight into Wu’s beliefs regarding the function of art. A bilingual publication in English and Chinese.

Invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Chinese art, one of the most fascinating art scenes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

"Sullivan presents a wealth of material that has never before appeared in a Western language. I expect it will be the standard book on twentieth-century Chinese art for the foreseeable future."--Julia F. Andrews, author of Painters and Politics in the People's Republic of China "A most sympathetic and useful guide to twentieth-century Chinese art. Long the leading scholar on the subject, Professor Sullivan has presented a lucid account of a most dramatic chapter in Chinese art in a complex interplay of aesthetics, politics, cultural, and social history."--Wen C. Fong, Princeton University "So much of China's art in the twentieth century has to do with artistic (and political) ideas from the West that is is appropriate that one of its first comprehensive histories should be written by a Western scholar--especially one who has known personally many of China's leading artistic figures of the last fifty years. Not only does Professor Sullivan tell the complex story of twentieth century China art with lucidity and style, his learned text is also illuminated with witty anecdotes and incisive observations that can only come from an indsider."--Johnson Chang (Chang Tson-zung), Director, Hanart Tz Gallery, Hong Kong

A thought-provoking book on the archaeology of power, knowledge, social memory, and the emergence of classical tradition in early China.