Xu Beihong's Chinese Painting Improved

There were great many dynamic artists, educationists, and revolutionists in the art world of the 20th century China. Among the excellency of them, Xu Beihong is no doubt not only the most influential one but also the most debatable master. Meanwhile, the current focus of argument in art history is his Reformism to traditional Chinese painting, Zhong ç»™ uo hua gailiang.Xu Beihong had dedicated his life to this Reformism. His major activities and lectures worked for this ideal: his study in France provided him the technique for inventing such a reformation;he tried to re-compose art history to build up the theoretical structure for the reformism;he dedicated into art education to train artists who may working for such a goal;and he practiced such a theory and worked for this ideal through his art creation.This dissertation investigates Xu Beihong's motivation, foundation of thought, actual actives, and achievement of Reformism through four chapters: A critical analysis of previous literature of the Xu Beihong Study;Xu Beihong's perspective on Chinese art history, which is the base of his reformism;Xu Beihong's reformism on subject matters;and his overall reformation of artistic language in Chinese painting. This study analyzes the new perspectives on art that Xu Beihong raised at that time, and brings up a new viewpoint on how should we understand his reformation through an examination to his art works. This study will discover how did his reformism changed Chinese art history, and what can we learn from his practice through such a critical analysis. This study will re-examine the experience of Chinese painting during that era through a fresh angle.