Oil Painting: Dong Xiwen The Theory And Practice

My dissertation will place Dong Xiwen into the historical discourse of 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting' for the investigation of his artistic theory and practice on this enterprise, and compare and identify his unique personal style and position. This is the basic task of my dissertation.'The Nationalization of Oil Painting' was an important phenomenon that appeared in the circle of Chinese fine arts in 1950s and 1960s. It was not only a slogan but also a theoretic proposition, and at the same time a trend of thoughts in fine arts - a practical enterprise for a stylistic pattern. The appearance of the discourse of 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting' was both related with the complex social-historical evolution and ideological-cultural process of the modern China, and involved with the complicated interrelationships of politics, ideologies, culture, and art. The analytical approach to discourse is adopted in the dissertation to revert the context of 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting' discourse and make a semantic differentiation, as avoiding the 'borderless' interpretation on 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting', thus to define the timeness of this proposition and the normalization of practice as tapping the true connotation of its history for releasing its semantic tensity.Dong Xiwen had a direct relation to the theory and practice of 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting'. He was one of the pioneers and participants of this slogan, and made a systematic reiteration on this proposition of 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting', which has long influenced the development of practice and theory of China Oil Painting. His painting practice and theory is such an interpretative example of 'the Nationalization of Oil Painting' theory in China. Dong's artistic practice has become one part of the important components in the early 'New China Fine Arts' historically.