Chinese Painting’s Eclecticism In The Period Of Republic Of China

All the changes of modern Chinese culture occurred under the intervention of the western culture. Including painting, the western art is the main frame of reference to the modern Chinese art. Introducing western painting is the only road to transform the Chinese painting into the form of modern and contemporary art. During the period of the Republic of China. Chinese painting experienced a term of mixed development which comes from the old and western culture. All the painters trying to reconcile the Chinese and western art can be classified into the "eclectic" category so that they can make some change. In fact, most painters in the Republic of China has the common point of Eclecticism.In the recent century, Chinese painting gathered in three areas:Shanghai,Jiangsu and Zhejiang region; Beijing region; and South Central China which is centered by Guang zhou. The painters in these three regions show a state of "Tripartite Cnfrontation". Before the establishment of PRC, the new formed painter groups in Sichuan, xi’an and Taiwan are the branches of these three regions.Beijing is the capital of Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. So Beijing is the base to court painters and other painters visiting the city. So the painters in Beijing consist the principle of "Four Masters" which represent the legitimism. After ROC, more and more painters came to BeiJing. Together with the new trend of the brainstorm, a large number of scholars went abroad and returned to China after they graduated. All above brought a prosperous situation in BeiJing. Since the the Southern Song Dynasty,the areas of Jiangsu&Zhejiang became very popular. Shanghai become a big commercial port in Southeast China since the middle of Qing dynasty. After the opium war, it gradually became the city which has the largest amount of foreign capital. Because of the development of capitalist and rapid growth of information, Shanghai became the most important town which gathered traditional culture and elites from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and other places in China. Shanghai is not only the base of reformers who bring western paintings to China but also the settlement of painters who devote themselves to protecting the quintessence of Chinese culture. So the painters gathered in Shanghai region showed a good and distinct trade off: perspective consciousness, light and shade processing, filling method and spirit performance. Guangzhou is the most important window to the outside world as well as the birthplace of the revolution of1911.Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng.and Chen Shuren are recognized as the most influential painters in Guangdong region in recent century. Their paintings learned compromise from Japan. They like using colour, ink and powder to express the content of the painting. Plenty of new subjects such as airplane, artillery and telephone pole were mixed in their paintings so that they can understand the mixture of east and west world better, which made a great influence at home and abroad.The Eclecticism occurring in the Republican period enriched the form of art language and changed the valuation model of Chinese painting. And then it promoted the modernization of Chinese Art. The systemic research on this period’s compromise not only helps us understand the theory but also adds the research’s value. Not to mention the benefits to contemporary painters’exploration in practice.