Stones From Other Hills-looking At The Fundamental Research Approach Osvald Sirén Used In Chinese Painting:masters And Principles From Shen Zhou From Wu School

Osvald Sirén(1879—1966) was a Finnish—born Swedish art historian, who wasactive during the end of nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentiethcentury. He had interests in European art history in his early ages, and he started toget to know Chinese art history since his40s. It was Sirén who made Westernsinterested in Chinese art in the beginning. Not only was Sirén outstanding due to hislarge amount of works, but he played an important role in the start of Chinesepaintings’research.Since Sirén did not speak Chinese nor had any Chinese students, scholars in Chinaknow very little about his researches and achievements. This thesis makes Sirén’sexperiences and researches clear, and tells the activities Sirén took part in when hewas in China.Sirén had left behind lots of works in the field of Chinese art, especially in Chinesepaintings. He published Chinese Painting: Masters and Principles (seven volumes)from1956—1958. The structure is based on leading masters from the beginning ofChinese painting to Qian Long regime of Qing Dynasty. The book represented thehistorical development and aesthetic significance of Chinese paintings to Western artlovers.This thesis tries to represent the research of Sirén and his work－－ChinesePainting: Masters and Principles (seven volumes). After finding out how Sirénintroduced Shen Zhou from Wu School, and comparing Sirén’s research to thosewho published art history work at the same time, this thesis tries to get to know thefundamental approach of Sirén’s research on Chinese paintings, and tell why Sirén’sopinion was advanced at that time.