| As the most important city in the Far East after the Opium War in terms of physical capital and western civilization importation, Shanghai, with an unprecedented openness, created a hybrid environment of domestic and foreign immigrants. Furthermore, its location advantage at the meeting point of the South-North major transportation routes and within the most economically developed regions of Jiangsu and Zhejiang produced an unparalleled social tolerance and cultural context, thus providing new room for revival and innovation of then declining figure paintings.;As the most popular Shanghai-based artist in the 20th century, Ren Bonian's life spanned Late Qing's most critical 50 years that were full of external challenges. Under then Shanghai's complex historical and cultural background, his figure paintings, especially women story paintings, demonstrated the significance of multi-referential. His women paintings were so welcomed also have other reasons: such as the influences from other Shanghai artists of women paintings; his reference to and evolution of classical image in his paintings; his absorption and creation of folk image; and his understanding and interpretation of Japanese image. Ren Bonian's rewriting and re-reading of women's images in his diversified women paintings showed the abundance of women-related topics in late Qing.;This thesis is to show that a unique path of women paintings in the development of figure paintings can be reflected in the work of Ren Bonian, the most creative figure-painting artist in 19th century. Moreover, via the artist himself and the vertical and horizontal axis constructed from his figure paintings, I investigate the reference to and digging of women paintings, the supply of the most active nutrient for innovations by figure paintings of women-related topics to Shanghai arts, and the borrowing and conversion of women image, consumption representation and visual desire in the diversified old and new, Chinese and foreign culture. I hope this thesis can fill the gap of study on Women paintings in Ren Bonian's figure paintings, and playa role in the promotion of research on Qing's women paintings. |
