La grande sfida dell'arte italiana tra l'Unita e la Prima guerra mondiale e quella di creare uno stile nazionale competitivo e riconoscibile a livello europeo. Il volume intende indagare gli sviluppi artistici italiani nei loro rapporti internazionali Tra Oltralpe e Mediterraneo mettendo in rilievo il ruolo di cerniera giocato dall'Italia nell'Europa del tempo, sia dal punto di vista geografico, sia culturale. I singoli casi di studio indagano l'aggiornamento di artisti, critici e amatori d'arte italiani verso la contemporanea scena artistica europea, cercando di creare contatti con i colleghi stranieri dall'Inghilterra alla Turchia, dalla Scandinavia alla Spagna. Ne emerge una piu complessa trama di rapporti nella quale, piu che l'influsso, domina lo scambio. Nach der Staatsgrundung 1861 sahen sich italienische Kunstler mit der Herausforderung konfrontiert, eine eigenstandige und auf europaischer Ebene wettbewerbsfahige Formsprache zu entwickeln. Der Band thematisiert den kunstlerischen Wandel in Italien im Spiegel seiner internationalen Beziehungen von Nordeuropa bis zum Mittelmeerraum. Sowohl in geografischer als auch in kultureller Hinsicht kommt dem Land dabei eine Schlusselposition innerhalb Europas zu. Fallstudien untersuchen, wie italienische Kunstler, Kritiker und Kunstliebhaber sich uber aktuelle kunstlerische Entwicklungen jenseits der Landesgrenzen auf dem Laufenden hielten und Kontakte mit Kollegen von England bis zur Turkei und von Skandinavien bis nach Spanien knupften. Die Ergebnisse dieser Recherchen zeichnen ein komplexeres Bild der italienisch-europaischen Beziehungen, die weniger von einseitiger Beeinflussung als vielmehr von einem wechselseitigen Austausch gepragt waren. After the unification in 1861 the creation of a national art, unique and competitive at a European level, represented a major challenge for Italian artists. This volume analyses artistic developments in Italy with regard to their international relations from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean. In the late 19th century Italy held a key position both from a geographical and from a cultural perspective. Case studies demonstrate how Italian artists, critics and art lovers kept themselves up-to-date about current artistic developments in Europe trying to stay in touch with colleagues from England to Turkey and from Scandinavia to Spain. The results of this research paint a more vivid picture of the Italian-European relationship that was less characterised by one-sided influences than by a mutual exchange, thus benefiting both sides.

The pursuit of antiquity was important for scholarly artists in constructing their knowledge of history and cultural identity in late imperial China. By examining versatile trends within paintings in modern China, this book questions the extent to which historical relics have been used to represent the ethnic identity of modern Chinese art. In doing so, this book asks: did the antiquarian movements ultimately serve as a deliberate tool for re-writing Chinese art history in modern China? In searching for the public meaning of inventive private collecting activity, Appropriating Antiquity in Modern Chinese Painting draws on various modes of artistic creation to address how the use of antiquities in early 20th-century Chinese art both produced and reinforced the imaginative links between ancient civilization and modern lives in the late Qing dynasty. Further exploring how these social and cultural transformations were related to the artistic exchanges happening at the time between China, Japan and the West, the book successfully analyses how modernity was translated and appropriated at the turn of the 20th century, throughout Asia and further afield.

This edited volume programmatically reconsiders the creative contribution of the littoral and insular regions of Maritime Asia to shaping new paradigms in the Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture of the mediaeval Asian world. Far from being a mere southern conduit for the maritime circulation of Indic religions, in the period from ca. the 7th to the 14th century those regions transformed across mainland and island polities the rituals, icons, and architecture that embodied these religious insights with a dynamism that often eclipsed the established cultural centres in Northern India, Central Asia, and mainland China. This collective body of work brings together new research aiming to recalibrate the importance of these innovations in art and architecture, thereby highlighting the cultural creativity of the monsoon-influenced Southern rim of the Asian landmass.

There is a vast collection of Indian natural history drawings in the Library of the Natural History Museum, London. Spanning a period of more than two hundred years, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, they depict the rich variety of animals, birds and insects to be found in India and the magnificent flora of the different regions. The Art of India presents many of these beautiful images, from fine botanical and zoological illustrations through to depictions of colourful artefacts and trinkets purchased in local markets. The artworks originate from a variety of sources that include individual artists and collectors, as well as organised studies of Indian natural history in the pursuit of science, commerce and politics. They were produced by European and Indian artists who worked to advance the understanding of Indian natural history by recording, describing, classifying and naming the flora and fauna of the country.