The family model has been central to patterns of social organization and cultural articulation throughout Chinese history, influencing all facets of the content and style of Chinese art. With contributors drawn from the disciplines of art history, anthropology, psychiatry, history, and literature, this volume explores the Chinese concept of family and its impact upon artistic production. In essays ranging from the depiction of children to adult portraiture, through literary constructions of gender and the psychodynamics of cinema, these authors consider the historical foundations of the family--both real and ideal--in ancient China, discuss the perpetuation of this model in later Chinese history and modern times, and analyze how family paradigms informed and intersected with art and literature.

A groundbreaking look at art made in China during the Cultural Revolution Although numerous books on the Cultural Revolution have been published, they do not analyze the profound shift in aesthetic values that occurred in China after the Communists took power. This fascinating book is the first to focus on artwork produced from the 1950s to the 1970s, when Mao Zedong was in leadership, and argues that important contributions were made during this period that require fuller consideration in Chinese art history, especially with relevance to the contemporary world. Previously, historians have tended to dismiss the art of the Cultural Revolution as pure propaganda. The authors of this volume (historians, art historians, and artists) argue that while much art produced during this time was infused with politics, and individual creativity and displays of free thought were sometimes stifled and even punished, it is short sighted to overlook the aesthetic sophistication, diversity, and accessibility of much of the imagery. Bringing together more than 200 extraordinary artworks, including oil paintings, ink scroll paintings, artist sketchbooks, posters, and objects from daily life, as well as primary documentation that has not been published outside of China or seen since the mid-20th century, this invaluable volume sheds new light on one of the most controversial and critical periods in history. Published in association with the Asia Society Museum Exhibition Schedule: Asia Society Museum (September 5, 2008 - January 4, 2009)

Yoshiaki Shimizu, one of the foremost scholars of Japanese art history, taught at Princeton University for more than twenty-five years, during which time he trained many students who have become respected professors and museum professionals. "Crossing the Sea" gathers original essays by thirteen of these students, in honor of Shimizu's extraordinary career at Princeton as well as his teaching at other institutions and his work as curator of Japanese art at the Freer-Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. Ranging in topic from premodern Buddhist, narrative, and ink painting in Japan and East Asia to modern and contemporary Japanese painting, prints, and popular visual images, these essays present innovative research that draws attention to remarkable works of Japanese art and their fascinating historical contexts and modern interpretations. Including reinterpretations of well-known works and richly developed accounts of their meaning and function in historical, religious, and cultural contexts, this volume also provides a state-of-the-field portrait of Japanese art studies today.

In this publication the sinologist Rupprecht Mayer presents 143 Chinese reverse glass paintings from a private collection in southern Germany. Traditional motifs of happiness, scenes from plays and novels, landscapes, Chi na's entrance into modernity, and the changing image of the Chinese woman define the central motifs. Production of reverse glass paintings began in Canton in the 18th century, of which only those that found their way to the West are known today. After th e end of exports in the middle of the 19th century this decorative art continued to enjoy popularity in China, but only very few of the many fragile paintings in Chinese households have survived the turmoil of wars and disruptions of the 19th and 20th cent uries. Reverse glass painting fell into oblivion in China, with no collections in museums and very few private collectors. This first study in the West presents the beauty of this traditional art in all of its facets.

The volume presents for the first time four seventeenth-century paintings commissioned by the Habsburg Ambassador Hans-Ludwig von Kuefstein after his diplomatic mission to Istanbul, accompanied by twelve gouache works from a collection in Austria. In spite of its diplomatic and political success in the Ottoman-Habsburg relations, the Kuefste in's embassy is remembered first of all for its artistic legacy documented by the ambassador's diary, the draft of a final report to the Emperor, diplomatic correspondence, a list of gifts presented and received, and last but not least, a series of gouaches, executed in Istanbul, and a series of oil paintings - which serve to illustrate various aspects of seventeenth-century Ottoman life, and provide a detailed account of the ambassador's mission. The Orientalist Museum of Qatar curatorial and conservation departments, with the assistance of external scientific experts, have embarked upon a collaborative project to provide new insights in to the history of the Ottoman-Habsburg relations. The result is the exhibition and the volume Heritage of Art Diplomacy: Memoirs of an Ambassador- the culmination of two years' restoration and research work aimed to provide a better understanding of the cultural heritage in respect to its aesthetic and historic significance and its physical integrity .

Showcasing 45 artists, from top industry professionals to talented high school illustrators. "COMP x Artists Sponsorship" features the artwork of talented creators popular online from across Japan and beyond, each providing a stellar original illustration for the book alongside creator commentary. Featuring both Japanese and English text, and sold in a special protective vinyl slip bag.

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.

As an important part of Chinese culture, Lingnan culture, mainly those in Guangdong province, plays a key role in the world culture. Elegant Guangdong Series cover 5 subjects of the Lingnan cultural and traditional gems in South China. Each volume has used vivid and precious illustrations and portraits. Maolong Brush tells the origin, inventor, making, unique artistic characters and inheritance of this specialized grass brush in Lingnan region.

Logos Bookstore Association Award Dallas Willard Center Book Award Finalist Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist World Magazine's Best Books Aldersgate Prize by the John Wesley Honors College at Indiana Wesleyan University ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year Missio Alliance Essential Reading List Shusaku Endo's novel Silence, first published in 1966, endures as one of the greatest works of twentieth-century Japanese literature. Its narrative of the persecution of Christians in seventeenth-century Japan raises uncomfortable questions about God and the ambiguity of faith in the midst of suffering and hostility. Endo's Silence took internationally renowned visual artist Makoto Fujimura on a pilgrimage of grappling with the nature of art, the significance of pain and his own cultural heritage. His artistic faith journey overlaps with Endo's as he uncovers deep layers of meaning in Japanese history and literature, expressed in art both past and present. He finds connections to how faith is lived in contemporary contexts of trauma and glimpses of how the gospel is conveyed in Christ-hidden cultures. In this world of pain and suffering, God often seems silent. Fujimura's reflections show that light is yet present in darkness, and that silence speaks with hidden beauty and truth.