Art in China in the 1960s and 1970s
(from 15th Apr 2011 until 15th Jan 2012)Explore woodblock prints and ink paintings from around the period of the Cultural Revolution in China.
Peaks of Mount Hua Piercing the Sky
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Description
Song Wenzhi was born in Taicang, Jiangsu province. Originally an art teacher, he joined the Jiangsu Chinese Painting Academy in 1957. He toured the country with Fu Baoshi, Qian Songyan and other artists in 1960. He was later deputy head of the Nanjing Art Academy. Song is well known as a landscapist of the Jiangnan region and for his work from the late 1950s to 1970s in which contemporary political trends are reflected in traditional style landscapes.
This painting depicts Mount Hua in a traditional style, yet the seal of the artist indicates the painting’s patriotic function as ‘praising the grand landscape of motherland’, which was considered a key function of the revival of Chinese landscape painting in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Jiangsu province › Nanjing (place of creation)Asia › China › Shaanxi province (Mount Hua) (subject)
- Date
- March 1964
- Artist/maker
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Song Wenzhi (1919 - 1999) (artist)
- Material and technique
- ink and colour on paper; mounted on layers of paper, framed with ling silk pieces; backed with paper scroll
- Dimensions
- 91.44 x 53.34 cm (height x width)
- Material index
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organic › animal › animal product › silk,
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Purchased with the assistance of the Lady Cash Bequest, 1965.
- Accession no.
- EA1965.63
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Further reading
Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 121 on p. 140, illus. p. 140 fig. 121
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Song Wenzhi was born in Taicang county in Jiangsu province. Originally an art teacher, he studied painting with Zhu Qizhan and Lu Yanshao, and later with Wu Hufan (q.v.), and in 1957 joined the Jiangsu Chinese Painting Academy. He was later deputy head of Nanjing Art Academy and toured the country with Fu Baoshi (q.v.) and other artists in 1960. Song Wenzhi is well known for his work of the late 1950s and early 1960s in which contemporary political trends are reflected in traditional style landscapes, and as a landscapist of the Jiangnan region.
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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