A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950–2000

About Chu-tsing Li   |   More on the Li Collection   |   Public Programs February 21 – May 24, 2009

Chinese contemporary art is the product of dichotomies: old vs. new, traditional vs. modern, east vs. west, the individual vs. the state. Dr. Chu-tsing Li, Judith Harris Murphy Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art History at KU, was one of the earliest art historians to establish modern and contemporary Chinese art as a field of study, and has amassed a collection that includes many paintings not previously exhibited in the West. His collection is among the most comprehensive in this hemisphere, and it affords viewers an unusual opportunity to compare the styles, schools, and trends that arose during a period of fermentation and upheaval in Asia and elsewhere. A Tradition Redefined is a rare look at how legacy, experimentation, and the weight of the prevailing social order can influence artistic directions.

Drawn entirely from Dr. Li’s collection, this traveling exhibition is the first to survey Chinese ink paintings created during the second half of the 20th century. A Tradition Redefined is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Harvard University Art Museums. The Spencer Museum of Art venue is generously supported by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. All three of the exhibition’s curators did their graduate work in Chinese painting at the University of Kansas, studying with Dr. Li.

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  Tradition Uprooted

  Tradition Uprooted includes works by established artists who were displaced following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949.

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  Tradition Abstracted

  Tradition Abstracted features artists active in Taiwan after 1949 who sought to combine Western modernist elements with traditional Chinese abstraction.

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  Tradition Embraced

  Tradition Embraced refers to artists working outside mainland China who actively sought to perpetuate and expand traditional Chinese ink painting styles.

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  Tradition Reasserted

  Tradition Reasserted groups the work of those artists from the PRC who adapted their styles and subject matter to values of the Communist republic but reasserted aspects of traditional painting.

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  Tradition Transcended

  Tradition Transcended resents paintings by artists whose idiosyncratic works are beyond categorization—individualist rather than either strictly modernist or traditionalist.

A Tradition Redefined presents more than 60 works by artists active in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad. The works effectively convey some of the artistic tensions brought about by the overwhelming changes in Chinese culture from 1950-2000, providing a unique glimpse of modern and contemporary Chinese art. In examining this five-decade period, the exhibition demonstrates the dramatic evolution of Chinese ink painting in recent times and lays a foundation for understanding the international-style work that is being created in China today. In addition, the exhibition illustrates parallel lines of development in different geographical areas by artists active in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad, thereby bringing to light differences in style and technique from one area to another.

Professor Chu-tsing Li is one of the pioneers in the study of modern and contemporary Chinese ink paintings. His interest in art began while he was studying for his BA in English literature at Nanjing University in the early and mid-1940s. He befriended Michael Sullivan, a young architect from Cambridge University who taught English at Nanjing University but who also offered an introductory course in Western art history. Sullivan and Li shared many of the same interests, and the two attended exhibitions and visited with artists, becoming friends; through this association, Chu-tsing Li became interested in art history and, almost by coincidence began his first contacts with modern and contemporary art.

Li came to the United States in 1947; after completing his MA in English literature at the University of Iowa in two years, he switched to their art department to study northern Baroque painting. In 1955 Li completed his PhD at Iowa, where he then taught classes in Baroque painting and was urged to teach modern and Asian art as well. Preparation for these new courses awakened a deep interest in both fields, and he subsequently immersed himself in the history of Chinese painting. Best known for his studies of classical Chinese paintings, particularly paintings of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), he was also developing a second specialty in modern and contemporary Chinese painting by visiting artists and studying their work first-hand. At this time, Li began to acquire contemporary works and to form lifelong friendships with artists.

After 10 years of teaching at Iowa, Li in 1966 moved to the University of Kansas, Lawrence, where he established a doctoral program in Chinese art. He was Judith Harris Murphy Distinguished Professor of Art History until his retirement in 1990. In 1975 he offered the first course in modern Chinese art taught in the West—perhaps the first course in this subject taught anywhere; he wrote most of his best-known works on classical Chinese paintings and on modern and contemporary Chinese art while at Kansas.

As an art historian well-trained in Eastern and Western art, a specialist in Chinese painting, and an acclaimed author of scholarly works on modern Chinese painting, Li has been in a perfect position to assemble a collection of modern and contemporary Chinese ink paintings.

His collection ranks among the finest and most comprehensive in the West; though wide ranging, it is particularly strong in works created during the second half of the 20th century.

Many of these paintings have not previously been exhibited in the West. Robert D. Mowry, Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art, Harvard University Art Museums, co-curated the exhibition with Janet Baker, Curator of Asian Art, Phoenix Art Museum; and Claudia Brown, Professor of Art History, Herberger College of the Arts, Arizona State University, and Research Curator for Asian Art, Phoenix Art Museum.

“Our research on Professor Li’s collection of modern and contemporary Chinese ink paintings provides an unprecedented view of the new artistic directions that Chinese ink painters explored between 1950 and 2000,” says Mowry. “Since the majority of the works in the Li collection were acquired directly from the artists, the authenticity of the paintings is above question; thus, this exhibition, and particularly its catalogue, will serve as a standard by which authenticity can be measured.”

A Tradition Redefined features works by artists who have reconsidered numerous aspects of classical Chinese painting and who have in various ways synthesized elements of Western modernism with Chinese abstraction. In the early 20th century China experienced a drive to modernize; as part of that phenomenon, young Chinese painters, tired of the sanctioned styles and codified brushwork of their predecessors, eagerly began to explore Western styles. These experiments of China’s first generation of modern artists were cut short by evolving historical circumstances including Japanese invasions from the 1930s through World War II, the Chinese Civil War (1927–50), and the rise of competing governments in Beijing and Taipei.

Mainland China’s postwar focus on reshaping its economy, government, and society in the Communist model meant that artists were actively discouraged from exploring foreign artistic styles. Artists working in Taiwan and Hong Kong, by contrast, were free to experiment with foreign idioms, so that painting styles followed different lines of development from one geographical area to another. Contemporary Chinese artists continue to struggle with a balance of traditional and international styles, all the while maintaining a reflection of their own inner personality and continuing the powerful legacy of their Chinese ancestry.

3.3

Gallery Talk: 3 PM

Kress Gallery /

Join SMA curator Kris Ercums and SMA intern Ai-lian Liu for a Chinese language tour of A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-Tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000 / Co-sponsored with the Center for East Asian Studies

3.5

Reception: Spring @ the Spencer

6:30 PM / SMA Galleries & Central Court

A celebration of the Museum’s spring exhibitions.

3.7

It Starts With Art: Children's art appreciation classes for ages 5-14 / Painting Words and Pictures

10:30 AM & 1:30 PM /

Explore the exhibition of contemporary Chinese ink painting and learn how to use Chinese ink to create special writing and landscapes / $ / To enroll, contact SMA Education Department, 785.864.0137 or smakids@ku.edu, or visit the Spencer's website to enroll online.

4.30

Art Talk & Film:

Art Talk: 5:30 PM Film: 6 PM / Art Talk: Kress Gallery Film: SMA Auditorium

Join SMA curator Kris Ercums for a gallery talk about A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-Tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, followed by a 6 PM screening in SMA Auditorium of To Live / Set against four decades of Chinese political turmoil, To Live follows the lives of an impoverished husband and wife from their heyday in the 1940s to the hardships that accompanied the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. (1994, 133 minutes)

5.2

Arts & Culture Festival:

12-4 PM / SMA Galleries and Front Lawn

Co-sponsored by SMA Student Advisory Board and Student Union Activities / In conjunction with SMA spring exhibitions

In case of rain, all activities will be held either on the 4th floor of the KS Union or indoors at Spencer Museum of Art.

5.7

Artists Talk: Wang Tiande

5:30 PM / SMA Auditorium

Shanghai-based experimental calligrapher and installation artist Wang Tiande discusses his recent work, which includes a 40-ton coal installation. Wang is the first of three artists from China who will create new works at the Spencer during three-week residencies funded by the Freeman Foundation. This series of residencies is a prelude to a major International Artist-in-Residence Program at the Museum, endowed through the generosity of Elizabeth Schultz.

5.9

Special Event: An Elegant Gathering Honoring Professor Chu-Tsing Li

2 PM / SMA Galleries & Grove

Join us as we celebrate a lifetime of scholarly achievement with remarks from a roster of former students and colleagues. Event will conclude with a reception in Marvin Grove. / In conjunction with A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-Tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000