I came across this Gresham College lecture on Chinese nude artworks by Dr Di Wang that took place yesterday.
This reminded me how little I know about nude art from a non-Western perspective. I did have a very brief look at how the Soviet Union did this but I wouldn’t call buying a single book extensive research.
From this lecture, it is obvious that the lack of academic articles on nude art in China is because a lot of the works have been destroyed so it isn’t easy to do the research. I doubt I will be able to find any articles translated into English.
Pan Yuliang was a key female artist from China which I have never heard of until today. It is hard for me to say if her name is well known in creative circles in China. I just don’t know.
Another interesting take away from this lecture is the common factor of the nude being used as a political message and how few, if any, male nude examples there are in Chinese culture.
Dr Di Wang also suggests that the nude is very much a Western influence as there appears to be very little “native” art of this type before the 1920s. I do wonder how much Soviet influence there was on art in China during this early period. And what future artists will produce.
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