ARTH 212 Arts of Modern China

ARTH 212. Arts of Modern China. Spring 2020.

Professor Lara Blanchard	tel: x3893
Art & Architecture Department, 208 Houghton House

Lectures: MWF 9:45–10:45am, 112 Houghton House
Office hours: Tu 10:00–11:30am, F 1:15–2:45pm, or by appointment, 208 Houghton House

Course description:
This course will explore the tensions between tradition, modernity, and globalization in Chinese arts from 1912 (marking the overthrow of imperial rule and the establishment of a republic) to the present, examining how visual media reflect the Chinese people’s understanding of China’s position in the world in the 20th and 21st centuries. Material will be organized chronologically, but broader topics will include art criticism and movements in art; social classes of artists; artistic patronage; art and politics; and gender in the arts. Media to be considered include painting, printmaking, photography, video, installations, sculpture, and architecture. No prerequisites or co-requisites. The course is cross-listed with Asian Studies. It addresses two of the aspirational goals of the curriculum: a critical understanding of social inequalities (partially), and a critical understanding of cultural difference (substantially).

Learning objectives:
Students in this class will hone their critical thinking, research, and writing skills. More conceptual learning objectives include understanding how works of art and architecture operate as historical artifacts that reveal current ideas on politics and society, draw upon Chinese traditions and philosophies, and demonstrate connections between Chinese and world cultures.

Books:

Andrews, Julia F., and Kuiyi Shen. The Art of Modern China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012. (REQUIRED.)
Wu Hung, ed. Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2010. (REQUIRED.)
Barnet, Sylvan, ed. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2015. (RECOMMENDED FOR STUDENTS NEW TO ART HISTORY.)

Weekly schedule (please note: schedule may be subject to minor changes):

INTRODUCTION.

Jan. 22 (W). Overview of the course.

Jan. 24 (F). Chinese arts in the age of imperialism.

Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen, The Art of Modern China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012), 1–25.

Jan. 27 (M). Overthrow of the Qing dynasty and establishment of a republic.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 27–37.

REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 1912–49.

Jan. 29 (W). Shanghai School, New Culture Movement, and attacks on tradition.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 37–45.

Jan. 31 (F). 1920s literati painting and traditional painting societies.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 47–55.

Feb. 3 (M). Research and writing in art history.

Feb. 5 (W). Modern School curriculum and Heavenly Horse Society exhibitions.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 55–58.

Feb. 7 (F). Memorials and parks in Nanjing and Beijing.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 58–60.
Mingzheng Shi, “From Imperial Gardens to Public Parks: The Transformation of Urban Space in Early Twentieth-Century Beijing,” Modern China 24, no. 3 (July 1998): 219–54.
RESPONSE PAPER due.

Feb. 10 (M). Artists back from abroad: Lin Fengmian, Xu Beihong, and others.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 60–71.

Feb. 12 (W). 1930s oil painting.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 73–81.

Feb. 14 (F). Modern woodcut movement and graphic design.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 82–91.
RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL due.

Feb. 17 (M). 1930s guohua.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 93–107.

Feb. 19 (W). Urban planning.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 109–13.

Feb. 21 (F). Painting during wartime.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 115–29, 134–36.

Feb. 24 (M). Printmaking during wartime.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 129–33, 136–37.

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 1949–89.

Feb. 26 (W).Establishment of the PRC and new art.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 139–45.
Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Yan’an Conference on Literature and Art” (1942), in Sources of Chinese Tradition, comp. Wm. Theodore de Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, and Burton Watson, 2 vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), 2: 930–33.

Feb. 28 (F).Architecture of Tiananmen Square.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 145–47.

Mar. 2 (M).Socialist realism in paintings and prints.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 147–59.

Mar. 4 (W). Ink painting under Mao.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 161–77.
RESEARCH WORKSHEETS due.

Mar. 6 (F). Lianhuanhua and woodblock prints under Mao.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 177–81.

Mar. 9 (M). The Cultural Revolution and Red Guard art.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 183–90.

Mar. 11 (W). The Cultural Revolution and worker-peasant-soldier art.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 190–99.

Mar. 13 (F). Art of the Hua Guofeng interregnum; New Realism.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 201–7.
Luo Zhongli, “A Letter from the Artist of Father (Fuqin) (1981),” trans. Michelle Wang, in Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, ed. Wu Hung (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2010), 23–25.
FIRST TEST due.

[Mar. 14–22, Spring Break]

Mar. 23 (M). Unofficial Art; reactions against socialist realism.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 208–13.
Huang Rui, “Preface to the First Stars Art Exhibition (Xingxing Meizhan) (1979),” trans. Philip Tinari, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 7–8.
Xu Wenli, Liu Qing, et al., “A Letter to the People (1979),” trans. Phillip Bloom, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 8–10.
Li Xianting, comp., “About the Stars Art Exhibition (1980),” trans. Donald J. Cohn, ed. Peggy Wang, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 11–13.

Mar. 25 (W). New Wave and New Literati Painting.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 213–20.
Wu Guanzhong, “Formalist Aesthetics in Painting (1979),” trans. Michelle Wang, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 14–17.

Mar. 27 (F). 1989: China/Avant-Garde exhibition and Tiananmen Square protest.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 221–23.
“The China/Avant-Garde Exhibition,” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 113–26.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY due.

Mar. 28 (Sat). Field trip to the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. Optional.

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 1990–PRESENT.

Mar. 30 (M). Postmodern reflections in 1990s Beijing.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 257–59.
Xu Bing, “On Words (1999/2000),” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 254–57.

Apr. 1 (W). Political Pop and Cynical Realism.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 259–63.
Li Xianting, “Apathy and Deconstruction in Post-’89 Art: Analyzing the Trends of ‘Cynical Realism’ and ‘Political Pop’ (1992),” trans. Kela Shang, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 157–66.
Huang Zhuan, “Appendix: The Misread Great Criticism (Da Pipan) (2008),” trans. Jeff Crosby, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 167–71.
RESPONSE PAPER due.

Apr. 3 (F). Writing workshop.

Apr. 6 (M). Chinese painters and globalization.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 263–66.
Fei Dawei, “Challenging Modernism—An Interview with Wenda Gu,” trans. Jiayun Zhuang, in Wu, Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 106–11.
Huang Zhuan, “Report from the Artist’s Studio (1996),” trans. Yinxing Liu, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 190–91.

Apr. 8 (W). Chinese installation artists and globalization.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 266–70.
Wenda Gu, “Face the New Millennium: The Divine Comedy of Our Times; A Thesis on the United Nations Art Project and Its Time and Environment,” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 257–60.

Apr. 10 (F). Apartment art.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 270–72.
Lin Tianmiao, “Wrapping and Severing (1997),” trans. Peggy Wang, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 197.
Yin Xiuzhen, “Clothes Chest (Yixiang) (1995),’ trans. Peggy Wang, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 198.
RESEARCH PAPER DRAFT due.

Apr. 13 (M). Performance art and Beijing’s East Village.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 272–77.
Zhang Huan, “A Personal Account of 65 KG (1994/2000),” trans. Lee Ambrozy, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 185–87.
Ma Liuming, “Four Notes (1994),” trans. Kristen Loring, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 187–88.
Qiu Zhijie, “The Boundary of Freedom: A Personal Statement on Assignment No. 1 (Zuoye Yihao) (1994/2003),” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 188–89.
Zhang Huan, “12 Square Meters (12 Pingfang Mi) (1994),” trans. Kristen Loring, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 214.

Apr. 15 (W). Photography in the 1990s.

Karen Smith, “Zero to Infinity: The Nascence of Photography in Contemporary Chinese Art of the 1990s,” in Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000), ed. Wu Hung, Wang Huangsheng, and Buyi Feng (Guangzhou: Guangdong Museum of Art, 2002), 35–50.
“Photography,” in Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, ed. Wu Hung (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2010), 219–32.

Apr. 17 (F). Video art.

“Video Art,” in Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, ed. Wu Hung (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2010), 232–48.

Apr. 20 (M). Avant-garde artists and exhibition culture.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 279–86.
Qiu Zhijie, “Post-Sense Sensibility (Hou Ganxing): A Memorandum (2000),” trans. Wu Hung, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 343–47.
Zhang Qing, “Transcending Left and Right: The Shanghai Biennale and Transitions (2000),” trans. Phillip Bloom, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 347–50.
Britta Erickson, “The Reception in the West of Experimental Mainland Chinese Art of the 1990s (2002),” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 357–62.

Apr. 22 (W). Urbanism and the environment in contemporary Chinese art.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 286–89.
“Urban Destruction and Construction,” in Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, ed. Wu Hung (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2010), 205–13.

Apr. 24 (F). Female artists and feminism.

Britta Erickson, “The Rise of a Feminist Spirit in Contemporary Chinese Art,” ArtAsiaPacific 31 (July 2001): 64–71.
Feng Jiali, “Limitless Difference: On Being a Chinese Woman Artist,” ArtAsiaPacific 31 (July 2001): 66–71.
Xu Hong, “Walking Out of the Abyss: My Feminist Critique (1994),” trans. Lee Ambrozy, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 193–94.
Tao Yongbai, “Toward a Female Initiative (1996/2003),” trans. Lee Ambrozy, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 194–97.
RESEARCH PAPER due.

Apr. 27 (M). Suzhou Museum and classical Chinese gardens.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 289–90.

Apr. 29 (W). Residential architecture in Beijing.

Shuishan Yu, “Courtyard in Conflict: The Transformation of Beijing’s Siheyuan During Revolution and Gentrification,” The Journal of Architecture 22, no. 8 (2017): 1337–65.
RESPONSE PAPER due.

May 1 (F). Contemporary art and the market.

Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 290–96.
“Establishing an Infrastructure for Contemporary Art,” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 289–98.
Lü Peng, “Reflections and Questions Raised after the First 1990s Biennial Art Fair (1993),” trans. Peggy Wang, in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 303–7.

May 4 (M). Conclusions.

May 8 (F). SECOND TEST due, 10:00pm.

Communications:
I am happy to meet with you outside of class during my office hours (see top of syllabus), or at another time that is convenient for you, in 208 Houghton House. The best way to reach me to set up an appointment is by e-mail (blanchard@hws.edu), but please note that I might not check my e-mail before 9:00am or after 4:30pm. If I need to contact students, I generally will do so via HWS e-mail and through Announcements on Canvas (see Websites below). You should develop the habit of checking both on a regular basis (I recommend doing so daily).

Attendance policy:
I expect you to attend class regularly. Asian art history is a challenging subject; don’t make it impossible by skipping class! If, however, you need to miss a class (for reasons including celebration of your religion, athletic participation, a field trip for a different course, or illness), I expect you to notify me as soon as possible and to turn in a one- to two-page essay on the topics covered on the day of your absence, within a week of your return to class. Not doing so will directly impact your participation grade. If you are absent four times or more, I will contact the Deans about your performance.

Course requirements:

1. Class participation (15%). This includes regular and punctual attendance and participating in discussions in class or on the Canvas discussion board. I grade participation on a daily basis, as follows: check-plus-plus (95) for thoughtful commentary in class or on the discussion board that is analytical in nature or synthesizes material from readings and/or other classes; check-plus (85) for speaking up in class or on the discussion board on a topic relevant to the course material (even to ask a question or to answer one of my questions incorrectly); check (75) for showing up to class but not speaking; check-minus (65) for not paying attention, coming in late, or being disruptive or disrespectful; zero (0) for not coming to class at all (but see the Attendance policy, above, for how to make up for missing class).

2. Response papers (15%). Throughout the semester you will write several 300–600-word papers responding to some of the assigned readings. More details to follow.

3. Research project (30%), Feb. 14–Apr. 24. In this project you will focus on a single Chinese work of art or building. More details to follow.

4. First test (18%), due Friday, Mar. 13. This take-home test covers material through Wednesday, Mar. 4.

5. Second test (22%), due Friday, May 8, 10:00pm. This take-home test covers material from Friday, Mar. 6 through Monday, May 4.

Format for written work:
Please follow these guidelines when you write your papers.

Type all work in a 12-point font.
Double-space.
Leave one-inch margins on all sides.
Number your pages.
Put your name and the date on the first page.
Check that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct—these are crucial to effective communication of your ideas. Your grade will drop if you have excessive errors.
If you cite another source, you must use a.) parenthetical references or footnotes, and
b.) a list of works cited, as explained in The Chicago Manual of Style (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html), the documentation style typically used by art historians. (See A note about cheating and plagiarism below.) This citation system is explained in A Short Guide to Writing about Art.
Include pictures (with captions) of works of art that you discuss.

You can submit written work via Canvas. Please upload a Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx) or a Portable Document Format file (.pdf): these are the only formats that Canvas will accept. Alternatively, you can turn in a stapled hard copy, plus copies of any earlier drafts, during the class period. PLEASE NOTE: I do not accept papers via e-mail.

A note about cheating and plagiarism:
I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. It destroys the trust that I have in you to do your best, it is unfair to the other students, and obviously you will not learn anything if you resort to cheating. If I find that you have cheated or plagiarized on a test or on a written assignment, you will receive a zero for the assignment and I will contact the Deans and/or the Committee on Standards about your case. If a case goes to the Committee on Standards, I follow the Committee's recommendation; if it also finds evidence of cheating or plagiarism, the recommendation is usually failure of the course at a minimum.

In accordance with the Colleges’ Academic Policies (http://www.hws.edu/catalogue/policies.aspx) and the Handbook of Community Standards (http://www.hws.edu/studentlife/pdf/community_standards.pdf), pp. 11, 25–28, I define cheating as giving or receiving assistance on any assignment for this course, including all papers and tests, except as directly authorized by me. The Colleges define plagiarism as “the presentation or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements of another person as one’s own, without due acknowledgment.” In application, this means that in any written assignment, you need to cite your sources. When quoting directly from a text—say, five words or more in succession—you need to put those words in quotation marks and include a parenthetical reference or footnote citing the source. When rewriting a passage from a text in your own words, or including information from a text in your paper, you don’t need the quotation marks but you do still need the parenthetical reference or footnote. In addition, all sources that you cite need to be included in a list of works cited at the end of the assignment. If you don’t understand exactly what constitutes plagiarism, or how to use parenthetical references or footnotes, please ask me. I would prefer to explain what it is and how to avoid it before it happens rather than after.

Grading:
Tests and the research project assignments receive numerical grades. Class participation, response papers, and make-up written assignments will receive a check-plus-plus (95), check-plus (85), check (75), check-minus (65), or zero (0). If you are unsatisfied with a grade, please prepare a written statement explaining what grade you think you should have received and why, and submit it to me along with the assignment for review.

I mark down three points for each calendar day that an assignment is late. If you think you will need an extension, you should talk to me as early as possible.

My grading scale is as follows:

A+ 97-100	A 93-97	A- 90-93
B+ 87-90	B 83-87	B- 80-83
C+ 77-80	C 73-77	C- 70-73
D+ 67-70	D 63-67	D- 60-63
	F 0-60

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL):
At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, we encourage you to learn collaboratively and to seek the resources that will enable you to succeed. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is one of those resources: CTL programs and staff help you engage with your learning, accomplish the tasks before you, enhance your thinking and skills, and empower you to do your best. Resources at CTL are many: Teaching Fellows provide content support in eleven departments, Study Mentors help you manage your time and responsibilities, Writing Fellows help you think well on paper, and professional staff help you assess academic needs.

I encourage you to explore these and other CTL resources designed to encourage your very best work. You can talk with me about these resources, visit the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library to discuss options with the staff, or visit the CTL website at http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/index.aspx.

The CTL resource that will be most essential in enhancing learning in this course is the Writing Fellows program. Writing Fellows help students develop their writing by providing feedback on essay drafts, offering strategies for the writing process, and enhancing students’ understanding of what good college writing means. In this class, Writing Fellow assistance with our research paper will be extremely helpful to you, and I suggest that you make an appointment via StudyHub on the CTL website by Monday, Apr. 6 to begin work on it.

Disability accommodations:
If you are a student with a disability for which you may need accommodations, you should self-identify, provide appropriate documentation of your disability, and register for services with Disability Services at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Disability-related accommodations and services generally will not be provided until the registration and documentation process is complete. The guidelines for documenting disabilities can be found at the following website: http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/disability_services.aspx

Please direct questions about this process or Disability Services at HWS to Christen Davis, Coordinator of Disability Services, at ctl@hws.edu or x3351.

Websites:
There are two websites for this course: one at my homepage, http://people.hws.edu/blanchard/ARTH212/; and one at Canvas, https://canvas.hws.edu/. This syllabus, paper assignments, and links to online resources for Asian art can be found at both. The Canvas site also has a course calendar, daily handouts, discussions, and an online gradebook; I plan to post presentations there as well.

To use Canvas, log in with your campus username and password. Once you have logged in, you should see, at the left of the screen, a link for Courses you are enrolled in, as well as links for your Account, Dashboard, Calendar, Inbox, Commons, and Help.

It is essential for you to get in the habit of logging into Canvas regularly, as one way I will communicate with the class is via Canvas announcements, and I will post assignments and other course materials there. If you click on the Account link and then on Settings, you can set up Canvas to notify your e-mail or your cell phone about recent activity. I strongly recommend that you set Canvas to send you notifications of announcements ASAP.

For further assistance with Canvas, click on the Help link at the bottom left, and then on “Canvas Resources for Students.” You should look for the relatively short Quick Reference Guides (https://community.canvaslms.com/community/answers/guides/canvas-guide/getting-started/pages/student), the more thorough Canvas Student Guide (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10701), and—for visually oriented people—the Video Guide (https://community.canvaslms.com/community/answers/guides/video-guide). Alternatively, contact the Help Desk of Instructional Technology at x4357 or helpdesk@hws.edu. The Help Desk is located in the Library on the first floor in the Rosensweig Learning Commons and is staffed by students as follows: until 1:00am Sunday through Thursday, and until 11:00pm on Friday and Saturday.