ARTH 212. Arts of Modern China. Spring 2025.
Professor Lara Blanchard
tel: x3893
Art & Architecture Department, Houghton House 208

Class meetings: MWF 10:50–11:50am, Houghton House 212

Office hours: Mondays 1:30–3:00pm, Thursdays 10:15–11:45am, or by appointment, in person (Houghton House 208) or via Zoom (see Canvas for link)

 

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 will develop the ability to recognize, and be able to explain, significant themes, stylistic features, and genre conventions associated with Chinese art and architecture in the modern and contemporary eras.
  • Students will develop an understanding of, and be able to explain, how works of art and architectural sites 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.
  • Students will be able to identify the formal and material elements of different Chinese media, particularly painting, printmaking, photography, video, installations, sculpture, and architecture.
  • Students will practice using academic sources for humanities research available through the HWS Library.
  • Students will show improvement in following “best practices” for accurately summarizing, synthesizing, and citing sources using Chicago-style citation.
  • At semester’s end, students will be able to demonstrate writing skills appropriate to art history, particularly how to craft and argue a thesis.

 

Books (available from the College Store or the Library):

Andrews, Julia F., and Kuiyi Shen. The Art of Modern China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
ISBN-13: 978-0520271067  (REQUIRED.)

Barnet, Sylvan, ed. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2015.
ISBN-13: 978-0205886999  (RECOMMENDED FOR STUDENTS NEW TO ART HISTORY.)

 

Supplementary readings (available from the Library):

Chen, Aric. “Treasure Chest.” Architectural Record 209, no. 7 (July 2021): 52–59.

“The China/Avant-Garde Exhibition.” In Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, edited by Wu Hung, 113–26. Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

Erickson, Britta. “The Rise of a Feminist Spirit in Contemporary Chinese Art.” ArtAsiaPacific 31 (July 2001): 64–71.

“Establishing an Infrastructure for Contemporary Art.” In Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, edited by Wu Hung, 289–98. Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

Feng Jiali. “Limitless Difference: On Being a Chinese Woman Artist.” ArtAsiaPacific 31 (July 2001): 66–71.

Mao Zedong. “Talks at the Yan’an Conference on Literature and Art” (1942). In Sources of Chinese Tradition, compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, and Burton Watson, 2: 930–33. Columbia University Press, 1960.

“Photography.” In Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, edited by Wu Hung, 219–32. Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

Shi, Mingzheng. “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.

“Video Art.” In Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, edited by Wu Hung, 232–48. Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

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

 

Certain supplementary materials will be available via Canvas:

  • Supplementary readings will be linked from the syllabus and posted in the folder Files | Readings.
  • Image sheets and other daily handouts will be posted in the folders Files | Handouts (parts 1 and 2).
  • PowerPoint presentations will be posted in the folders Files | Image presentations (parts 1 and 2).
  • Assignments will be posted in the folder Files | Assignments.
  • Discussion questions that count toward participation will be posted on the Discussion Board.

 

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

 

I. 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.

II. 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). Research and writing in art history.

Feb. 3 (M). 1920s literati painting and traditional painting societies.

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

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.
  • RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL due.

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

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 60–71.
  • RESPONSE PAPER 1 due.

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.

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.

III. 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. 3 (M). FIRST TEST.

Mar. 5 (W). Socialist realism in paintings and prints.

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

Mar. 7 (F). Ink painting under Mao.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 161–77.
  • RESPONSE PAPER 2 due.

Mar. 10 (M). Lianhuanhua and woodblock prints under Mao.

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

Mar. 12 (W). The Cultural Revolution and Red Guard art.

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

Mar. 14 (F). The Cultural Revolution and worker-peasant-soldier art.

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

(Mar. 15–23, Spring Break)

Mar. 24 (M). Art of the Hua Guofeng interregnum; New Realism.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 201–7.

Mar. 26 (W). Unofficial Art; reactions against socialist realism.

Mar. 28 (F). New Wave and New Literati Painting.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 213–20.

Mar. 31 (M). 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.
  • RESPONSE PAPER 3 due.

IV. PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 1990–PRESENT.

Apr. 2 (W). Postmodern reflections in 1990s Beijing.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 257–59.

Apr. 4 (F). Political Pop and Cynical Realism.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 259–63.

Apr. 7 (M). Writing workshop.

Apr. 9 (W). Chinese painters and globalization.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 263–66.

Apr. 11 (F). Chinese installation artists and globalization.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 266–70.

Apr. 14 (M). Apartment art.

Apr. 16 (W). Performance art and Beijing’s East Village.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 272–77.

Apr. 18 (F). Photography and video art.

  • “Photography,” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 219–32.
  • “Video Art,” in Wu, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, 232–48.
  • RESPONSE PAPER 4 due.

Apr. 21 (M). Avant-garde artists and exhibition culture.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 279–86.

Apr. 23 (W). HWS Day. CLASS CANCELLED.

Apr. 25 (F). Urbanism and the environment in contemporary Chinese art.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 286–89.

Apr. 28 (M). 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.
  • RESEARCH PAPER REVISION due.

Apr. 30 (W). Contemporary museum architecture.

  • Andrews and Shen, Art of Modern China, 289–90.
  • Aric Chen, “Treasure Chest,” Architectural Record 209, no. 7 (July 2021): 52–59.

May 2 (F). 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.

May 5 (M). 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.
  • RESPONSE PAPER 5 due.

(May 6–8, Reading Days)

May 10 (Sat.).    SECOND TEST, 7:00–10:00pm. (Please note that this is also the absolute final deadline for any missing work.)

 

Course requirements:

  1. Response papers (10%). You will be required to attend and write short responses to five (5) events related to art, Asia, or modernity (exhibitions, speakers, films, performances, readings, etc.) before the end of the term. More details to follow. I will maintain a list of such events on Canvas. I grade response paper assignments as follows: A+ (100) for thoughtful commentary; C (75) for a response that suggests some misunderstandings; zero (0) for lack of completion.

  2. Participation (10%). This constitutes responding to questions on the Canvas discussion board and annotations of readings. I grade participation periodically, as follows: A (95) for thoughtful commentary that is analytical in nature or synthesizes material from readings and/or other classes; B (85) for answering a prompt briefly; C (75) for a response that suggests some misunderstandings; D (65) for a disruptive or disrespectful response; zero (0) for lack of participation.

  3. Research project (35%), with final paper revision due Monday, Apr. 28 and related assignments due earlier in the semester. In this project you will focus on a single work of art or building from 20th- or 21st-century China. More details to follow.

  4. First test (18%), Monday, Mar. 3. The first test will be a 55-minute essay exam covering material through the end of the second unit (on the Republic of China, 1912–49).

  5. Second test (27%), Saturday, May 10, 7:00pm. The second test will be a 55-minute essay exam covering material from the third and fourth units (on the People’s Republic of China).

 

Communications:
I am happy to meet with you outside of class at a mutually convenient time, in person or via Zoom (see Office hours above). The best way to reach me to set up an appointment is by e-mail, 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).

 

Guidelines for academic success:
In this course, you are expected to attend three hours of lectures weekly and complete eight hours of homework weekly—reading, writing, and looking—in preparation for those lectures. (This adds up to 45 hours of faculty-led instructional time and 120 hours of homework over the course of the semester.) Attending class regularly and engaging in discussions with me and your peers is important for your learning. If, however, you need to miss a class (for reasons including celebration of your religion, athletic participation, field trips for a different class, or illness), I expect you to notify me as soon as possible. Attendance counts toward your grade as follows: everyone is allowed four missed classes with no penalty. After that, for each class missed, your final grade will drop by three points. Absences are not excused or unexcused—you are allowed four total, no matter the reason. Use them wisely! You can make up for an absence, though, by writing a 300- to 600-word discussion of the assigned reading for the missed day.

In addition to the above, you are required to attend five events related to art, Asia, or modernity (adding up to five hours of equivalent academic activities total), over the course of the semester. Please consult the Related Events schedule on Canvas and plan in accordance with your interests and availability. Alternatively, you may substitute a meeting with me or with Writing Fellows at the Center for Teaching and Learning about your research project for any of the events, in which case you will be excused from a response paper.

Those of us meeting in person all share responsibility for the health and safety of all in the classroom environment. In the event that you find yourself experiencing symptoms of illness, I request that you do the following:

  • Stay home! This is the best way to prevent spreading COVID-19 as supported by scientific evidence.
  • I expect that you will contact me to discuss missed coursework. In the case that you are not able to make up missed coursework by the end of the semester, we will need to consider options that may include a medical withdrawal or incomplete for the semester, which will be done in consultation with your class Dean.

Be assured that I will do what I can to work with students to facilitate their successful completion of the course. I encourage you to contact me if you have questions or concerns.

 

Format for written work:
Please follow these guidelines for all written assignments.

  1. Type all work in a 12-point font.
  2. Double-space.
  3. Leave one-inch margins on all sides.
  4. Number your pages.
  5. Put your name and the date on the first page.
  6. 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.
  7. 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 (https://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.
  8. 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 you will not learn anything if you resort to cheating. If I find that you have cheated 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 (https://www.hws.edu/catalogue/academic-policies.aspx) and the Handbook of Community Standards (https://www.hws.edu/offices/campus-life/pdf/community_standards.pdf), pp. 10–11, 40–41, I define cheating as giving or receiving assistance on any assignment for this course, including all paper assignments and tests, except as directly authorized by me. The Colleges define plagiarism as “the presentation or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements that are not the student’s own, without due acknowledgment.” This means that you cannot use artificial intelligence (AI) unless I have given permission to do so. In addition, you cannot use the ideas of other people without citing 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, footnotes, or a list of works cited, please ask me. I would prefer to explain what plagiarism is and how to avoid it before it happens rather than after.

 

Grading:
Tests and research paper assignments receive numerical grades. Response papers and participation assignments receive letter grades, as described under Course requirements above, 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

 

Final grades are subject to reduction for lack of attendance as explained in the Guidelines for Academic Success above.

 

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 help you succeed: Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) programs and staff can 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 14 departments, Study Mentors help you juggle your responsibilities, Writing Fellows help you think well on paper, and professional staff help assess academic needs.

I encourage you to explore these and other resources that encourage your very best work. To learn more, you can talk with me, visit the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library, or visit the CTL website: Center for Teaching and Learning | Hobart and William Smith (hws.edu).

The CTL resource most essential to enhancing learning in this course is the Writing Fellows (WFs) program. WFs help students develop their thinking by providing feedback on essay drafts, offering writing process strategies, and enhancing your understanding of “good” college writing. In this class, Writing Fellow assistance with our research project will be extremely helpful to you, and I suggest that you make an appointment via StudyHub on the CTL website by Monday, Apr. 7 to begin work on your paper draft. To schedule a meeting click here: Log in Appointments (hws.edu).

 

Office of Disability Services:
If you are a student with a disability for which you may need accommodations and are new to the HWS Disabilities Services office, you should self-identify by logging into the Accommodate Portal, Accommodation Request Intake Form (symplicity.com), and completing the Accommodation Intake Form. Disability-related accommodations and services will be provided when the registration and documentation process is complete.

Returning students may request accommodations by logging into the Accommodate Portal and submitting a Semester Request. Should you need to meet to add or discuss accommodations, please schedule an appointment with the Associate Director of CTL for Disability Services.

Please direct questions about this process or Disability Services at HWS to ctl@hws.edu or x3351. Shanelle France, Associate Director of CTL for Disability Services, Thom Mascia, Assistant Director of Disability Services, and Gretchen Marr, Academic Support and Program Coordinator, are the main contacts staff for Disability Services.

 

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 PowerPoint 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 Canvas Student Guide (https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student) or—for visually oriented people—the Video Guide (https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/tkb-p/videos). Alternatively, contact the Help Desk of Instructional Technology through the Client Portal (https://hws.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/1889/Portal/Home/), at x4357, or at helpdesk@hws.edu.

 

Technology policy:
Some learning materials will be provided via online platforms such as Canvas (regularly) and Zoom (infrequently). Because of this, your access to a strong internet connection regularly is imperative to your success. I understand that we do not all have access to the same set of resources when not on campus. If this requirement sets up a currently unattainable goal for you, please contact me, your Dean, or the Office of Academic and Faculty Affairs for additional assistance.

Because this class may occasionally use Zoom, please be sure you have Zoom installed on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Zoom classes may not be recorded or distributed by anyone other than me, the instructor. Below are tips for participating in a Zoom session:

  • join the meeting early and test speaker, microphone, and camera settings;
  • keep speakers away from microphones to avoid feedback;
  • mute your microphones upon entry to the meeting; and
  • do not join a meeting from multiple devices.

I encourage you to bring a laptop or tablet with you to class as it may be useful to you in note-taking, but please remember: using personal electronic devices in the classroom can also be a distraction for you and for other students. Therefore,

  • please silence notifications on all devices so that your work is not interrupted;
  • please be respectful and do not use your devices for non-class related tasks, such as social media; and
  • please minimize device use during whole-class, in-person discussions.

Electronic video and/or audio recording is not permitted during class unless you obtain permission from me. If permission is granted, any distribution of the recording is prohibited.

Please let me know if there are reasons why you cannot follow the above guidelines.

 

Intellectual property statement:
My course materials, including this syllabus, lectures, presentations, tests, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. I am the exclusive owner of copyright for those materials that I create. I encourage you to take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not, however, reproduce or distribute notes or course materials publicly without my express written consent, nor may you knowingly allow others to do so. This includes providing materials to commercial course material suppliers such as CourseHero, Chegg, and other similar services. Students who publicly distribute or display copies or modified copies of an instructor’s course materials, or help others to do so, may be in violation of Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ policies on intellectual responsibility, found in the Handbook of Community Standards, pp. 10–11.

 

©2025 Lara C. W. Blanchard. All rights reserved.