Wu Changshuo. Life, Painting, and Sentiments of a Nostalgic Artist in Changing Times

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Chinese / China, grade: 1,0, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, course: Late Imperial and Contemporary Arts of China, language: English, abstract: Being established as one of the most influential artists of the Shanghai School, Wu Changshuo's life and work have been investigated on several accounts, each adding more to the picture of the highly unorthodox painter, whose focus on self-expression stood above all other aesthetical issues. The aim of this study is therefore not to try and add more details to his story, but to introduce Wu Changshuo specifically as a painter - though his painting was least appreciated by himself - and to show that underneath the quite modern style typical of the Shanghai School there was still an orthodox painter, clinging to literati ideals of long gone dynasties. I will also show thatthe actual Wu Changshuo - the painter and the person - can be seen in his landscapes rather than in his multitudinous paintings of flowers and fruits.