ARTH 154. Art of Modern China: Honors Seminar

This honors seminar explores modern Chinese art and visual-material culture, focusing on creative engagements across the profound changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries-a period that spans China’s final imperial century, its tumultuous development into a modern nation, and its emergence on the global stage as a single-party state. How did creators (artists, craftspeople, designers, etc.) navigate foreign invasions and domestic uprisings? How did they experiment with new technologies, contribute to reform movements, and launch new types of popular culture and entertainment? How did they participate in revolution and collectivism, and negotiate the rise of post-socialist state power? Across this period, how did art intersect with the environment on issues such as famine, resource extraction, and state-sponsored development? Finally, how did notions of modernity in China operate in tension with China’s past and present, Westernization, and the larger Asia-Pacific context?

In closely studying the field of modern Chinese art history, the course examines key artists, industries, and movements, the impact of political, social, and technological developments, and major debates and issues. By studying works across media in tandem with primary sources, we consider how creative concerns engaged with seismic transformations over the last two centuries.

May be taken for one credit with permission of instructor.

Humanities.
2 credits. (1 credit option available).
Fall 2024. Eberhard.
Catalog chapter: Art History
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/art-history

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