Synopses & Reviews
About the Oxford History of Art Series:
"An impressively challenging and ambitious series intended to rewrite no less than the whole history of art in terms of new ideas and new scholarship."--Christopher White, Director of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
"A welcome introduction to art history for the twenty-first century....The best of the past and future."--Robert Rosenblum, New York University
The last twenty years have witnessed profound changes in art history, the greatest of which stem from the social and cultural perspectives now attached to art scholarship. Written by scholars at the forefront of new thinking, many of whom are rising stars in their fields, the Oxford History of Art series offers substantial and innovative texts that clarify, illuminate, and debate the critical issues at the heart of art history today. Providing a fresh new look at art that moves away from traditional elitist approaches, the series makes use of new research and methodologies, as well as newly accessible and non-canonical works to offer comprehensive coverage of the art world from archaic and classical Greek art to twentieth-century design and photography, from the artistry of African-American and Native North Americans to the masterpieces of Europe, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Lavishly illustrated and superbly designed, the Oxford History of Art brings new substance and verve to the exciting and ubiquitous world of art.
China boasts a history of art spanning 5,000 years and embracing a wide diversity of images and objects--from jade tablets, painted silk handscrolls and fans to ink and lacquer painting, porcelain-ware, sculpture, and calligraphy. But this rich tradition has not, until now, been fully appreciated in the West where scholars have focused their attention on sculpture, while largely ignoring those art forms most highly prized by the Chinese themselves, such as calligraphy. Now, in Art in China, Craig Clunas marks a breakthrough in the study of the subject. Taking into account all the arts practiced in China, and drawing on recent innovative scholarship, this rich text examines the production and consumption of art in its appropriate contexts. From art found in tombs to the state-controlled art of the Mao Zedong era, Art in China offers a novel look and comprehensive examination of all aspects of Chinese art.
Review
"A completely fresh account of Chinese art ... lively and highly accessible."--Professor Dame Jessica Rawson, Merton College, Oxford
"Always lucid and sometime provocative ... incorporates not only the most recent archaeological discoveries, but also the insights of a prodigious amount of recent scholarship ... invalualbe."--Professor Julia K. Murray, University of Wisconsin
"A serious challenge to the conventional practice of art history ... written with lucidity, grace, and wit."--Professor Cao Yiqiang, The National Academy of Art, China
Synopsis
China boasts a history of art stretching over 5,000 years and embracing a vast array of forms--objects of jade, lacquer and porcelain, painted scrolls and fans, sculptures in stone, bronze and wood, and murals. With more than 130 halftone illustrations, including almost eighty in full color, this new edition of Art in China presents the finest one-volume introduction to all forms of Chinese art. The book examines Chinese art in a variety of contexts--as it has been designed for tombs, commissioned by rulers, displayed in temples, created by the men and women of the educated elite, and bought and sold in the marketplace. Drawing on recent innovative scholarship--and newly accessible studies in China itself--Craig Clunas surveys the full spectrum of the visual arts. This updated edition contains expanded coverage of modern and contemporary art, from the fall of the empire in 1911 to the contemporary video art scene.
About the Author
Craig Clunas was appointed Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford in 2007, where he is the first holder of the chair to specialize in art from Asia. He has also has worked as a curator of Chinese art at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Art in the Tomb
2. Art at Court
3. Art in the Temple
4. Art in the Life of the Elite
5. Art in the Market-Place
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Timeline
List of Museums and Galleries
Index