Flower-and-bird painting in Song Dynasty (10th - 13th Century) and its impact on contemporary Chinese painting and its graphic experimentation

Abstract

[eng] This thesis aims to explore flower-and-bird painting in the Song Dynasty (10th-13th century) and its impact on contemporary Chinese painting and graphic experimentation. It focuses on the conceptual and technical analysis of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting from the aspects of philosophy, aesthetics, themes, and techniques, and explores the relationship between Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting and the status quo and practice of contemporary painting. Flower-and-bird painting is one of the most important categories of Chinese painting. It mainly portrays living things in the natural world such as flowers and birds, to showcase the Chinese understanding and pursuit of natural beauty through the expression of form, color, composition, and brushwork. This thesis studies the origins, development, evolution, and renewal of flower-and-bird painting, as well as the Chinese painting in the late Qing Dynasty (1840-1912) influenced by the artistic concepts of flower-and-bird painting, as well as contemporary Chinese painting influenced by Western trends. Finally, this thesis provides an artistic experimental collection based on the recognition, reinterpretation, and renewal of traditional art. It applies the concepts and forms of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting into various media, including photography, painting, watercolor, cyanotype, artificial intelligence, and digital art. The conclusion is that the research of this thesis is a significant reference and inspiration for contemporary art creation and graphic experiments. Chinese art is a concentrated manifestation of literature, philosophy, and history. Its strength is to use microscopic objects to accentuate macroscopic values and use natural scenes to epitomize the human spirit and emotions. The research subject of this dissertation is flower-and-bird paintings in the Song Dynasty (10th-13th century) to manifest this artistic concept. Flower-and-bird paintings in the Song Dynasty are grand and delicate, elegant, and opulent, including small works expressing the sentiments of life, and large masterpieces suggesting national fortunes. They can represent the supreme power of the royal family or suggest the disillusionment and despair of the literati. The Song Dynasty was the pinnacle of flower-and-bird paintings. Huang Quan (Chinese: 黄荃, 903-965) and Xu Xi (Chinese: 徐熙, dates unknown) represented two different artistic styles of grandeur and simplicity, and their styles also embodied a characteristic of the change and continuity of an era. Due to the contribution and support by excellent artists like Cui Bai (Chinese: 崔白, 1004-1088) and Emperor Huizong of Song (Chinese: 宋徽宗, 1082-1135), a unique artistic style of flower-and-bird painting was formed and served as the pinnacle of this art form. The rise of literati (Chinese: 文人) flower-and-bird painting in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1279) was the result of the rulers' strong promotion and the rising status of the literati. It emphasized the function of paintings to express emotions and pursue higher spiritual levels and deeper connotations. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the Painting Academy was reestablished, and flower-and-bird painting created a brand-new style different from that of the Northern Song Dynasty. Flower-and-bird painting in the Southern Song Dynasty was closer to people's lives, making viewers feel comfortable and at ease. There were significant differences between paintings of the Southern Song and Northern Song Dynasties in terms of artistic concepts, aesthetic pursuits, subject selection, and expression techniques. People of the Song Dynasty created exemplary painting styles with distinct characteristics, which demonstrated the ultimate pursuit of the artistic beauty of the era and were later regarded as the ultimate standards. By the end of the Qing Dynasty (1840-1912), flower-and-bird painting has been constantly innovating and inheriting, developing from literati painting to Shanghai (Chinese:海派) and Lingnan (Chinese: 岭南） schools, as well as the modern meticulous style. With the introduction of Western artistic concepts, the traditional flower-and-bird painting since the Song Dynasty has faced unprecedented challenges. However, the integration of Chinese and Western styles has enabled flower-and-bird painting to conjure up new visuality. The influence of Western culture has introduced new ideas and techniques to traditional Chinese art, facilitating the transition of traditional art from conservatism to modernity. But there have not been many studies in this regard. The research objective of this thesis is to investigate the origin, development, derivation, and innovation of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting, as well as to explore the development of two painting techniques: meticulous brushwork with color and ink-and-wash freehand brushwork.

The objective is to understand the artistic features and evolutionary process of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting, and to analyze its influence on contemporary painting and its artistic status. It contributes with updated ideas and templates to the diversified aesthetic criteria and the spirit of Gewu (Chinese: 格物) which refers to the study of the phenomena of nature in contemporary painting. Additionally, it explores more visual possibilities and creativity through graphic experiments using monochrome drawing and painting, algorithmic generation, cyanotype and other media under the theme of flowers and birds. It also provides more ideas and new perspectives for flower-and-bird themed images.

This thesis mainly adopts the methods of integrating images and literature, comparing the ancient and the modern. Based on Song Dynasty paintings, it studied all aspects of the research objective mainly through literature analysis, image analysis, synchronous analysis, comprehensive comparison, and qualitative research. In addition, field investigations, exhibition visits, experimental practices, summary comparisons, and other methods are used to conduct research and experiments on the research objects. The thesis provides a detailed discussion of the origin, development, derivation, and renewal of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting, starting from the aesthetic characteristics of flower-and-bird painting in the early Song Dynasty, to the views on sketching by Emperor Huizong of Song and Cui Bai in the Northern Song Dynasty, the rise of flower-and-bird painting among literati like Su Shi (Chinese: 苏轼, (1037-1101) in the mid to late Northern Song Dynasty, and the aesthetic changes in flower-andbird painting in the Southern Song Dynasty. Specific artists and classical works are discussed as the main research objects, while the two techniques of meticulous and freehand painting are elaborated respectively, to interpret the development of these two styles in the history of Chinese painting. Today, when we look back at the artistic achievements of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird paintings, the choice of subject matter, the use of color, and the form of creation are significant references for contemporary art creation. When the flower-and-bird painting is combined with modern elements, it not only provides a valuable source of knowledge and reference but also presents its aesthetic standards and ideological spirit in a more contemporary form. Based on this foundation, the writer goes on to analyze the new landscape of flower-and-bird painting after being influenced by Western aesthetics in the end of Qing Dynasty (1840-1912), as well as contemporary Chinese ink painting, contemporary Chinese easel painting, and even other contemporary art fields since the opening up and reform. It also explores relevant graphic experiments through the study and practice of Song Dynasty painting lines, monochrome drawing and painting, digital art, and cyanotype art. The thesis concludes that traditional culture and historical inheritance are significant for contemporary art. Contemporary artists need to carefully approach traditional culture and incorporate it into contemporary art, to inspire new artistic spaces and aesthetic experiences. Finally, the author extends the use of algorithm-generated techniques and their application in the interdisciplinary fields such as photography and painting through graphic experiments in monochromatic drawing and painting, programming algorithms, digital drawing, and cyanotype techniques. The above conclusions provide important references for us to gain a deeper understanding of the development process of Chinese bird-and-flower painting and the trend of contemporary art. They also offer new ideas and templates for the diversification and development of contemporary art.