The influence of Shanghai Art societies on the development of fine arts in the early twentieth century

Khu Wenwen ORCID: 0009-0003-1011-7704 PhD in Art History Postgraduate student, Department of Art History, Siberian State Institute of Arts named after Dmitry Hvorostovsky 660049, Russia, Krasnoyarsk region, Krasnoyarsk, Lenin St., No. 22, sq. Siberian State Institute of Arts named after Dmitry Hvorostovsky 644533389@qq.com Other publications by this author

The Chinese city of Shanghai is located in the center of the country's coastline, stretching from north to south. Such a convenient geographical location in the 19th century defined the metropolis as a strategic hub for inland river transportation. In 1843, the first international commercial seaport was opened in Shanghai, ensuring the interaction of the Celestial Empire with the outside world. Thanks to this, Shanghai has become the economic center of the country in a short time, attracting a large number of foreign elites to start a business. The major powers were granted permission to work with state property and British, French, American and Japanese concessions were founded in the city. The city became a point of attraction for immigrants from different countries, who contributed not only to the prosperity of China's economy, but also to its cultural development. Shanghai was "overwhelmed" by a wave of Western art. The British art theorist M. Su Lieven paid special attention to this process. His books "Artistic Exchange between East and West" (1989) and "Chinese Art and Artists in the 20th Century" (2013) talk about the influence of Western art on traditional Chinese painting and record the foundation of art clubs, exhibitions and artistic innovations of Chinese and Western artists in Shanghai, and clearly indicate that the development of Shanghai art has occupied a leading position in China. In addition, "A Study on several topics of the History of Chinese Art in the 20th Century" (2006) and "The History of Chinese Art in the 20th Century" (2013) edited by Chinese contemporary art theorist Lu Cheng also described in detail the development of artistic innovation and artistic life in Shanghai. These books give a detailed idea that local and foreign mothers who worked in the metropolis at the beginning of the 20th century played a leading role in the development of the fine culture of the Celestial Empire. However, for all the value of the existing research material collected on the topic of the artistic life of Shanghai at the beginning of the last century, there are scientific gaps that require deeper filling.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the metropolis became one of the most popular places of residence of the world's creative bohemians. At the same time, Chinese artists were traveling from Shanghai to the west in search of new knowledge. The first records of such trips date back to 1896, when young masters went to study in Europe, America, and Japan. In 1907, the number of Chinese studying in the land of the Rising Sun reached 20,000 people [1.p.37]. For example, Van Yachen studied at the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts, Ni Ide graduated from the Kawabata School of Painting in Japan. Europe and the United States of America experienced an equally powerful influx of young creative forces. So the painter Li Tefu mastered artistic creativity at the Academy of Fine Arts in New York, Li Ishi studied at the Glasgow Academy of Fine Arts in the UK, Li Chaoshi studied painting in France and England. These masters, returning home, brought the ideas of Western art to their homeland and became the founders of such art societies as the "Movement of Western Painting" (1913-1937), the "New Cultural Movement" (1915-1923). The painters involved in the creation and activities of such associations relied on European experience in developing charters of creative unions, holding meetings and organizing exhibitions. For Chinese art, such innovations became revolutionary for fine art, gradually transforming the art education system, activating the artistic life of the city, which subsequently had a qualitative impact on the formation of a new art scenario nationwide. 

Under the influence of Western visual traditions, which became completely new for China at the beginning of the 20th century, a gradual change in aesthetic values took place in the country, which determined the formation of three ideological streams in visual culture, associated, firstly, with the promotion of Western art. Secondly, with the revival of the ideological foundations of traditional national culture and, thirdly, with the promotion of the idea of the importance of integrating Chinese and foreign painting. During the first three decades of the early 20th century, local craftsmen who defended these sometimes diverse opinions with their creativity founded more than a hundred art groups and unions to more massively promote their beliefs in society. They held a large number of city events that had a great public response: art exhibitions, creative meetings, public lectures. The painters were actively involved in the process of opening periodicals about art and books devoted to the visual culture of the West and east.

At the beginning of the 20th century, European art became very popular in Shanghai. However, there were creative forces preventing this phenomenon. Thus, from 1900 to 1911, at least 8 art associations were founded in the city, whose work was aimed at raising the national spirit and popularizing traditional Chinese painting, among them: the Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Trade Union; the Association for the Preservation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; the Chinese Jinshi Painting and Calligraphy Competition; the Yuyuan Painting and Calligraphy Charitable Association; Wanmi Shanfang Painting and Calligraphy Association; Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Association; Research Association; Shanghai Jingshi Inscription Painting and Calligraphy Association; Qin Museum Painting and Calligraphy Association.

In the period from 1912 to 1928, Chinese masters who studied abroad began to return to Shanghai. Their worldview often came into conflict with the bearers of traditional Chinese visual culture. In order to "consolidate" their role in the artistic picture of the city, young artists began to cooperate in creative unions. One of the most striking associations of that time was the Wenmei Society, founded in 1912 and trying to find a compromise between the Western and Eastern foundations of painting. The leading representatives of this partnership were the artists Li Shuton and Zeng Xiaogu, who were educated at the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts together with the writer Ye Chusong, the politician Liu Yazi and Zhu Shaoping, Chief Executive Officer of the World Chinese Student Union. Although the members of this association promoted mainly domestic art, they did not abandon Western art techniques, being the first to try to synthesize the basics of Eastern and European fine art, as Japanese masters did at that time. The integration of the Western art model into Chinese culture began with the activities of the Wenmei Society.

In 1919, the Heavenly Horses Association was founded, which was "the most influential art society in Shanghai until 1929. The model of art exhibitions created by him had historical significance during the cultural and artistic revolution" [2.c.157], which took place in the city at the beginning of the last century. "Heavenly Horses" had a significant influence on Cai Yuanpei, who formulated the ideas of aesthetic education of Chinese youth. The famous Shanghai painter Li Haixu, who was also engaged in teaching activities in the art education system, was part of the "Heavenly Horses". He deeply studied the history of Chinese painting, the basics of Western visual culture, including sculpture and decorative arts. This artist, along with his comrades in the association, participated in 9 exhibitions, which featured such works as Liu Haisu's "Rainbow" (1923) and Wang Yachen's "Waterfall" (1923). Both of these works were purchased in 1923 by the commercial press at a high price and today they are treasures of the art fund of the Shanghai City Library.

In 1915, the teachers of the Shanghai Academy of Graphic Arts, Wu Shiguang, Wang Yachen, Chen Baoyi, Yu Jifan, Liu Haixu, Shen Boshen and Dinh Song organized the "Oriental Painting Society", which was the first in the history of China to be completely focused on the Western scenario of art development. Representatives of this group sought to rally the apologists of European painting in their ranks. They promoted techniques such as sketching (quick sketches without working out details) and plein air (outdoor work), which Chinese masters were not familiar with before. The activities of this society "stirred up" the art world of Shanghai and various partnerships began to be actively created in the city, among them: "Morning Light" (1921-1927), "White Goose" (1923-1936), "Shanghai Art Society" (1926) and others.

The period of 1929-1937 is a time of prosperity of the creative life of the metropolis, largely due to the active activities of numerous art unions. Among their ranks, the most influential were the Bee Painting Society (1929), the Taimen Painting Society (1930), the Moshe Art Club (1932), the Chinese Painting Society (1932-1948), which included all famous Shanghai artists, including Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Zhang Youguang, Qian Shoute, Huang Binhong and more than 300 other masters. They organized the publication of specialized magazines "Monthly of Chinese Painting" and "Collection of Modern Chinese Painting", participated in the creation of art books, conducting public lectures on the development of domestic art, organizing creative evenings and trips, as well as art expositions [3.p.296]. The masters played an active role in the integration of traditional Chinese painting with the world contemporary art of that time.

From 1932 to 1935, the Storm Society worked in the city, which entered a bright page in the artistic life of Shanghai. The members of the "Storm", created by famous creators like Pan Xiunqing and Ni Ide, were supporters of Western oil painting and vehemently convinced society of the need for a creative revolution in modern Chinese art, which, like the storm, should lead domestic art to a new stage of development. Members of the "Storm" held four expositions, which were opposed by many conservative artists, calling the work of the reformers "scientific". Supporters of traditional art believed that the members of the "Storm" paid excessive attention to Western techniques to the detriment of the content. Despite pressure from the professional workshop, Pan Xunqin insisted on exploring new artistic directions. Later, recalling this confrontation, he believed that the four exhibitions held by the Storm Society "were like throwing small stones into a pond covered in mud. One could hear a slight sound from falling bodies and see a few small splashes on the surface of the water. But soon the stones sank to the bottom of the pond and the surface of the water returned to its original state" [4.p.140]. And although the members of the Storm society faced the misunderstanding of their contemporaries, and sometimes with open hostility towards themselves, their fearless research path in their work contributed to the introduction of the traditions of Western modernism in Shanghai.

Innovation in art has not spared the gender issue. In 1934, the Chinese Women's Society of Painting and Calligraphy was established in Shanghai, which existed until 1948. This initiative became the very first and unprecedented phenomenon in the artistic culture of the country [5.p.129]. The association was founded by the artists Feng Wenfen, Li Qiujun, Chen Xiaocui, Gu Qiniao, Yang Xueju, Gu Mofei and very quickly found support among the residents of Shanghai who are professionally engaged in fine arts. In June 1934, the Chinese Women's Society of Painting and Calligraphy united 52 participants, and on the eve of the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945) it had about 200 members [6.p.106]. In early June 1934, the first exhibition of the society took place, after which its public influence grew day by day. Various media outlets in Shanghai have been constantly rocking this topic. Thus, the magazine "Shen Bao", followed by others, published an article about this phenomenon, calling the works of contemporaries "an unprecedented collection of the women's art world", "a cultural festival in the world of women's art" [7.p.12]. As a result, the Chinese Women's Society of Painting and Calligraphy played not only an innovative role in the development of the country's artistic culture, but also contributed to the professional training of women artists, as well as the almost complete modernization of Chinese art, significantly increasing the status of women's creativity in China [8.p.56].

In the 1930s, Russian artists who emigrated to China began to come to Shanghai, the most tolerant city in the country to various art traditions. Soon, Russian visual culture became very popular in the metropolis among the local population. The prosperity was facilitated by the activities of numerous Russian art groups, the very first of which was the "Commonwealth of Artists" (1929), created by the painter Sokolovsky N.K. Members of the society held meetings at the beginning of each week, which influenced the name of the magazine "Monday", which founded the union. In this endeavor, the artists were assisted by writer V.S. Val, playwright P.A. Senersky, poets L.V. Grosse and M.C. Spurg, who joined the group. The publication published not only articles about the artistic life of Shanghai, but also works by Russian writers, reproductions of artists' works, responding to the spiritual needs of the Russian diaspora living in China. In 1934, the famous painter Mikhail Alexandrovich Kichigin, one of the most respected masters of "Russian" China, took the post of chairman of the "Commonwealth of Artists". On his initiative, the society regularly held art and literary evenings.

Russian Russian artists' initiative was soon taken up by their Russian emigrants and in 1933 the "Community of Artists, Writers, Artists and Musicians" was created, which existed until 1936. The society united the creative aspirations of famous figures in the field of art, including journalists, becoming the most influential Russian partnership of the first half of the 20th century, working in China [9.p.611]. During the three years of activity, the members of this cooperation, which was called "Wednesday" in professional circles, since their meetings were held on the third day of the week, held more than 70 meetings, which were attended by up to 1,500 people annually [9.s.610]. 

Summing up a brief study aimed at reconstructing the history of the Shanghai art societies of the first half of the 20th century, we will draw a number of conclusions. Firstly, at the beginning of the last century, this metropolis became the largest economic and cultural center of China. Known in world history as the "Paris of the Orient", Shanghai has become a kind of "promised land" for the world's largest artistic forces. Craftsmen from all over the world rushed to the city, which allowed them to reveal their talents, multiplied in professional cooperation. Foreign, in particular Russian artists who actively worked in Shanghai, brought the visual traditions of their country into the creative life of the city. The "cultural cauldron" of various art schools, which were of interest to the townspeople, synthesized a new language of art, which later influenced the formation of modern Chinese art. Secondly, most of the local artists who joined public organizations received Western education. This allowed them to analytically assess the traditional scenario of the development of Russian art, insisting on the introduction of European painting techniques and modernist trends into the country's visual culture. Like the famous Hunyi master at that time, many artists believed that "The Chinese painting system is imperfect. Chinese painting does not pay attention to perspective, and drawing does not take into account the anatomy of characters, unlike Western art" [10.p.20]. In professional communities, it was easier, more effective and more convincing to convey the importance of this idea to society. Thirdly, the activities of art societies have significantly enriched and expanded the creative possibilities of the masters, attracted the attention of the population to the fine arts, and modernized the painting traditions of China. However, the existence of each society was accompanied by a large number of problems, among them the most significant were financial famine and political instability in the country associated with the Japanese intervention of 1937. This dramatic event, which the Chinese people courageously fought until 1945, limited the development of art societies, putting their activities on a forced pause or forcing them to completely interrupt their work. However, the efforts of professional cooperatives gave a powerful impetus to the development of Chinese art, writing a bright page in the annals of Chinese culture [11.p.30].

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