A Comprehensive Overview of the Modern Development of Chinese Ink Painting (1911-1978)

From 1911 to 1978, the modern process of Chinese ink painting went through the following steps: First, creative transformation of tradition. Xu Gu, Ren Bonian, and Wu Changshuo sought innovation and change in traditional painting, followed by Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong, and Pan Tianshou who based their innovation on traditional painting. Second, the reconstruction of realism. Xu Beihong transformed the Chinese literati tradition of freehand brushwork through the Western tradition of realism, and in the 1950s combined this with the Soviet style to form a new realistic creative mode, which became mainstream. Third, the fusion with modernism. Lin Fengmian drew on Western modernist concepts of form, replacing the traditional aesthetic with a new standard of brush and ink. Fourth, the rise of abstractionism. Abstractionism originated in the early 1960s in Taiwan's modern art movement, represented by Liu Kuo-sung, who explored innovation in brush and ink forms and composition. Finally, a renewed recognition of tradition. Throughout the 20th century, rebellion against tradition was the mainstream, but Li Keran and Shi Lu, representing an older generation of painters, were among the first to show signs of returning to tradition. By the late 1980s, there was a trend towards a return to tradition in the art world, as seen in the emergence of the New Literati Painting School.