Yeh Chien Yu: A Case Study Of The Chinese Cultural In The Twentith Century

This Dissertation is a case study of Yeh Chien Yu, out of whose complex and multi-layered life, thematic analysis that focuses on his engagement with the Chinese Painting has been taken, while taking into account the greater context and other contemporaries. This and the newly emerged materials bring new perspectives to the art and teaching of Yeh.The exploration begins in 1947, a turning point in his artistic life when he became a professor of the National Beiping Art School. Whether conscious or unconscious, this natural choice that led to his path in Chinese Painting would influence his endeavors in this field.Thirty-six Years of Teaching is the principal undertaking of Yeh since his middle-age. Yeh was the dean of the Chinese Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts for seventeen years and twice re-constructed the department. Swinging for a while between nihilism and conservatism, and struggling under the spell of "drawing being the foundation of all plastic arts", Yeh exhausted his every effort to respect the uniqueness of Chinese Painting, to continue the traditional lineage through teaching and to expand the expressive space of Chinese Painting.Dancing and Theatric Figure Painting is the most important personal commitment in Chinese Painting, and sketching is the best instrument Yeh introduced into Chinese Painting. Investing utmost vehement in the creation of Dancing and Theatric Figures, as a way to inherit the Xie-Yi tradition of the Literati Painting, Yeh had three creative peaks, around 1943, 1960 and 1980 respectively.One's early experiences affect to a large extent his later development, this is especially true for Yeh, whose caricature days in Shanghai had forged his concern in art for social reality and his commitment as a social role. Yeh made extensive social relations in his life. Apart from his friendship with Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong, the dissertation also examines the Aesthetism and Liberalism as represented by Shao Xunmei in the 1930s, and their implicit impact Yeh. The last chapter tries to link these fragmented parts in his life as a means to trace the evolution of his art.