The Research Of Collecting Of Western Art In China In The Early 20th Century

In modern China,the notion of collecting had shifted from 'keeping and passing on collections from generation to generation' to 'displaying collections in public'.The behavior of collecting,especially connected to western art,mostly had a feature of sociality rather than individuality.In other words,the behavior of collecting centered around the notion of public aesthetic education instead of personal interest.The behavior of collecting and collections in modern China had distinct epoch characteristics,since they were heavily influenced by social politics and cultures.Revolving around Sun Peicang,this paper is devided into four sections to analyze the sequence of collecting of western art in modern China.The first section focuses on analyzing the main clues about the activities of collecting of Sun Peicang.Based on the relationship between studying abroad and collecting of western art,this section investigates the historical background and external factors of collecting of western art in modern China,as well as the historical facts about ideas of modern art galleries,collectors,collecting agencies and Sun Peicang's further plan of collecting appointed by the National Academy of Peiping.The second section mainly analyzes Sun Peicang's activities of collecting,including those in the period of studying abroad in France and in Institut Franco-Chinois de Lyon.This section also investigates activities of collecting of western art based on the analysis of relationships and networking events between Sun Peicang,Xu Beihong,Li Shizeng and Guo Youshou,then draws the outline of the historical facts and epoch characteristics of collecting led by Sun Peicang in the National Academy of Peiping from the perspective of collectors and collecting agencies.The third section,based on the investigation of the forms of Sun Peicang's collections,researches the complexity and diversity of collecting of western art in modern China.Sun Peicang believed that a country could develop the spirit through art,and carried out the social practice to promote social progress through aesthetic education.The fourth section focuses on the whole course of Sun Peicang's collecting which is full of difficulties,describes the trip his collections had from northeast China to the exhibition in Chengdu,narrates the process how the collections of Shanghai Salesian school had become the collections of Central Academy of Fine Arts,discusses the deficiency of protection,the ideas of collecting and the system in the field of collecting of western art in modern China.At last,combining the thinking of resources of art in the city at present,this section explores the path for transformation of related resources of art.This paper has the view that the behavior of collecting of western art led by Sun Peicang in modern China was the result of activities that the intellectuals had taken in the time of social transformation to shoulder the responsibility of public aesthetic education.As a new angle of view about the history of Chinese modern art and the new discovery of the history about those artists and collectors who studied abroad in France in that time,these activities of collecting of western art focused on combination of western art and Chinese art and their orientation.The research of collecting of western art in modern China is useful to reread the resources of art which once had been covered and smashed.