A Probe Into The Whereabouts Of Shitao’s Xuancheng Period And Its Influence On His Painting Style

It is an unavoidable question to any painter in any era of the relationships between his creation and the age he lives,as well as its background environment.Meanwhile,the first thing the painter has to make clear is where his problem is to achieve the self-awareness in the dimension of consciousness.Then he could choose and create his own style.Shitao is the one painter that found out the dilemma in the environment of art circles in early Qing Dynasty.After that,he began to explore how to get into an independent level of art creation without being limited by tradition burden.The formation of Shitao’s painting style comes from all genres but at the same time it does not belong to any particular one.His style cannot be separated from the direct feelings his experience and nature bring to him.Or we can say,owning to his obedience to the objective feeling of his self-awareness,his originality could be independent of any style and genre and could form into his own style.The second chapter of the article expounds the choices of Shitao in the great environment and how important the Xuancheng period is to form its style.Shitao has travelled to and stayed in many places during his lifetime and each period of traveling has created huge influence that people could not ignore on his art style and theory.Among those periods,Xuancheng period,an especially crucial one in his life,forms into the foundation of the development direction of his art career.Early Shitao,with a charming victory air,stepped into the art circles of Xuancheng,chorusing with all famous artists,visiting all great mountains and spots and viewing the beauty of nature.The third chapter of the article specifically examines the whereabouts and activities of Shitao in Xuancheng period in order to give a more intuitively understanding towards the impact of this experience on the formation of his style.The fourth chapter systematically expounds the direct influence of Xuancheng period on Shitao’s painting style and the influence of his style on the future artistic thought from the angle of environment.Finally,the conclusion part sums up the important position of Xuancheng period in Shi Tao’s artistic career,and carries on the beginning and the summary.