A sweeping look at Chinese art across the millennia that upends
traditional perspectives and offers new pathways for art history
Throughout Chinese history, dynastic time--the organization of history
through the lens of successive dynasties--has been the dominant mode of
narrating the story of Chinese art, even though there has been little
examination of this concept in discourse and practice until now.
Chinese Art and Dynastic Time uncovers how the development of Chinese
art was described in its original cultural, sociopolitical, and artistic
contexts, and how these narratives were interwoven with contemporaneous
artistic creation. In doing so, leading art historian Wu Hung opens up
new pathways for the consideration of not only Chinese art, but also the
whole of art history.
Wu Hung brings together ten case studies, ranging from the third
millennium BCE to the early twentieth century CE, and spanning ritual
and religious art, painting, sculpture, the built environment, and
popular art in order to examine the deep-rooted patterns in the
historical conceptualization of Chinese art. Elucidating the changing
notions of dynastic time in various contexts, he also challenges the
preoccupation with this concept as the default mode in art historical
writing. This critical investigation of dynastic time thus constitutes
an essential foundation to pursue new narrative and interpretative
frameworks in thinking about art history.
Remarkable for the sweep and scope of its arguments and lucid style,
Chinese Art and Dynastic Time probes the roots of the collective
imagination in Chinese art and frees us from long-held perspectives on
how this art should be understood.
Published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the
Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
