When was watercolor painting introduced to China

Watercolor painting was introduced to China from the West at the end of the 19th century, with a history of more than one hundred years

Western watercolor paintings were introduced to China mainly through two channels: one is the importation of Western missionaries and the teaching of hired Western painters; and the other is the sending of foreign students abroad for further study.

The widespread acceptance and popularization of watercolors in China relied mainly on the rise of Western-style academies and art schools in the second half of the 19th century.

Initially, Western watercolors followed the footsteps of Western missionaries around the world.

China has a long history of cultural and artistic exchanges with the West.

Especially in the 1620s, the sea transportation between China and Europe was more developed.

According to historical records, in 1579 AD, (Ming Wanli seven years) Italian Catholic Jesuit missionary Luo Mingjian (MichaeIeRuggieri, 15431607) came to China, brought some Western religious paintings, three years later in 1582, another Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (1552 ~ 1610) also came to China. Three years later, in 1582, another Italian missionary, Matteo Riccl (1552-1610), also came to China. He brought with him icons and illustrations in the scriptures were hand-painted with watercolors, which was the first time the Chinese saw Western watercolors.

This water-based medium of painting, not only has the traditional Chinese painting of water, but also fresh, bright, dashing, showy and smooth, the visual effect is more delicate, realistic image, caused people to marvel, but of course, this is not the true meaning of the spread of watercolor painting.

More influential is in 1715, the Italian painter Lang Shi Ning (Giuseppe Cattio1ione, 1688-1766) was called into the Qing Palace as a painter, he on the one hand, using Chinese painting tools and materials, on the one hand, still using the Western aesthetic concepts and techniques of painting, he painted flowers and birds, a strong sense of realism, the face of a new look.

Although these works were not pure watercolors, the Chinese accepted many of the Western concepts of painting, such as color, light and shadow, and perspective, in a subtle way.

In the middle of the 18th century, after the Opium Wars, Western learning spread to the East.

With the flourishing of Sino-foreign trade, a number of painters engaged in commercial painting appeared at the Guangzhou port, including British watercolors.

With the opening of Shanghai as a commercial port in 1843, foreign churches were given the freedom to preach in China, and Western culture rapidly influenced this ancient land in the East.

Thirteen years later, the Catholic Church in Xujiahui and the Tushanwan Painting Gallery taught brush rubbing charcoal drawings, oil paintings, and watercolors by the Spanish missionary Jeannes Ferren (1817-1856) and the French missionary Pan Sanggong (Fnere Couper b.d. unknown).

It was the earliest Western art training institution in China, and many young Chinese painting students studied there, including Xu Yongqing, Zhang Guanghong, and Zhou Xiang, who were the pioneers of watercolor painting in China.

The defeat of the Opium War in 1840 led to China's foreign affairs movement.

In that year, the Qing *** selected more than 100 schoolchildren to study in the United States in order to learn the advanced technology of the West.

After the May Fourth Movement, many progressive young people traveled to Japan or to England, France, Germany, Italy and other countries to study the art of painting.

Guan Guangzhi in the north, Li Jianchen in the south, as well as Wang Jiyuan and Zhang Meisun are all famous painters who studied in England and France or specialized in watercolor painting in their early years, and they have made remarkable contributions to the creation and development of Chinese watercolor art by engaging in art education and the creation of watercolor paintings.

This group of students had a traditional foundation of Chinese cultural education before going abroad, and had better humanistic qualities and cultivation.

When they came into contact with the Western art of watercolor painting, they naturally combined it with traditional Chinese art.

In this sense, Western watercolor painting has been a combination of East and West since its introduction.

The real beginning of the spread of watercolors in Chinese history was the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Civil War.

With the reform movement, "abolition of the imperial examinations, the rise of the school", in 1898, after the reform of the law, China's national education by the influence of Western Europe and the Eastern educational trends, the government-run school, the emergence of schools modeled on the Western model of fine arts education, the use of a new school system, new teaching methods and new curriculum, in the textbooks watercolor painting became a part of the Western art education. Watercolor painting became an important part of art teaching in textbooks.

In 1902, the Qing Dynasty *** promulgated the Statutes of the Imperial Schools, which clearly stipulated that drawing and painting must be taught at all levels of schooling.

Watercolor, too, was introduced into Chinese general education as an important part of the drawing class.

In 1906, Nanjing established the Two Rivers Excellent Teacher Training College (the predecessor of the Art Department of the Central University), which established the "Art Department" in the history of modern art education in China.

In Baoding, the Zhili Normal School was founded, which included drawing, oil painting, and watercolor as part of its Western painting section.

After that, watercolors were taught at the Zhejiang Normal School and the Beijing Higher Normal School.

In 1912, the Shanghai National Academy of Painting and Fine Arts (predecessor of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts) was founded, in 1918, the National Beijing Art College was established, and in 1928, the National Academy of Fine Arts (predecessor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts) was established in Hangzhou. ...... The western painting sections of these schools offered watercolor painting courses.

Since 1922, China's elementary school curriculum formally opened the watercolor painting class, for the popularity and development of watercolor painting in China opened the way.

Since then, watercolor painting has been specially favored in the art teaching of all kinds of private and public ordinary schools in China because of its aesthetic ease and the simplicity of its tools and materials, and its importance is even higher than that of oil painting.

Many researchers engaged in the art of watercolor painting have also found their own suitable positions in art teaching, and are the main force in the team of Chinese watercolor painters.

At the same time, watercolor painting associations have been established in various places, which is also an important force to promote the development of Chinese watercolor painting.

For example, in 1919, Xu Yongqing, Yan Wenliang and others established the "Fine Arts Painting Society" in Suzhou; in 1926, Li Jianchen, Zhang Dingling and others established the "Yiguang Society" in Beijing; Liu Kaiqu, Li Youxing and others also established the "Watercolor Painting Society" in Beijing; and Liu Kaiqu, Li Youxing and others also established the "Watercolor Painting Society" in Beijing. "In 1928, Pan Sitong and Chen Qiucao established the White Goose Painting Society in Shanghai, and published the White Goose Painting Journal - these watercolor paintings organizations have contributed to the prosperity of the art of watercolor painting and the training of artists. These watercolor painting organizations have indelible achievements in the prosperity of watercolor painting art and training of watercolor painting talents.

In addition, under the enthusiastic advocacy of a group of pioneering watercolor painters such as Li Yishi, Li Chaoshi, and Chen Buyi, watercolor, a new type of painting, has gradually laid a broad social foundation in China.

The entry of watercolors into China means the entry of the Western way of viewing the world.

That is, in line with the physiological structure of the human eye way of viewing things, not constantly "realistic" narrative visual framework and strategy to see the world, so that the Chinese people in the transfer of copying and writing, imagery, aesthetic concepts on the basis of another eye reference, its significance is significant.

The Budding Period of Chinese Watercolor Painting (1715-1911)

The Growing Period of Chinese Watercolor Painting (1911-1949)

The Formative Period of Chinese Watercolor Painting (1949-1978)

Chinese Watercolor Painting's Innovation Period (1978-1998)