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- He was one of the first to embrace advanced modernism, was greatly influenced by the art of Matisse and was aware of the post-impressionist developments in Europe. He became principal of the West Lake Art College in Hangzhou, where he opposed the platitudes of traditional Chinese painting and introduced Western drawing techniques. He advocated a merge of Western and Chinese art to make painting more relevant to their own society. His unique paintings were greatly admired and had a major impact on young art students by challenging China�s conservative attitude towards art. Many of his students, such as Zao Wou-ki, went on to develop highly individualistic and inventive styles and techniques.
Mention should also be made of another artist who studied in France named Peng Xunqin (1906-1985). He formed the Storm Society to bring art closer to the people, with the objective to consolidate the modern French painting style in China.
Despite most aspects of Chinese cultural life being radically transformed with major economic changes and the foundations of traditional painting under attack, many artists chose to preserve, promote and continue traditional style painting. Between 1910 and 1937 numerous painting groups were formed and used modern organizational techniques such as exhibitions, public relations, advertising and sales to assure the survival of traditional painting. In the Jiangnan area alone there were nearly a hundred painting groups established. In Shanghai, there were a large number of very important and skillful traditionalists like Wu Hufan (1894-1968) [72], Feng Chaoran (1882-1954) [14], and He Tianjian (1891-1977) [26].
Other classical masters like Wu Changshuo (1844-1927) [71], Qi Baishi (1863-1957) [49], Huang Binhong (1864-1955) [28] and Pan Tianshou (1899-1971) tried to adhere to the traditional ideals of literati painting and worked to reassert and broaden the range of traditional painting subjects. They are considered to be the four greatest modern masters of the traditional school. To revitalize traditional painting they were inspired to look at their tradition with fresh eyes. Wu Changshuo introduced a style of painting which was simple, swift and overpowering, and emphasized strong contrasts of ink and colour. Carpenter- turned-painter, Qi Baishi, chose as subjects such ordinary objects from everyday life as shrimp, flowers, fruit and insects. Although Qi Baishi�s expressive brushwork was more or less a continuation of the literati painting tradition, his bold style, infused with bright colours and simple subject matter, brought painting closer to the common folk. Qi influenced many celebrated artists of the next generation like Li Kuchan (1898-1983) [39], Cui Zifan (b. 1915) [10], and Lou Shibai (b. 1910) [page 14]. Huang Binhong, like Qi Baishi, represented a conservative approach to traditional painting and advocated �innovation within tradition.� His main innovations to traditional painting were his experiments with different ways of manipulating ink wash. Pan Tianshou, like Qi and Huang, was a giant in 20th century Chinese painting, who created dramatic and intimate images with a soft colour scheme and powerful brushstrokes. Wang Zhen (1866-1938) [70], Chen Hengke (1876-1922) [3], Zhu Qizhan (1892-1996) [92], Qian Shoutie (1896-1967) and Wang Geyi (1897-1988) [65] also greatly contributed to changing traditional Chinese painting, making it more modern.
In the 1930s, several artists began to question the role art plays in society. Encouraged by the great literary writer, Lu Xun, artists began using woodblock prints to educate the masses and make them aware of their social conditions. While Lu Xun advocated realism in art so that everyone could understand it, he felt �modern art� to be irrelevant to the Chinese situation. By the mid-thirties, as the menace of Japanese aggression loomed on the horizon, numerous artists began feeling a new responsibility to society and started to use art as a propaganda weapon.
During the Sino-Japanese war of 1937-45, artists in China were plunged head long into using their special talents to serve their country. The Communists were able to make better use of art as a political tool than the Nationalists. At the Yanan Forum in 1942, Chairman Mao Zedong issued strict guidelines for artists, stressing that all art must serve the masses-the workers, peasants and soldiers, and that artists must learn from them in order to be true to life. More than any other written document, the Yanan Talks were to exert
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