Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting (The Culture & Civilization of China) (Hardcover)

~ Professor Richard Barnhart (Author), Yang Xin (Author), Nie Chongzheng (Author), Professor James Cahill (Author), Lang Shaojun (Author), Hung Wu (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This book is a rare feat: seldom is an art history--much less an ambitious, 400-page chronicle of one of the great cultural achievements of the last three millennia--as much a delight for the amateur lover of art as it is indispensable for the student of the field. Written by three eminent specialists in the United States and three in China, Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting combines the best of both countries' scholarly approaches with new discoveries and illustrations of numerous paintings located in China and previously little known abroad.

Insightful, often lively discussions tell the story in six chapters, mostly dynastic, after briefly giving two "approaches" to Chinese painting. History, politics, biography, and training get their proper due and are complemented by often-detailed analyses of individual artworks. Close attention to the text and the 300 color and 25 black-and-white illustrations enable the reader to "see" these paintings--which are often constructed on different perceptual and cultural premises than the post-Renaissance and photographic images by which most Westerners structure their visual vocabulary. The glossary and other tools are welcome aids; the list of artists is organized by period and offers their names in the two most common romanization systems as well as in Chinese characters. And to read James Cahill on the Ni Zan paintings that may at first appear uninviting, or Lang Shaojun on the proportionally numerous 20th-century painters, is a real adventure for both the eye and the mind.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in one of the world's most esteemed art traditions--be they a Sunday museumgoer or a confirmed lover of the gnarly pines set amidst the towering mountains of the Song-period masters--will want this book in their library. --Joseph N. Newland

From Library Journal

In this major work of scholarship, six top China scholars from the United States and China present their varied assessments as well as a panoramic view on the development of Chinese pictorial arts grounded in Chinese cultural tradition and artistic practice. Through analyzing masterpieces from Neolithic painted petroglyphs, early paintings on silk, and landscapes by 12th-century literati to traditional handscrolls created in modern times, the authors showcase the riches of Chinese pictorial heritage. Comprehensively covering mainstream traditional Chinese paintings, they also touch upon often neglected areas such as women artists and works featuring common people, though folk paintings are not mentioned. The inclusion of more than 250 stunningly beautiful color plates and 75 black-and-white reproductions make this one of the most complete and best-illustrated works on the topic of Chinese pictorial art available to both general readers and scholars. The inaugural volume of a projected 75-volume series on Chinese culture, this is highly recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.?Lucia S. Chen, NYPL
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 20, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300070136
• ISBN-13: 978-0300070132
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,011,513 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Promising Introduction, January 6, 2007

By	R. bolton - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting (Paperback)

I was looking for a book on Chinese painting with plenty of illustrations. In the Amazon reviews this book was praised for it's ample examples of paintings. I ordered this book and the pictures did not let me down.
But the essays written by five experts were a surprising bonus of enjoyable informative commentaries providing concise but comprehensive introductions to painters and their works. This is just the book for a new comer to Chinese painting.
One book hasn't made me an authority, but I now know about the southern and northern schools, recognize some Daoist and Buddhist influences on painting, and I've seen an example of Guanxiu's distorted visages, have wondered at Gou Xi's 'Early Spring', have seen Fan Kuan's massive mountain reduce humans to paltry piddling beings verging on non-entities, have appreciated bird, animal, and delicate plant portraits and Liang Kai's distinct images as well as many other worthies.
Some of the most fascinating and aestheticly moving paintings to me are Wang Shen's 'Serried Hills Over a Misty River', Ma Lin's 'Sunset Landscape' and Xia Gui's 'Twelve Landscapes'; all paintings that elevate emptiness to an integral part of the scene giving outlined forms a vulnerable lonliness. These paintings take Miles Davis's advice a thousand years before he spoke it "Don't play[paint] what's there, play[paint] what's not there.
After being introduced to some of the artists and their works, I wish more of their art had been included, but then what better accolade can an introductory book receive than it leaves you wanting more.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Review, December 26, 2002

By	J Osorio (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This book cannot be avoided if you are studying Chinese art history, however, since each section is written by a different author, the result is not homogeneous in quality, readability, or helpfulness. It's a nice resource for images of Chinese painting you might not otherwise find elsewhere. Which chapter you prefer will vary according to which author's style you prefer. The book does provide a sort of timeline of Chinese painting from its origins until the Qing dynasty, however since each chapter is whole unto itself, there is a gap in continuity from one section to the next.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars uneven writing, great reproductions of Chinese Paintings, February 21, 2008

By	Patrick Regan "Patrick Regan" (Northampton, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting (Paperback)

With one exception, the essays in this compilation suffer from a problem that seems to crop up in many books on art history, namely the essays move from fact to fact saying little in between about the ideas behind the art. The exception is the last chapter which is on Chinese painting in the 20th century. I greatly enjoyed this essay as its author talked about the ideas and techniques behind the art as well as giving a fact based history of Chinese painting in the 20th century. I recommend this book for the last essay and also for the stunning full color reproductions of the Chinese painting that populate the book.