The Missing Voice: Women Artists in Chinese Art

Huixian Dong

《The Journal of Asian Arts & Aesthetics》 8期 (2022/12) Pp. 1-18

https://doi.org/10.6280/JAAA.202212_(8).0001

摘要

Chinese women artists have been underrepresented in art history. This survey investigates how the community of women artists in mainland China has changed through four historical phases: the pre-modern period (Ming and Qing Dynasties), the modern period (early 20th century), the Mao period (1949-1976), and the contemporary period (1976-present). It explores the various characteristics of this community and the obstacles that have prevented women artists' voices being heard in each phase. Based on a review of textual works, including artists' biographies, exhibition catalogs, interview, criticism, and literature on art history, as well as visual analysis, the result shows that despite the efforts of generations of women artists, they are still in a subordinate position in the patriarchal art world. In the pre-modern period, the traditional Confucian cultural values and a lack of training sources were the main obstacles women painters faced. In the modern period, women's liberation as one of the principles of modernization was launched. Women's social status was improved so that women artists could be trained and employed in art-related filed; however, they still faced hardship from the war and the turbulent society. During the Mao period, women artists were restricted from exploring gender differences in their works because de-genderization (eliminating gender differences) was part of the ideological and aesthetic value in mainland China. In the contemporary period, Chinese women artists faced the tension between the history and present, between the global art market and the local art market, and between the global feminist art community and the local community of women artists.

關鍵字

women artists ； feminism ； feminist art ； Chinese art history ； contemporary art

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