The Arts Of China To Ad 900

This book is the first in a major three-volume series that will survey China's immense wealth of art, architecture, and artifacts from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. The Arts of China to A.D. 900 investigates the beginnings of the traditions on which much of the art rests, moving from Neolithic and Bronze Age China to the era of the Tang Dynasty around A.D. 900. William Watson discusses in lively detail a wide range of art forms and techniques: porcelain and pottery, lacquer, religious and secular painting and sculpture, mural painting, monumental sculpture and architecture. He explains the materials and techniques of bronze casting, jade carving, pottery manufacture, and other arts, and he describes the most important sites, the artifacts that were produced at each one, and the historical interactions between different areas. He discusses the iconography, the technique and the function of every art form. Written by one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of Chinese art and archaeology, this lavishly illustrated book will be a valuable resource for both experts and beginners in the field.

This beautiful book is the second in a major three-volume series that will survey China's immense wealth of art, architecture, and artefacts from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. It covers the most prolific and broad-ranging period of Chinese art history, from the Song Dynasty with its spectacular landscape paintings to the Ming Dynasty with its lovely pottery. William Watson considers architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts in equal balance. He follows styles and motifs as they are developed in each medium from one province to another and discusses materials and techniques as well as the iconography and function of every art form. He also explores relationships between one medium and another, tracing, for example, the influence of Buddhist iconography on sculptural traditions and on the architecture of temples and towers and showing how ceramic ornament affected the development of ornament in other media.

This handsome book is the first in a major three-volume series that will survey China's immense wealth of art, architecture, and artefacts from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. The Arts of China to AD 900 investigates the beginnings of the traditions on which much of the art rests, moving from Neolithic and Bronze Age China to the era of the Tang Dynasty around AD 900.

Sullivan has thoroughly revised this classic history of Chinese art which covers the period from Neolithic times to the 1990s. 224 photos. 164 color illustrations. 14 maps.

"From the Neolithic to the avant-garde, and through all the brilliant centuries in between, Michael Sullivan's introduction to Chinese art history is the classic in its field, unsurpassed in its clarity, balance, and sure grasp of the subject. Whether for the classroom student or the casual reader, its remarkable range and elegant style make this book a wonderful way for anyone to begin learning about Chinese art."—Jerome Silbergeld, Princeton University "I have used Sullivan's Arts of China in my class for thirty years. No other historian of Chinese art today commands such a wide range of knowledge as Michael Sullivan."—Richard Barnhart, Yale University, editor of Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting "After more than forty years since its first publication, Michael Sullivan's Arts of China, now in its fifth edition, remains the most concise yet most comprehensive introduction to the history of Chinese art to students and the public."—Wu Hung, Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago "Michael Sullivan is the acknowledged dean of modern Chinese art studies, and any work bearing his name guarantees both a high level of quality and a wide readership."—Maxwell K. Hearn, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The arts of China explores the world's oldest continuous artistic tradition as well as one of its most brilliant. In this stimulating art history, noted Oriental art authority Dr. Hugo Munsterberg traces the history of Chinese art dynasty by dynasty, elucidating the origins and development of major movements in Chinese painting, ceramics, bronzes, sculpture, and architecture. He clearly describes and defines the important trends and influences that culminated in the brilliant sculpture of the Tang Dynasty, the enchanting landscape paintings of the Song Dynasty, and the exquisite ceramics of the Ming Dynasty. Outstanding examples of each genre are presented in over one hundred superb color and black-and-white photographs.

As its teachings spread from the Indian subcontinent in all directions across Asia, Buddhism influenced every culture it touched—from Afghanistan to Korea, from Mongolia to Java. Buddhist art is a radiant reflection of the encounter of the Buddha’s teachings with the diverse civilizations that came under their sway. It is also an intriguing visual record of the evolution of Buddhist practice and philosophy over a period of more than two millennia. More than two hundred photographs provide the visual context for this tour of the world of Buddhist art. Included in the rich variety of forms are architecture and monumental art, statuary, paintings, calligraphy, fresco, brushwork, and textile arts. Denise Leidy’s guide is the perfect introductory text for all those intrigued by this splendid aesthetic tradition. It also an essential resource for all who seek to understand Buddhist art as teaching.

Is writing a world art history possible? Does the history of art as such even exist outside the Western tradition? Is it possible to consider the history of art in a way that is not fundamentally Eurocentric? In this highly readable and provocative book, David Carrier, a philosopher and art historian, does not attempt to write a world art history himself. Rather, he asks the question of how an art history of all cultures could be written—or whether it is even possible to do so. He also engages the political and moral issues raised by the idea of a multicultural art history. Focusing on a consideration of intersecting artistic traditions, Carrier negotiates the way meaning and understanding shift or are altered when a visual object from one culture, for example, is inserted into the visual tradition of another culture. A World Art History and Its Objects proposes the use of temporal narrative as a way to begin to understand a multicultural art history.