Understanding Chinese Painting

Understanding Chinese Painting

Critics have been too quick to dismiss the relevance of Chinese painting to modern art. This guide redresses the balance by assessing the history of Chinese art in terms of Oriental, not Western, aesthetic principles. T.C. Lai examines the brush-and-ink techniques at the heart of traditional painting, its close relationship to calligraphy, and the fascinating tension between type-form and inspiration, symbol, and likeness that has characterized the development of Chinese art. Copiously illustrated with full-color plates, this book is a fascinating, sumptuous introduction to an important and vital art tradition.