Lectures

In this special three-part lecture series, Wen C. Fong will present his current work toward a new book on Chinese art history for the general reader. In this study of Chinese painting and calligraphy, he will analyze the visual language developed by Chinese artists and offer interpretations of its distinctive language within the Chinese cultural context.

Although Chinese painting and calligraphy have often been considered as the cultural “Other” from a Western perspective, or been viewed as less valuable than written texts from a Sinological perspective, Wen Fong will demonstrate instead how the study of Chinese painting and calligraphy can provide deep insight into Chinese culture. He will discuss issues of style and expressive content from the Chinese own art-historical perspective in order to offer fresh possibilities of criticism from Western art historiography.