Since the reform and opening, Chinese artistic creation has undergone enormous changes. A combination of new social backgrounds and cultural requirements, a large number of outstanding artists have carried on creative artistic experiments. It does not only make Chinese contemporary art gradually become a new existent tradition, but also it becomes widely recognized by domestic and foreign academics. The purpose of this book is to offer an objective and clear review on the growing and constantly developing processes of the new artistic tradition for the readers. It covers the years from 1978 to 1999 (the history of Chinese contemporary art from 2000 to 2009 will be presented in another monograph in the future). Meanwhile, in order to offer readers a better understanding of the background ahead on the appearance of Chinese contemporary art, the book has an introduction on the arts during the Cultural Revolution and post Cultural Revolution.

There are two clues to the development in the book, firstly the text section, secondly the illustration section. To a certain extent, the former is the continuation of the traditional writing method of art history, while the latter is not only a complement for the former, but also exists alone. To be specific, all the illustrations of the book are inscribed with texts as interpretations. In fact, even if one does not see the text, he can roughly grasp the developmental clue of Chinese contemporary art, and start from any page, returning to the main body when he has free time and interest. This is undoubtedly a postmodern reading method, which is more suitable for us in this fast-paced era.

In the book there’re a total of 520,000 words, and more than 500 illustrations, as well as some other columns, such as the “Chinese Contemporary Art Chronicle of Events 1978 - 1999” and the “Author’s Biography”, etc., which makes the book function as a tool. It’s a novel work integrating the academic, intellectual, historical, literature, intuitive and readability, which is suitable for artists, critics and cultural scholars to read, as well as for readers educated to high school or above.

About the book

Title: “The History of Chinese Contemporary Art 1978-1999”

Author: Lu Hong

Publisher: Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Press

Details: sextodecimo, 560 pages, full color printing, 520,000 words, more than 500 pieces of pictures

Published in November 2013

Price: RMB 288

Order by Telephone: 021 - 61229020

Website: www.shshuhua.com

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO