Abstracts

This study examines Pang Xunqin(1906-1985)swartime paintings created between 1937 and 1946. An artist whostudied art in Paris in the 1920s, Pang actively promoted Westernmodernist art in Shanghai in the 1930s after returning to China andfled to the southwestern China when the Second Sino-Japanese Warbroke out in 1937, along with numerous Chinese intellectuals andinstitutions. During this journey, he joined the Central Museumthen in Kunming and undertook a task to study the folk art andculture of ethnic minority people in Guizhou and accumulatedabundant textual and visual materials, which later became the mainsources and inspirations of his wartime paintings. Depicting theethnic minority people and their native handicraft, Pangs wartimepaintings seemingly bear no direct visual relationship with thewar; it is argued in the first chapter however that his depictionof the ethnic people belongs to an important type of wartime artdisplaying the new environment and people that artists encounteredin western China. While many artists became interested in andtravelled to the west frontier area independently, Pangs encounterwith ethnic people occurred within an ethnographic project designedby the Central Museum. The second chapter, by exploring thefounding background of the Museum and the social contexts from the1920s to the 1940s, unveils how the Guizhou Study relates to themuseums vision and function to display a complete and modernChina, and how it fits into the social contexts of wartime nationalcrisis. Distinctly different from the usually biased andutilitarian illustrations of ethnic minority in early Chinesehistory, Pangs paintings meticulously depict the highlycharacteristic ethnic costumes and decorative patterns, based onrespectful and admiring attitudes. At the same time, many textualand visual evidences also show Pangs conscious beautification andidealization of the ethnic figures and environment in his painting.The third chapter, by analyzing comparative visual examples,discusses how Pangs methods affect the reception of his art in thespecific context of wartime period. The fourth chapter discussesPangs various methods in the representation and application ofdecorative patterns in his paintings. Linking the interest infabric patterns to Pangs practice in design, this chapter reviewsPangs design approach and theory developed from the 1920s to the1940s, and argues that Pangs paintings were impacted by his designin terms of pattern application and composition method.Ultimately, Pang Xunqins wartime paintings with modern subjectsand a synthesized style reflect the artists effort to modernizehis art by assimilating various sources and inspirations.Comprehensively charting and analyzing the artistic life and artcreation of Pang Xunqin during the wartime period, this thesisexamines his wartime paintings from different new perspectives bysituating it in corresponding social and historical contexts andaims to shed lights on this important