The Beginnings of Art History and Connoisseurship Studies in Ancient China

Bogna Łakomska

doi:10.18290/10.18290/rh.2019.67.11-5

Bogna Łakomska Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/10.18290/rh.2019.67.11-5

Keywords: ancient China; art history; theory of art; connoisseurship studies; calligraphy

Abstract

The article presents a history of creating thoughts on art and antiquities in ancient China starting from the Wei and Jin dynasties and ending at the early Song dynasty. The goal of this paper is to present theoretical concepts on painting and calligraphy written by artists and literati scholars in different times, as well as the beginnings of interests in connoisseurship. The article presents, how studies on art theory have changed, achieving higher level of maturity in half of the 9th century, i.e. when Zhang Yanyuan wrote “A Record of the Famous Painters of All Dynasties” giving the same a rise to further studies on art.

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