Peking University, Beijing, China – October 10-13, 2012

My paper:

The Function and Significance of Linear Perspective in Eighteenth-Century China

Although the use of linear perspective in late imperial China is well established, its presence in the eighteenth century has typically been assessed only in terms of “European influence” and exotica. The consequential lack of meaningful art historical discourse on the subject of perspective in Chinese art has meant that two major issues remain: first, the misconception that linear perspective was simply received passively and incorporated into art for novelty value, and second, a general lack of conceptualization surrounding engagement with and reception of the works. In short, for Chinese art produced in response to European contact, the basic art historical question of what linear perspective does and means in this context remains unanswered—an issue that has received significant consideration in scholarship on Western art.

This paper therefore seeks to interrogate both the function of linear perspective as a new visual technology in eighteenth-century Chinese art, and the more profound significance this pictorial method had in terms of creating permeable spaces for its viewers in a variety of media and sizes. Functioning from the premise that Qing artists, patrons, and audiences actively exerted agency and intention in the use and consumption of perspective, this paper examines four specific areas of art: painting, engraving, architecture, and woodblock prints. Ultimately, these works stand to offer insights not only into the function and significance of linear perspective in High Qing China, but also into the different perceptions elite and popular audiences had of this new visuality and pictoriality relative to the works they encountered.

Page from The Study of Vision depicting Nian's unique "layer" method explaining how to depict figures receding in size as they recede in space.

Page from The Study of Vision describing how to create the shadows for a circular form

In addition to this text on painting, Nian also wrote on geometry, trigonometry, logarithmic calculus, medicine, and more. I was searching specifically for the Manual on Polyhedron Proportions (Mianti bili bianlan 面體比例便覽), which I suspected might be related to his interest in three-dimensional forms as demonstrated in The Study of Vision. It turns out that the Manual only survived in a handwritten manuscript (current whereabouts unknown) that was published once in 1897 as part of a Chinese compendium of mathematical texts. Of course, the NRI holds a copy. There’s nothing like successfully tracking down a rare text to start the New Year’s research off on the right foot!

Page from the Manual on Polyhedron Proportions

Jin Nong Santa (18th-century and 2011)
Image created by Jin Nong and John Finlay

First, I’m thrilled to be joining Washington University in St. Louis as Assistant Professor of Art History and Archaeology. Two classes will be offered this autumn:

• L01/3442: Tradition and Innovation: Chinese Painting from the 4th to 20th Centuries
• L01/444: The Forbidden City

As a result of this new position, I will be stepping back my editorial duties at Modern Art Asia to become Editor-at-Large.

This summer I’ve also been privileged to receive a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend for a project titled “The Study of Vision,” which begins a full translation of the eponymous 1735 Chinese manual Shixue 視學 that illustrates and describes how to paint with European-inspired linear perspective and illusionism.

In publication news, two pieces were published in Orientations this spring: “Shooting from the Hip” (April 2011) and “Contemplating Eternity: An Illusionistic Portrait of the Qianlong Emperor’s Heir” (May 2011). An article titled “One or Two, Repictured” has been accepted for the 2012 issue of Archives of Asian Art.

Full details of all this and more can be found on the updated About and Current Projects pages.