Zaixin Hong

This project will investigate a little-studied yet important relationship between guohua (Chinese national-style painting) and an emerging global market for it by studying a half-century-long dynamic dialogue between Huang Binhong (1865-1955), a leading guohua master, and art dealers, collectors, artists and art historians in the West. This two-way interchange benefited Huang’s own development and contributed to the art, scholarship and marketing of Chinese art of his time. He combined his aesthetic innovations with a striking out in new directions into networking in Western art marketing and scholarship. Considering both the greatness of his paintings, which have skyrocketed in price recently, and of his leading role in revitalizing the Chinese art tradition, the book will add a Chinese perspective to the current interest in the West in art marketing and collecting, but also should contribute to the awareness of Western approaches for art historians.