Transcultural Interpretations of Twentieth-Century Chinese Art: Exhibiting Wu Guanzhong in Hong Kong

Abstract

<p>This chapter explores how art intermediaries have played a role in exhibiting the modern Chinese painter Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) in late twentieth-century Hong Kong. From the 1940s through the 1970s, a paradigm shift in art history emerged towards transcultural exchange in the Chinese art world. This chapter argues that scholars, curators, artists, collectors, and dealers of Hong Kong have fostered the understanding and appreciation of Wu’s paintings from a transcultural perspective. Through both public and private exhibitions, and news media in Hong Kong and beyond, I argue that they consider and conceptualize the notions of transnational and transregional mobility of modern Chinese art in the transculturally connected art world of East Asia.<br></p>