Publications

Modern Ink – a new monograph series on innovative masters of modern Chinese painting

Modern Ink is a series of fully illustrated monographs focusing on preeminent painters of modern China. The Mozhai Foundation is proud to publish this new series in association with the University of Hawaii Press. Edited by Stanford scholar Britta Erickson with essays contributed by noted experts on Chinese painting, each of these books will focus on representative works by a key figure of modern Chinese art.

The period starting with the first Opium War in 1840 and ending with the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 was characterized by profound political, economic, and social upheaval as China transformed itself from a feudalistic monarchy to a modern nation. Her finest thinkers and artists responded by reinventing their culture through a synthesis of bold innovations with new interpretations of the past. The resulting body of art thrust this 5,000-year-old culture into the modern age and, viewed today, reconnects contemporary China vividly with its venerable creative heritage. Several painting masters of this crucial era stand out, each for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity, highly original brush style, and compelling artistic vision. It is these painters who comprise the focus of Modern Ink: Qi Baishi (1864-1957), Xugu (1823-1896), Wu Changshi (1844-1927), and Huang Binhong (1864-1955).

Each volume of the Modern Ink series will include an introduction presenting the subject’s biographical background and stylistic development. Full-color illustrations of a selection of paintings (and in some cases calligraphy and seals) created by the artist will be paired with descriptive essays analyzing the works’ historical context and technical accomplishment as well as their thematic and stylistic statement. A translation of the inscription and transcription of seals on each painting are provided, and important terms are presented in Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin as well as in English.

Modern Ink: The Art of Wu Changshi
A leading proponent of the jinshi, or “epigraphic,” movement, Wu Changshi (1844-1927) practiced seal carving and studied ancient inscriptions carved in stone and cast in bronze. Applying the rugged strength of engraved characters to his own brushwork, he produced flower-and-bird and landscape paintings as well as works of calligraphy that reinvigorated Chinese art through a reconnection with its earliest roots. This volume presents outstanding examples of this master’s calligraphy and paintings, illustrated in full color, along with scholarly discussions of his important contribution to the development of ink painting in the modern world.

Authors: Britta Erickson and Craig L. Yee; additional contributions by Carol Bardoff, Chen Siyuan, Deng Feng, Dong Xiaokun, Chris Wen-chao Li, Stephen Little, Lü Huan, Luk Yuping, Nie Yiting, Shao Yan, and Yin Shuyu. Edited by Britta Erickson with J. May Lee Barrett

View sample pages in Modern Ink: The Art of Wu Changshi

Published by The Mozhai Foundation and the University of Hawai’i Press

168 pp., 8 ¼ x 11 ¾ inches
ISBN: 978-0-8248-7403-2
$38.00 ORDER NOW →

Modern Ink: The Art of Xugu
The implications of Chan (Jp., Zen) Buddhist insight for Chinese artists have been profound. Only by achieving a state of egoless consciousness, of complete interfusion between subject and object, can a larger reality—via intuition and inspiration—be known. This subtle truth can be given tangible form through the inspired movement of the painter’s brush. Although Chan Buddhism was all but dead in China by the nineteenth century, the artist Xugu (1823-1896) emerged in the midst of civil war, political upheaval, and cultural decay to tap the creative spring of this venerable spiritual tradition and channel its flow into his painting. Illustrated in full color, Modern Ink: The Art of Xugu examines eighteen works by this extraordinary monk-artist in the context of his life, historical events, and artistic development.

Authors: Chen Siyuan, Craig L. Yee, and Jung Ying Tsao; additional contributions by Dong Xiaokun and Lü Huan. Edited by Britta Erickson with J. May Lee Barrett

View sample pages in Modern Ink: The Art of Xugu

Published by The Mozhai Foundation and the University of Hawai’i Press
110 pp., 8 ¼ x 11 ¾ inches
ISBN: 978-0-8248-5146-0

$38.00 ORDER NOW →

Modern Ink: The Art of Qi Baishi
Born into a poor farming family and coming of age during China’s century of civil strife, Qi Baishi (1864-1957) became one of the most widely recognized artists of twentieth-century China. His distinctly modern language breaks through barriers of class and culture through emotionally resonant subjects, poetic economy in form and composition, powerful “engraved” brushwork, and the juxtaposition of vibrant colors with varied ink tones. Modern Ink: The Art of Qi Baishi, featuring biographical information, illustrated essays, and discursive entries for thirty works of art, is an ideal introduction to China’s venerable heritage of brush painting and a comprehensive guide to this artist’s seminal contributions.

Authors: Britta Erickson, Craig L. Yee, and Jung Ying Tsao; additional contributions by Lü Huan, Chen Siyuan, Dong Xiaokun, Cui Yingchun, Janet Carpenter, David Shen, and Nie Yiting. Edited by Britta Erickson with J. May Lee Barrett

View sample pages in Modern Ink: The Art of Qi Baishi

Published by The Mozhai Foundation and the University of Hawai’i Press
144 pp., 8 ¼ x 11 ¾ inches
ISBN: 978-0-8248-4766-1

$38.00 ORDER NOW →

Modern Ink: The Art of Huang Binhong
Huang Binhong (1865-1955), a key twentieth-century artist and art historian, produced distinctive floral works and the rare figure painting but focused intently on landscapes. Influenced by early masters, he also studied nature directly. Near the end of his life, despite seriously compromised eyesight, he used rich and dark “burnt” ink to create sublime masterpieces that bridge representation and abstraction. Modern Ink: The Art of Huang Binhong will demonstrate how nature, art historical erudition, a finely tuned compositional sense, and an appreciation for rich and even tonality—derived from epigraphic rubbings—come together in this consummate painter’s late, great landscapes. It will also examine his work in other genres as well as the role of his extraordinary vision as a major force behind the persistence of traditional values in contemporary Chinese ink art.

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