Chinese Beauty

Pang Xunqin was the founder of China's first arts and crafts school, the Central College of Arts and Crafts. His vision for the development of Chinese art was inspired by his stay in Paris from 1925 to 1930, during which he studied painting at the prestigious Académie Julian. He also traveled to Berlin to visit the preeminent Bauhaus school, well known for graphic and industrial design. In 1931, the year after he returned to China, Pang co-founded the avant-garde Storm Society with other modernist painters, with the hope of utilizing Western modern art to change the Chinese art scene filled with rigid and long-held conventions. Pang believed art must keep innovating, but also be grounded in national cultural traditions, so he explored Chinese folk art and graphic design. This painting depicts a Tang Dynasty lady performing a folk dance. Chinese dance was at its peak as an artform during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). - Chi-Lynn Lin, "Echoing Overseas" label text, Fall 2022