Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting

The Culture & Civilization of China

by Yang Xin, Richard M. Barnhart, Nie Chongzheng

Drawing on museum collections and archaeological sites previously closed to Westerners, a group of scholars traces the development of Chinese painting over three millennia

Genres: Art, China, History, Nonfiction, Art History, Asia, Reference

402 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 1997

Reviews

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large formatted, very heavy book with astonishingly beautiful prints -- accompanied by academic essays by various specialists. I rarely find the 'academic' essays in these art books to be of much interest -- I'm not sure why -- either because I'm too impatient or because they are often dull --. At any rate, a lovely survey of a vast sweep of Chinese painting.

[Deirdre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible and comprehensive look at the history of Chinese Painting. Outstanding and worth reading.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction, well illustrated in color. Does have information about modern painters' techniques. One of the better books on the subject.

[michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was really good i thought it was super in depth. unfortunately it was too long and i was not able to finish it before i had to return it to the library lol

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned on page 166 0f 402. Too technical for me though it implies it’s for the general reader.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised at how uninteresting this book could be, at times, at how plodding the narrative was. The artwork was great, but I felt like the discussions of the artwork was often not insightful or illuminating.

[Lulu]

c. 8000 BCE fig1&2
late Neolithic period (ca. 5000–1700 BCE) f3&4&5&6

c. 1000 bce? clay pig found in 2020 at the Lianhe Ruins. housed at Sanxingdui Museum.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu_Ka...



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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

[Missy J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally done with this one.

Not as good as I had expected. Except for the chapter on Qing paintings, I found the other chapters to be not pleasantly written, quite difficult to follow. Sometimes paintings were described that were not even depicted in the book. I find myself not anymore knowledgeable on Chinese painting, unfortunately.

2 stars for the nice paintings and for the Qing chapter.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much emphasis on technique (i.e. brushstrokes) and artists' background, not enough on culture and meaning.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second half of the essays is extremely messy and could have used more judicious editing; first half, esp. essays by Wu Hung, Barnhart, and Cahill excellent.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I liked Chinese painting before I looked through this book. But maybe not. The images just didn't grab me.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great selection of images.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful prints and collection of work.