Chinese artists have developed their own media, skills and aesthetics for painting. Traditional Chinese paintings are done with Chinese brush and ink on soft rice paper and have unique aesthetic principles such as simplicity, open space, light feeling, spiritual consonance, and its ultimate goal is expression of “heaven-earth in one”.

In Chinese painting, realistic or objective images are not as important as that in European classical paintings. Therefore, there is a big gap between Chinese painting and European painting, and it is not easy to bridge the gap. But as time went on more and more interactions were brought up and gave modern painting new energy. In a retrospective view we can see the interesting and dramatic scene staged by the interactions of Chinese and European paintings in the modern world.  

This lecture will concentrate on three topics: 1)the impact of Western realism on Chinese Painting, 2) Chinese brush lines and ink rhythm in Western painting, and 3) ink painting in the world of globalization.

Speaker: Professor Arthur Mu-sen Kao

Born in Taiwan in 1942, Arthur Kao taught at an elementary school for three years before he entered the Foreign Language and Literature Department in 1967 at the National Taiwan University. Later, he worked at the National Palace Museum in Taipei and finished his Master Degree of Art History in 1970 at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei. He immigrated to the United States to further his art history study at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, and finished his PhD in 1979. In 1974 he began his teaching job in the various colleges and universities in the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 1989 he took the job as art history professor at the San Jose State University. Twenty-two years later, he retired in 2011.

The courses he has taught include Introduction to Western Art, Art of Asia, Art of China, Art of Japan, Art of India and Southeast Asia, and East Meets West in Art. Over 30 years, he has published seventeen books and over 170 articles, and won various awards from the government and universities in Taiwan and the United States.

In addition to his scholastic achievement, Arthur is also a well-known artist. His painting covers traditional and modern styles, manifesting his solid training in drawing, calligraphy, and humanity studies. His works have been recognized internationally and have been exhibited in Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, China, and many places in the United States. Many of his works have been collected by private collectors and public organizations. Arthur is also very active in artist communities, participating in various kinds of community activities.

All lectures will be conducted in English. Chinese will be used when necessary.