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Book SynopsisIn A Modern Miscellany: Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei’s Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926-1938 Paul Bevan explores how the cartoon (manhua) emerged from its place in the Chinese modern art world to become a propaganda tool in the hands of left-wing artists. The artists involved in what was largely a transcultural phenomenon were an eclectic group working in the areas of fashion and commercial art and design. The book demonstrates that during the build up to all-out war the cartoon was not only important in the sphere of Shanghai popular culture in the eyes of the publishers and readers of pictorial magazines but that it occupied a central place in the primary discourse of Chinese modern art history.
Trade Review"The book supports its two arguments through exhaustive engagement with primary sources, drawn mainly from an impressive array of newspapers and pictorial magazines, both English and Chinese, as well as letters and other ephemera from multiple archives. A Modern Miscellany does an excellent job of fact-checking biographical detail on China’s cartoonists and their associates. [...] With its careful scholarship and respect for historical accuracy, A Modern Miscellany helps lay a foundation for many years of manhua research to come." John A Crespi, Colgate University, MCLC Resource Center, August 2016 "This volume is a major contribution to modern Chinese studies in general. That is because it traces the ideological development of Shanghai artists and writers, who were the avant-garde of the whole country, from the aestheticism of Shao Xunmei to the leftist activism of Lu Xun. In this respect, Shanghai’s literati, unusual though they were, might be seen as a microcosm of Chinese society at the time. Furthermore, the book is relevant to current cross-cultural studies, since it is mainly about how Chinese artists adapted European sources to their own needs and styles at a time when China was trying to forge a modern identity. Finally, anyone interested in the place and time will appreciate Bevan’s reconstruction of its art scene and the interrelations of the characters in it." Hal Swindall, Jinan University, China Review International, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2015 "I owe a great debt to academics and Sinologists…now add Paul Bevan to the list…a fantastic new book on old Shanghai” Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking (2011) and City of Devils (2018).
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Note on the Illustrations List of Illustrations Notes on Romanization and References Notes on Sources Introduction A Modern Miscellany The Cartoon as Part of the Modern Art Scene in Shanghai The Manhuahu i Part 1: The Beginnings of the Modern Chinese Cartoon Chapter 1: Manhua Artists in Shanghai Marc Chadourne and Paul Morand Vanity Fair Western Models of Art and Literature in Shanghai manhua English Decadence in Shanghai The Modern and the Decadent—The Cubist Shanghai Life, Lust, and Snake and Woman Conclusion Chapter 2: Shao Xunmei and his Circle Shao Xunmei and Pictorial Magazines Shao Xunmei and Salon Culture The Yunshang Fashion Company The Zhang Brothers—Designers A Depiction of Shao Xunmei by Wang Zimei A Letter to Emily Hahn Part 2: Adoption of Foreign Models in Art and Literature Chapter 3: Miguel Covarrubias Covarrubias Goes to China: 1930 Covarrubias Goes to China Again: 1933 Covarrubias’s Illustrations to Chine (China) Chinese Artists and the Covarrubias Style “Impossible Interviews” Large-scale Group Caricatures Ding Cong and the Mexican Muralists The Legacy of Covarrubias Chapter 4: The Chinese Cartoonists and George Grosz The Art of George Grosz in Shanghai George Grosz and China Proponents of the “Grosz-style” A Foreigner’s View of the Grosz Imitators Cai Ruohong: China’s “New Grosz”? The Chinese View of Grosz’s Work Conclusion Part 3: The Dissemination of Chinese Political Art Chapter 5: Jack Chen in China Chen Arrives in Shanghai The Cartoons of Jack Chen in Shanghai Chen and Soviet Socialist Realism The Letters of Jack Chen From China to Moscow and London: The Beginnings of Chen’s World Tour Anthony Blunt: A Champion of Chen’s Cause Chapter 6: The First National Cartoon Exhibition A Suitable Venue: The Sun Company Building The Exhibition News in the Shanghai Press Jack Chen: The Only Foreign Exhibitor Portraiture: A Genre for Political Persuasion? The Paintings of Hua Lu: Lacking a Political Message? Surrealism: Modern Art and the Manhua Artists Cai Ruohong Remembers Foreigners on Manhua: Two Contrasting Views A Review by Jack Chen An Anonymous Critique Zhang Guangyu’s Cover Design for Manhuajie Manhua: An Art for China’s Future Chapter 7: Chinese Art and its Part in the Worldwide Fight against Fascism Hong Kong: First Port of Call Guangzhou: Caught in the Air Raids Chen is Sent to Europe and America Hu Kao: A Shanghai Cartoonist Hu Kao and Jack Chen go to Yan’an Hong Kong: Last Port of Call Epilogue Conclusion Bibliography Index
