412
significant step in his development into a connoisseur—collector-painter.
Collecting as well as creating paintings soon became young Mr. Wang's principal preoccupation. However, he supported his collecting and his family by some real estate ventures because he was not able to make enough money through the sale of his paintings.
The story of C.C. Wang's journey to the West (New York) and attending classes at the Art Students League, his explorations of modern Western art and his artistic evolution is marvelously told through the well-written prose of Jerome Silbergeld, Professor of Art History at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Professor Silbergeld comes to his subject with a deep knowledge and background in classical Chinese painting and provides a sinological, art historical perspective of C.C. Wang's work. But the author does not avoid his role as contemporary critic, analyzing the relationship of the artist and modern art. When C.C. Wang's breakthrough to his mature style comes in 1971-2, the author allows the events to unfold like high drama. Moreover, throughout the text, the artist is permitted to state his own views on the elements of his art such as line, colour, composition, dots, texture, cultivation of controlled accidents, synthesis of East and West: "Chinese brushwork is really individual, like Western color. Good brushwork is so beautiful. It can make you look at it many times... It's just like with voice when I hear one song, if the voice is good I want to hear another song. It's the same voice, but each time it's a little bit different: that attracts me so much. . .', (p. 42).
Other notable scholars and critics who have written about artist-collector-connoisseur Wang have also been allowed to speak with their own voices, which gives the story a clarity and authenticity rarely achieved in a scholarly book. Moreover, the book is lavishly illustrated with not only Mr. Wang's works of all periods but also with the paintings that were most influential in building his style.
In addition, Professor Silbergeld recounts the long history of C.C. Wang as collector, and how he has been a central figure in influencing the growth of major collections of Chinese art in the West, notably that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through the sale of his own collections.
412
significant step in his development into a connoisseur — collector-painter.
Collecting as well as creating paintings soon became young Mr. Wang's principal preoccupation. However, he supported his collecting and his family by some real estate ventures because he was not able to make enough money through the sale of his paintings.
The story of C.C. Wang's journey to the West (New York) and attending classes at the Art Students League, his explorations of modern Western art and his artistic evolution is marvelously told through the well written prose of Jerome Silbergeld, Professor of Art History at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Professor Silbergeld comes to his subject with a deep knowledge and background in classical Chinese painting and provides a sinological, art historical perspective of C.C. Wang's work. But the author does not avoid his role as contemporary critic, analyzing the relationship of the artist and modern art. When C.C. Wang's breakthrough to his mature style comes in 1971-2, the author allows the events to unfold like high drama. Moreover, throughout the text, the artist is permitted to state his own views on the elements of his art such as line, colour, composition, dots, texture, cultivation of controlled accidents, synthesis of East and West: "Chinese brushwork is really individual, like Western color, Good brushwork is so beautiful. It can make you look at it many times... It's just like with voice when I hear one song, if the voice is good I want to hear another song. It's the same voice, but each time it's a little bit different: that attracts me so much. . .', (p. 42).
Other notable scholars and critics who have written about artist- collector-connoisseur Wang have also been allowed to speak with their own voices, which gives the story a clarity and authenticity rarely achieved in a scholarly book. Moreover, the book is lavishly illustrated with not only Mr. Wang's works of all periods but also with the paintings that were most influential in building his style.
In addition, Professor Silbergeld recounts the long history of C.C. Wang as collector, and how he has been a central figure in influencing the growth of major collections of Chinese art in the West, notably that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through the sale of his own collections.
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