Chinese Traditions
Chinese Traditions Blog
Chinese New Year
This painting named "Chinese New Year" was painted in 2016 by Terri Kelleher who is a Freelance artist from the USA. The theme for all of these pieces includes having ties to certain Chinese traditions from a previous generation that have been passed down and are still alive today. The Chinese New Year takes place once a year and is a celebration of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar year. Some traditions that take place during this festival include putting up decorations, eating a family reunion dinner, firecrackers, fireworks, giving gifts, and watching the dragon dance.
As displayed in the painting by Terri, we see a painting of one of the many traditions celebrated which is the dragon dance. The dragon in this tradition is meant to symbolize power and dignity. I choose this specific piece since the colors used caught my eyes over the other paintings being displayed online. From television shows I watched growing up I understood that the dragon dance was a tradition used during the Chinese new year so having the chance to learn more about the tradition seemed like a no-brainer when choosing this piece. Specific art elements and details that really caught my eye include the colors used and the space on the canvas. With so many colors being included in one piece it would be easy for the canvas to feel crowded and overwhelmed but the artist did a great job of knowing how to make the colors seemingly work together for a great contrast between the darks used in the back and the brights used on the dragon to really make it shine. Also, the spacing of this piece is using the whole canvas as the dragon is shown in high detail from the left of the piece and fades into more shapes and circles while moving across the canvas.
Lantern Festival
This oil painting was created by Erm Wohol in 2018 and is called "Chinese Lanterns Take Off". Wohol is an artist based out of Germany who focuses on Landscape pieces. The painting shows the lantern festival which has been a tradition since 206BCE. Although the tradition started so many years ago, it still is present in today's generations. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month. This tradition marks the end of the spring festival and lantern riddles and beautiful dances. The lighting of the lantern symbolizes reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness.
I chose this piece because again, the vibrant colors used caught my attention straight away. It is obvious that the colors used to brighten up the sky since we see the different spaces on the canvas being lit up differently. The bottom of the canvas shows dark as if there is no light whereas once you make your way up the canvas you begin to see the setting light up as the lanterns are taking up the whole sky. The texture and value are also worth noting as the lantern seemed to be using different lines and brushwork for each.
This last piece was created by Ilya Tao who names the painting "Taoist Qigong". The painting was created in 2020 and displays a Taoist priest performing Qigong excercises overlooking the mountains. The exact location that this piece was created is unknown. Similar to the other two paintings we have looked at, Qigong is a tradition that has been passed down and many still use this form of excisise in their everyday lives. Qigong was first created in 2958 BCE and is a great form of meditation and exercise. The exercise incorporated breathing, movement, awareness, and martial arts training.
I chose this piece since in my hometown of Vancouver, BC I often see people practicing Qigong and it always interested me as to what the meaning behind it truly is. The art elements that stand out in this piece include the form and space used in the mountains. The form of the mountains shows sharp triangular type tips which create a sense of danger and sharpness. Secondly, the placement of the mountains creates a sense of depth and distance between the character performing Qigong and the background.
Sources
“Chinese New Year by Terri Kelleher.” Pixels, https://pixels.com/featured/chinese-new-year-terri-kelleher.html.
“Chinese Lanterns Painting.” Saatchi Art, https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Chinese-lanterns/1066597/4097845/view.
Ritz, Julie. “Top 8 Cultural Celebrations in China.” Top 8 Cultural Celebrations in China, https://capaworld.capa.org/top-8-cultural-celebrations-in-china.
“Taoist Qigong by Ilyo Tao.” Fine Art America, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/taoist-qigong-ilyo-art.html.
Those are some really beautiful art pieces you selected to share. You can really see how the colors were chosen to further reflect the main work in the Dragon Paining and the Quigong Painting. The dark backgrounds really allow for the image to stand out more. You can also see the use of brush strokes that was used to create the illusion of texture on the mountains, it's really cool. The second piece, to be honest I would have never guessed it belong to the Chinese art, it reminds me of the Disney movie Tangled but with cooler colors.
ReplyDeleteHello Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI love that you wrote about some Chinese traditions here in your non-western art blog because I was also considering that until I chose Indian art instead. I like all three of the works you selected here, but in three different ways. The first one is very typical chinese from what I have seen in movies and read about in books. I did not exactly know what the dragon symbolizes until I read your analysis about it, so thank you for that. The dragon to me represented the Chinese New Year but I did not know that it is a great symbol for power and dignity. The second painting is the one I liked the most, especially since it can symbolize and mean so many things. For me, it was difficult to see the lanterns in this painting, as it should illustrate and therefore I think it would be a good fit to me. I am not really into Chinese traditions and that makes it easier for me to like something that could both symbolize the tradition but also something else, based on religion, experiences etc. which non-western art is mostly about. The third one is incredibly cool in my opinon and reminds me of a recent movie I watched. It was one of the latest Marvel movies called "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 rings". If you have not seen it Garrett, you really should.
Great post!
Hello Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the works you posted and you did a great job when describing them. The most I enjoyed was "Chinese New Year" by Terri Kelleher. The dragon dance has always made me think of a Chinese celebration. I like the color contrast of the background and the men wearing traditional Chinese outfits that are doing the dragon dance. I think that you nailed it by picking a theme. Chinese traditions and art are something worth doing research on as it has a great history and is known around the globe. I have enjoyed your posts throughout the semester and wish you luck with your future plans!
Hi Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post and I think the works you chose are really powerful and draw a lot of emotion. I have to be honest - I like all of them, so it is hard to choose one, since all of them have their own specifics, the first to are really vibrant and lively with the colors and I would definitely place these two in my living room, to have as conversation starters. The last one seems more calm and balanced and I really enjoy that too, since it gives a nice contrast to the first two - I think it would go great in a bedroom. I really enjoyed the works you presented this semester and thank you for the entertainment.
Have a great year!
Hi Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI really like the first piece and how you mentioned that it incorporates Chinese traditions from years ago and from today as well. The vibrant colors in it really make the painting stand out which is awesome!
For the second piece, which is my favorite, I think it's beautiful. I love floating lanterns and it's really neat that it's apart of the Chinese New Year traditions. Again, great vibrant colors that attract more people to look at it.
For the last piece, I like how you were able to make a connection and being from Canada and seeing people do that is so cool! I like the way this piece was done it's very simple at first, but has a lot of detail to it.