Children's book publishing was a part of the state-controlled system after 1945 and several movements can be recognised within it. The development and illustration requirements, changing during the 1950s and 1960s, can be mostly inferred from contemporary literature by writers Stehlíková and Holešovský, the Zlatý máj magazine or submissions to the 1972 Brno symposium exploring the relationship between literary text and its visual art interpretation. After outlining the principal relationships, this work focuses on a more detailed exploration of the illustrations by Mirko Hanák, whose work originated during the 1950s and 1960s before being terminated by a premature death in 1971. Hanák freed himself of the compulsory realism during the 1950s and chose a path towards symbolism, which helped him achieve a respected creative status in the 1960s. Hanák's talents chiefly manifested themselves in his wildlife illustrations for adventure books, where he employed the watercolour technique. He took inspiration from Chinese ink painting, with which he became familiarised thanks to the many exhibitions taking place in the context of the contemporary cultural exchange between Czechoslovakia and the People's Republic of China. Both working with the originals of Hanák's illustrations and a comparison between individual...

In Western scholarship, eighteenth century Chinese paintings have consistently been seen as playful, eccentric, and odd. This characterization has been based on the formal qualities of some of the paintings. At the same time, Chinese scholars have written of the scholarly virtues and ambitions of the painters producing the works. The contradiction between these two interpretations is in part consistent with the Western and Chinese approaches generally. But it also stems from the mixed signals and information generated in the eighteenth century. The nature of painting, not just formally, but socially has yet to be explained in a way which takes into account some actual historical contradictions of the eighteenth century. In order to explain these historical tensions, I combine a biographical (Chinese) approach with a contextual approach (Western) in a study of two different scholar painters, Zheng Xie and Li Shan. I juxtapose biographical sources with artworks, and less official writings relating Zheng Xie and Li Shan, in order to describe the tensions involved in painting for the literatus within the merchant culture of Yangzhou. These tensions existed between the literatus' expected status and that granted him, between his ideal of the role of painting in the scholar's life and the implications of commercial painting, and between his emphasis upon poetry and his popularity as a painter. In all cases, the tensions in eighteenth century literati painting arise from the difficult relationship between the painter and patron, and between the painter and the ideas of a broader public. The lack of a clear definition of "scholar" and "scholar painting" amongst literati illustrates the literatus' loss of control over the definition of his lifestyle. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

Chapter 1 reviews the background to the rise of art patronage studies and their development and its influence on studies of Chinese art history. It also provides alternative approaches to studying activities related to patronage and their influence and role in Chinese art history by criticising traditional analysis of Chinese art based on social and economic theories. / Chapter 2 examines the life of Wang and explores the intentions and meaning to his patronage activities through studying his political involvement, literary activities and his social background and connections. / Chapter 3 discusses how Wang, given his knowledge in history and passion for art and its collection, reinterprets art history with reference to his private collection of art, and thereby consolidating his status as a leading figure of literary and cultural circle of his time. / Chapter 4 explains and reflects on the formation of the "artist-patron" relationship through examining the relationship and interaction between Wang and the literary circle and by appraising the financial background and standing of artists and calligraphers at the time. / Chapter 5 examines the direct impact that Wang, as a literary leader and patron of the art, has on the styles and subject matter of art work by examining and decoding several pieces of art commissioned by himself, thus revealing a distinct mechanism in which art was produced at the time. / Chapter 6 discusses the "artist-patron" relationship and the "trading of cultural resources" by examining diverse pieces of art work given to Wang as gifts by different individual artists and calligraphers. / Chapter 7 analyses the significance of the patronage activities of Wang and provides a new approach to understanding the issue of traditional Chinese art patronage in Chinese art history. / Through a case study of the life of Wang Shizhen, this research attempts to analyse the influence of literary leader and patron of the arts on the development of painting and calligraphy during the mid-Ming period. By analysing the "artist-patron" relationship, this paper attempts to explain alternative mechanism through which traditional Chinese art was produced. The thesis also examines art patronage activities in Suzhou during the sixteenth century and thereby attempts to examine these activities from the broader cultural and historical context at the time. This paper is divided into seven chapters: / 鄧民亮. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 298-320). / Advisers: Tsung-i Jao; Kar Leung Mok. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0378. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 298-320). / Deng Minliang.