Reframing the history of proletarian art: Sino-Japanese relations in modern woodcut print culture

Abstract

The emergence of modern Chinese woodcut aesthetics, motifs and techniques during the early twentieth century has long been understood in relation to cultural exchanges between East and West. Art historical narratives have highlighted the influence of European art on East Asian woodcut printing, while conceptual, pictorial and technical connections between Chinese and Japanese practices have been neglected. This article reveals previously overlooked Sino-Japanese correlations in the emergence of modern print culture and argues that their absence in the Chinese history of proletarian art served political goals.

Keywords

• sino-japanese relations
• modern woodcut print
• proletarian art
• transcultural aesthetics
• global art history