Conference Presentations by Alina Martimyanova
The Language of Colour in Chinese Folk Prints
This presentation is dedicated to the discussion of the visual language of Chinese popular prints... more This presentation is dedicated to the discussion of the visual language of Chinese popular prints, in particular to the use of colour. The primary source for this discussion is the so-called “folk art precepts” (huajue 画诀), short, often rhymed verses, transmitted from masters to apprentices in print workshops throughout China. I will begin with the examination of the techniques of colour application in print production and the precepts involved in memorizing various pigments employed during this process. Moving on to the verses that guided the selection of specific colour schemes, I will reflect on the extent of applicability of these rules in surviving examples of popular prints. Further, this paper will demonstrate how colour symbolism, psychological responses to specific colours and established aesthetic requirements influenced the selection of colours and colour combinations that were used to produce an “effective” print
Collector’s zeal in the name of God: Basel Mission and its ethnographic collection
This presentation is dedicated to the ethnographic collection of the Basel Mission currently loca... more This presentation is dedicated to the ethnographic collection of the Basel Mission currently located at the Basel Museum of Cultures in Switzerland. About 10 000 objects from Africa, India, China and other countries that are deposited in the museum’s storage constitute a collection that was brought by the missionaries of Basel in the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them, there are approximately 3000 objects from Southern China where the mission had established its stations between 1847 and 1951.
By placing the focus on the objects originating from China, I shall introduce the collection and explore the related contextual connections: of individual missionaries, missionary agenda and purpose at establishing ethnographic collections, and the operation of a missionary museum in Basel. In addition, I would like to highlight the cooperation between museums of the various missionary societies in the 19th and 20th centuries, using the case study of the London Missionary Society and the Basel Mission. Finally, through this case study this paper suggests considering missionary museums with objects from China and other countries not as individual
phenomena but as agents of knowledge, proselytization and networking that popularized ethnographic objects throughout Europe.
By placing the focus on the objects originating from China, I shall introduce the collection and explore the related contextual connections: of individual missionaries, missionary agenda and purpose at establishing ethnographic collections, and the operation of a missionary museum in Basel. In addition, I would like to highlight the cooperation between museums of the various missionary societies in the 19th and 20th centuries, using the case study of the London Missionary Society and the Basel Mission. Finally, through this case study this paper suggests considering missionary museums with objects from China and other countries not as individual
phenomena but as agents of knowledge, proselytization and networking that popularized ethnographic objects throughout Europe.
“When red is placed near yellow, the light is dazzling…”: “Song of the color matching” and other precepts of folk art in the Chinese printmaking tradition
In my presentation I join the discussion of the expressive language of the Chinese popular print ... more In my presentation I join the discussion of the expressive language of the Chinese popular print and its theoretical basis by proposing to explore the area of Chinese printmaking little discussed by art historians: the traditional process of production employed in folk print workshops in China.
Folk print workshops in all major regions manufactured prints according to a defined set of rules. These rules or precepts, huajue, as they were commonly called, provided a theoretical basis for the folk aesthetics of prints as well as practical guidelines for its implementation. Some of these precepts, for example, guided the selection of specific color schemes and color combinations. Transmitted orally from a master to an apprentice in the form of short verses they contained specific vocabulary and fixed expressions that required direct explanation, thus “guarding” professional secrets of the trade.
By using a several case studies, I will attempt to trace the application of the above-mentioned precepts, translated into English for the first time, in actual woodblock prints preserved in various collections. The use of these precepts, I propose, created a baseline for an expressive method chosen to achieve an “effective print” and, while it was not entirely standardized, print designers were conscious of the effects produced by these methods and deliberately applied these considerations in their work.
Folk print workshops in all major regions manufactured prints according to a defined set of rules. These rules or precepts, huajue, as they were commonly called, provided a theoretical basis for the folk aesthetics of prints as well as practical guidelines for its implementation. Some of these precepts, for example, guided the selection of specific color schemes and color combinations. Transmitted orally from a master to an apprentice in the form of short verses they contained specific vocabulary and fixed expressions that required direct explanation, thus “guarding” professional secrets of the trade.
By using a several case studies, I will attempt to trace the application of the above-mentioned precepts, translated into English for the first time, in actual woodblock prints preserved in various collections. The use of these precepts, I propose, created a baseline for an expressive method chosen to achieve an “effective print” and, while it was not entirely standardized, print designers were conscious of the effects produced by these methods and deliberately applied these considerations in their work.
Disseminating the narrative of crime and retribution: on the relation of Chinese folk prints and their sources in theatre, literature and criminal cases
A group of Chinese sheet prints produced by thousands of inexpensive editions between 19th and ea... more A group of Chinese sheet prints produced by thousands of inexpensive editions between 19th and early 20th centuries presents itself to a European eye as a prototype of modern comic strips. Both in their visual form of image boxes or tableaus, each containing a separate part of a narrative and supplemented by supporting text, and in their wide dissemination among the population, they are strikingly reminiscent of their Western counterparts. In late imperial China and even during the early years of the Chinese Republic real or fictional criminal narratives were eagerly appropriated into the cultural matrix, as literary storylines, theatrical plots, popular imagery and into oral storytelling, supported by pictorials.
Basing on a case study of a rare unpublished print from the collection of the Rietberg museum entitled “Retribution for Killing One’s Son” (Sha zi bao 殺子報), I propose to discuss the phenomena of the “crime and retribution” imagery in Chinese popular culture. The source of this particular narrative was a novel, which, in its turn, was based on a real incident that occurred between 1875-1909 in Tongzhou. It is, however, difficult, to assess whether the popular imagery of the “son-murder” cases was inspired directly by the novel or rather by numerous theatrical pieces based on the same narrative.
A discussion of the inherent iconographic conventions of such prints and the fluid essence of their source narratives strives to (re)-consider their nature as reproduced narrative illustrations or as visual renditions of related theatrical performances.
Basing on a case study of a rare unpublished print from the collection of the Rietberg museum entitled “Retribution for Killing One’s Son” (Sha zi bao 殺子報), I propose to discuss the phenomena of the “crime and retribution” imagery in Chinese popular culture. The source of this particular narrative was a novel, which, in its turn, was based on a real incident that occurred between 1875-1909 in Tongzhou. It is, however, difficult, to assess whether the popular imagery of the “son-murder” cases was inspired directly by the novel or rather by numerous theatrical pieces based on the same narrative.
A discussion of the inherent iconographic conventions of such prints and the fluid essence of their source narratives strives to (re)-consider their nature as reproduced narrative illustrations or as visual renditions of related theatrical performances.
Das " Forum Ostasiatische Kunstgeschichte " ist ein jährlich stattfindendes Treffen von Vertreter... more Das " Forum Ostasiatische Kunstgeschichte " ist ein jährlich stattfindendes Treffen von VertreterInnen des akademischen Mittelbaus, PostdoktorandInnen und DoktorandInnen, die ihren Forschungsschwerpunkt auf der Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens oder einem verwandten Gebiet haben. Das Forum gibt der Ostasiatischen Kunstgeschichte im deutschsprachigen Raum, die als akademische Disziplin institutionell zwischen einer europäisch-amerikanisch geprägten Kunstgeschichte und den einzelnen Ostasienwissenschaften angesiedelt ist, eine eigene Plattform. Auf dem 6. Forum werden persönliche Forschungsvorhaben vorgestellt und methodische und institutionelle Perspektiven des Faches diskutiert. Wir bitten um Vorschläge für Werkstattberichte aus aktuellen Forschungsprojekten und Qualifikationsarbeiten. Besonders willkommen sind Vorträge, die einen dezidiert methodischen Schwerpunkt aufweisen. Es können auch Bewerbungen für ein inhaltliches Panel mit drei bis vier Sprechern eingereicht werden. Als weitere Programmpunkte sind eine Sektion mit Berichten aus den Instituten und ein Besuch im Depot des Museums für Asiatische Kunst geplant. Bewerbungen mit einem Abstract von max. 300 Wörtern für einen 20-minütigen Vortrag und einem kurzen Lebenslauf (max.
On the role of the West in collecting Chinese woodblock prints: A case study of entangled histories of the “Kaempfer prints” at the British Museum.
Due to a number of reasons Chinese woodblock prints remain a terra incognita in the history of Ch... more Due to a number of reasons Chinese woodblock prints remain a terra incognita in the history of Chinese art, largely underappreciated and under-researched both in their land of origin as well as in the West. Several factors contributed to the poor chances of survival for historical collections of woodblock prints in China, among them their fragility, their lower status in the eyes of Chinese connoisseurs, as well as the tumultuous history of the 20th century China when the print culture suffered considerable losses. Thus, early Chinese woodblock prints are not to be found in great numbers in China, but, to our luck, were preserved in the West and in Japan. The ways Chinese popular prints were brought to the West are as varied as the nature of Sino-Western contacts itself: missionaries, traders, enthusiastic researchers and art-dealers were equally involved in this process. For this presentation, I will focus my attention on the case study of “Kaempfer prints” at the British Museum that happen to be of particular value. I will introduce several collectors’ personalities to illustrate the entangled histories and connecting agendas that eventually contributed to preservation and assemblage of Chinese woodblock prints for future generations. In this presentation focus will lay not only on their biographical details but also on the idiosyncratic interests that provided impetus for their collecting. We shall see in which ways these personalities or their collections could have come in contact with each other. A recent challenge to existing attributions of the prints in question will introduce a new angle for the problem. Additionally we will briefly review this assemblage of prints in order to assess their place within the history of the medium.
Eccentrics in East Asian Art: Images of Virgin Mary as part of Chinese Christian Tradition. Case study of Fujen Academy Artists.
Chinese culture and Swiss Missionaries. Stories uncovered by a forgotten collection in Basel.
Talks by Alina Martimyanova
Wealth, Good Fortune and Longevity: The Tradition of Chinese New Year prints
Printing the Chinese wave: tradition, metaphor, abstraction.
Colloquium "The School of Waves" at the Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich.
In this talk the iconograp... more Colloquium "The School of Waves" at the Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich.
In this talk the iconography of waves and their changing significance in Chinese art down to the present day will be considered in order to review the monumental woodcut "1912" (2010) by Chinese artist Chen Qi. Questions of subject and medium of production will define the interpretation of the work, that is currently on show at the museum.
Saturday September 19, 2015
In this talk the iconography of waves and their changing significance in Chinese art down to the present day will be considered in order to review the monumental woodcut "1912" (2010) by Chinese artist Chen Qi. Questions of subject and medium of production will define the interpretation of the work, that is currently on show at the museum.
Saturday September 19, 2015
Ethnographische Sammlung der Basler Mission: Chinesische Objekte und Kontexte
Papers by Alina Martimyanova
“Ruishi bowuguan zhencang de zhongguo muban nianhua yanjiu 瑞士博物馆珍藏的中国木版年画研究” [Research on the Chinese Popular Woodblock Prints Preserved in Swiss Museums].
Nianhua yanjiu 年画研究 [Nianhua Research] , 2020
“Ruishi bowuguan zhencang de zhongguo muban nianhua yanjiu 瑞士博物馆珍藏的中国木版年画研究” [Research on the Chinese Popular Woodblock Prints Preserved in Swiss Museums]
Nianhua shijie de xueshu goujian: di sanjie zhongguo muban nianhua guoji huiyi年画世界的学术构建：第三届中国木版年画国际会议 [2019 Academic Construction of the New Year Picture Theory: The Third International Forum on Chinese Woodblock New Year Picture], 2019
“配色歌”与中国传统木版年画中的民间审美原则
Nianhua yanjiu 年华研究, 2018
Ahnentafeln, Opiumpfeifen und Buddha-Figuren.Die ethnografische Sammlung der Basler Mission
“Pioniere, Weltenbummler, Brückenbauer. Jubiläumsmagazin zu 200 Jahre Basler Mission.” , 2015
Thesis by Alina Martimyanova
The Language of Chinese Folk Art: A Survey of Otto Fischer’s Collection of Chinese Popular Prints and Their Color Characteristics
The present thesis focuses on Chinese woodblock prints and the various functions of folk art exer... more The present thesis focuses on Chinese woodblock prints and the various functions of folk art exercised through this medium. As a case study, it examines a collection of 62 woodblock prints from many regions of China assembled in 1926 by Otto Fischer, a German art historian. The prints in this collection represent different genre categories of popular art, from depictions of deities to episodes from traditional opera plays. The assemblage was later donated to the museum Rietberg in Zurich and has not been surveyed or published until now. Thus, the first undertaking of this thesis was to produce a survey of the collection by identifying themes and subjects of each individual print and linking them to their sources within Chinese folk religion, literature, theatre or folk customs. The study has revealed that a number of prints have not been published elsewhere and thus present rare examples of particular subjects and motifs.
In addition to the survey, an attempt was made to suggest regional provenances of individual prints based on the records of Otto Fischer’s research trip in China and the stylistic characteristics of the prints. The investigation of this collection has sought to connect the idiosyncratic research interests of the collector, Otto Fischer, with the popular prints he acquired. One of the main achievements of the research was the identification of a considerable convolute of prints attributed to the Linfen workshop area in the province of Shanxi, for which documentation and illustrative examples are very scarce. This discovery provides further material evidence for the study of this area’s print production and characteristic styles.
The central question of the thesis, however, was how particular colors and color combinations affect the visual language of Chinese popular prints. The primary source for this discussion were the so-called “folk art precepts” that assumedly guided the selection of specific color schemes. Furthermore, the aesthetic, psychological, and symbolic effects of color in the visual language of such prints were analyzed. This analysis, based on the collection of Otto Fischer as a case study, has demonstrated that while the application of particular colors as an expressive method in folk prints was not entirely standardized, print designers were conscious of the effects produced by different colors and deliberately applied these considerations in their work. Color symbolism, psychological responses to specific colors, as well as established aesthetic requirements influenced the selection of colors and color combinations that were used to produce an “effective” print.
This thesis makes a contribution into two directions of research within the study of Chinese popular prints. First, it identifies and describes a previously unknown assemblage, thus supplementing records of material evidence for prints from different regions and with different subjects. Such documentation could be used to complete some of the gaps in the history of this medium and serve as comparative material for the study of other print collections. Second, this paper has started a discussion of the expressive language of the Chinese popular prints and its common theoretical basis. Only the aspect of color has been reviewed here, whereas in future such research could expand to include other aspects. The transmitted records of print production preserved in the precepts were translated into the Western language for the first time for the purpose of this thesis and are now available for further investigations into the expressive strategies of the Chinese folk art.
In addition to the survey, an attempt was made to suggest regional provenances of individual prints based on the records of Otto Fischer’s research trip in China and the stylistic characteristics of the prints. The investigation of this collection has sought to connect the idiosyncratic research interests of the collector, Otto Fischer, with the popular prints he acquired. One of the main achievements of the research was the identification of a considerable convolute of prints attributed to the Linfen workshop area in the province of Shanxi, for which documentation and illustrative examples are very scarce. This discovery provides further material evidence for the study of this area’s print production and characteristic styles.
The central question of the thesis, however, was how particular colors and color combinations affect the visual language of Chinese popular prints. The primary source for this discussion were the so-called “folk art precepts” that assumedly guided the selection of specific color schemes. Furthermore, the aesthetic, psychological, and symbolic effects of color in the visual language of such prints were analyzed. This analysis, based on the collection of Otto Fischer as a case study, has demonstrated that while the application of particular colors as an expressive method in folk prints was not entirely standardized, print designers were conscious of the effects produced by different colors and deliberately applied these considerations in their work. Color symbolism, psychological responses to specific colors, as well as established aesthetic requirements influenced the selection of colors and color combinations that were used to produce an “effective” print.
This thesis makes a contribution into two directions of research within the study of Chinese popular prints. First, it identifies and describes a previously unknown assemblage, thus supplementing records of material evidence for prints from different regions and with different subjects. Such documentation could be used to complete some of the gaps in the history of this medium and serve as comparative material for the study of other print collections. Second, this paper has started a discussion of the expressive language of the Chinese popular prints and its common theoretical basis. Only the aspect of color has been reviewed here, whereas in future such research could expand to include other aspects. The transmitted records of print production preserved in the precepts were translated into the Western language for the first time for the purpose of this thesis and are now available for further investigations into the expressive strategies of the Chinese folk art.
Books by Alina Martimyanova
China and the West: Reconsidering Chinese Reverse Glass Painting, 2022
With contributions from outstanding specialists in glass art and East Asian art history, this edi... more With contributions from outstanding specialists in glass art and East Asian art history, this edited volume opens a cross-cultural dialogue on the hitherto little-studied medium of Chinese reverse glass painting. The first major survey of this form of East Asian art, the volume traces its long history, its local and global diffusion, and its artistic and technical characteristics. Manufactured for export to Europe and for local consumption within China, the fragile artworks studied in this volume constitute a paramount part of Chinese visual culture and attest to the intensive cultural and artistic exchange between China and the West.
Book chapters by Alina Martimyanova
“The Chinese Collection of the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich” and catalogue entries in the section VII “Chinese Prints.”
Lines from East Asia: Japanese and Chinese Art on Paper. Edited by Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Susanne Pollack, and Hans Bjarne Thomsen., 2022
De Gruyter eBooks, Oct 24, 2022
By taking the motifs of vernacular imagery, compositional devices, and use of color combinations ... more By taking the motifs of vernacular imagery, compositional devices, and use of color combinations as reference points, this analysis will argue for a domestic interaction in the processes of production and consumption of reverse glass painting and popular prints in China. Common target markets, mobility of craftsmen, and a shared aesthetic vocabulary played an important role in transfer between the two media.
"Chinese Printing Tradition through the Ages: Some Snapshots."
Lines from East Asia: Japanese and Chinese Art. Edited by Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Susanne Pollack, and Hans Bjarne Thomsen.on Paper, 2022