M3 The Art Movement Society

Manifesto (1929)

The Art Movement Society (Guoli yishu yundong she) was founded by the charismatic Chinese artist Lin Fengmian (1900–91) in 1928 in order to bring about a cultural renaissance in the arts in his homeland by seeking to reconcile Chinese traditional art with the innovative practices being championed in the West. Since the revolution of 1911, there had been attempts by the newly formed republic to industrialize and modernize China. This New Culture Movement hoped to revitalize what it saw as an ailing culture by promoting modern, Western ideas. In order to do this, artists and academics were sent abroad to study. Lin went first to Paris and then to Berlin; his paintings at this time have been likened to those of the German Expressionist movement. In 1928 Lin was made the director of the newly established National Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he quickly instigated a radical programme of Western and Chinese art, introducing the paintings of Cézanne and van Gogh into the curriculum, as well as founding the Art Movement Society.

The society’s manifesto was written by Lin and published in the eighth issue of the National Academy’s magazine, Yapole (Apollo), in 1929. It draws a parallel with the war-torn era of the fourth and fifth centuries AD in China, when civil war between the North and South Dynasties ignited a flourishing radical arts scene. Arguing that in an unstable society there is a greater need for art as an emotional and spiritual refuge, he exhorts Chinese artists to collective action, stating that China’s artistic future must be outward-looking and embrace an expansionist Pan-Asian culture.

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Within the so-called New Culture Movement in the last decade or so, art has been ranked lowest of all. To date, the new term ‘Art Movement’ has not yet been accepted as a slogan, and has attracted little attention as compared with other surging political and social movements. This reality is not surprising to us, particularly during a transitional period of such dire poverty. Material existence has been extremely harsh. All emotional and ideological actions have been suppressed into apathy. Art, which has always been the ultimate expression of human emotional life, has to be consigned to oblivion for the time being. Speaking about Art Movements in this devastated China without addressing the needs of the time seems ridiculous. We should not forget, however, that the time of the South and North Dynasties was one of the most flourishing eras in the history of Chinese art, and the Renaissance of Europe took place during a period of religious wars. Evidently, whether today or yesterday, whether in China or elsewhere, the more unstable a society is for its inhabitants, the greater their need for art to serve as an emotional and spiritual refuge. Even at the individual level, we believe that a person’s spiritual pulse will not stop as long as he holds a loaf of bread in his hands. Whether in peaceful or chaotic periods, Art Movements should not be interrupted any more than farming operations. Simply put, artists are farmers who work in the field of the spirit for all mankind.

Since we acknowledge the universal need of all civilised or barbaric nations for an engagement with the emotional during difficult or comfortable times, art movements then are at the centre of all cultural movements. After all, the purpose of cultural movements is nothing more than to bring people’s lives to perfection. Having realised the truth of art, we firmly and determinedly uphold the banner of Art Movements, in such a period of ongoing wars and fleeing refugees, to promote the blessings of art amid the screaming and moaning. We regard this as our appointed mission!

Read, if you will, Article III of this Society’s charter, which explicitly states that ‘the purpose of this Society is to advance the emerging art of the Orient by uniting, through bonds of absolute friendship, new forces committed to Art Movements within the art community.’ Our attitude and goal may well be straightforward and clear, but nonetheless may elicit suspicion and misunderstanding from members of society. We therefore restate as follows: What artists value most, as we all know, is their emotional existence, as artistic creation totally relies on and arises from the arousal of emotion. Moreover, artists generally prefer to remain in solitude, as they desire to protect and preserve their individuality and introspection, without having their freedom tainted by accommodation to society at large. Since artists have these attributes, they are not steered by external interests. An organisation’s structure must therefore rely on emotions to collectively pursue a common goal. Thus, members of this Society regard friendship, the purest and noblest of emotions, as the first essential. As attested to by countless examples in the world of poetry, artists have treasured friendship since ancient times.

Different schools have always existed among artists. From the perspective of artistic creation, this should be a very welcome phenomenon, as long as no battle for power ensues. No artist should denounce this inevitable element of artistic evolution. An organisation should neither focus on the relevance of interests, nor be restricted to similarity in style. Instead, its members should be led by a collective will. Then what is our collective goal? All sober-minded individuals know that art evolves with historical sensibilities. The art of the Song Dynasty could not resemble that of the Tang Dynasty, nor could the art of the Tang resemble its predecessor, the Han-Wei. The dispirited path trudged by artists in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, whose only skill was plagiarism, does not deserve mention. Today’s advocates of traditional art are nothing more than destroyers of art. Why do we need Art Movements? We can just repeat the old saying: Be secluded in the mountains with long hair! As we thoroughly denounce the existence of the traditional school of art, any artist committed to creating a new age naturally shares our vision. These are our best friends, whether or not we know each other or belong to the same race. Herein lies the primary goal of this Society: to unite the new forces within the art community.

At their inception, Art Movements are visionary. How do we move them forward? We still need specific plans as guidelines for action. We are fully aware that the success of Art Movements, across the vast expanse of China, simply cannot be achieved by the power of a few people. The first purpose of this Society is to assemble and commit all the new forces in China’s art community to Art Movements. Publishing art magazines to promote and enhance the level of public appreciation of art; organising more exhibitions to bring art closer to the public; devoting effort to art education in order to foster talented, emerging artists; founding art museums or sending out archaeological expeditions – these are our prospective tasks, prioritised according to programme and resources.

Finally, we should bear in mind that, on the one hand, modern artistic thinking cannot depart from so-called nationality and individuality. But on the other hand, the tendency towards universality is real in spirit. Eastern and Western art have a long history of influence upon one another, a topic upon which it is not necessary to expand here. The current relationship between Eastern and Western art communities is becoming increasingly interwoven. Artists should not confine their views within national boundaries, nor should different schools attempt to turn competition into a domestic conflict! It is our belief, therefore, that artists of this new era should study the art of all nations with a global perspective. Any art, not limited to the art of Europe, but extending to the art of the Philippines and Australia, deserves our attention as long as we can learn from it.

We all know that the highest mission bestowed upon the artist is to create. This should be the ultimate objective of the artist’s lifelong pursuit, and is the expectation society has of the artist. It is the ultimate vision of this Society to unite a majority of creative powers in the art community to expedite the realisation of a new artistic age, as a lasting spiritual contribution to society. Fellow artists, both at home and abroad, please show your understanding and sympathy for our vision by bestowing your advice.