The Art of the Chinese Picture-Scroll - Hardcover

by Shane McCausland (Author)

The first extended history of the Chinese picture-scroll.

The Chinese picture-scroll, a long, horizontal painting or calligraphic work, has been China's pre-eminent aesthetic form throughout the last two millennia. This first history of the picture-scroll explores its extraordinary longevity and adaptability to social, political, and technological change. The book describes what the picture-scroll demands of a viewer, how China's artists grappled with its cultural power, and how collectors and connoisseurs left their marks on scrolls for later generations to judge.

Author Biography

Shane McCausland is the Percival David Professor of the History of Art at SOAS University of London. His many books include The Mongol Century: Visual Cultures of Yuan China, 1271-1368, also published by Reaktion Books.