SHANGHAI: Chinese art in the 20th century is marked by a clash of Western approaches used to interpret artistic traditions dating back thousands of years.

The earliest developments were brought about by original masters such as Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu, Pang Xunqin and Chen Chengbo, says Vinci Chang, Christie's Hong Kong-based specialist on 20th Century Chinese paintings.

A second generation, represented by Wu Guanzhong and Zao Wou-ki, joined that tradition.

"The unique styles of expression of these historically important artists have provided a new avenue to appreciate the spirit of Chinese art," Chang said.

Art buyers and collectors have not been slow to pursue works by them.

Two other 20th-century Chinese artists, until recently forgotten in the country's art circles, have been regaining their status. Sha Qi and Chang Yu - known in Europe as Sadji and San Yu - have seen prices for their works grow. At times, they have exceeded those fetched by earlier masters.

Both Sha and Chang were educated in Paris and both made their names in the 1930s. Their oil paintings are suffused with a strong Chinese mood and were impacted by the expressive nature of the Fauves - a school of art best represented by masters like Matisse.

"San Yu tended to create deeper moods and a more inward expression of feeling; his works often reveal a beauty that grew from the Taoist and Zen traditions of his Chinese cultural background," says Chang.

Chinese artists that rise to international acclaim are welcomed as heroes here. The most famous include New York-based Xu Bing and Cai Guoqiang and Beijing-based Wang Guangyi and Yue Minjun.

Xu Bing is best known for his installation "A Book from the Sky: 1987-1991."

It is composed of dozens of traditionally hand-stitched books and long scrolls printed with some 4,000 Chinese characters invented by the artist. The characters appear to be authentic but are meaningless.

"As his installations demonstrate, Xu Bing is an artist with subtlety, wit, and a remarkable ability to produce works of stunning visual beauty as well as tantalizingly ambiguous meanings," remarks Stanley K. Abe, associate professor of the Department of Art and Art History at Duke University's.

For artists like Xu, the "Chineseness" is an essential element of their art but not necessarily the root.

(China Daily 07/18/2005 page8)