Book report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Book report - Essay Example However, the Chinese artistic traditions were usually only partially valued in the Western world. For example, researchers more often studied Chinese sculpture and paid little attention to such a valuable form of art in China as calligraphy. In this regard, in his book Clunas attempts to compensate for such a one-sided traditional approach to the study of art in China, as for one he describes the mentioned virtual omission by Western scholars of calligraphy as an art form in favor of painting, and even points out that the cognomen "Chinese Art" is mostly a Western concept. In reality, as we learn, for the most period of its history in China artistic sphere was closely connected with its functions, be they decorative, religious, or political in nature. Now contrast this with the notion of a kind of an isolated museum exhibition that may arise from the Western approach to the study of art, and we may understand why Chinese art has not been fully appreciated in the West and what potenti al benefits the approach of Clunas may offer. With the mentioned innovative approaches to his investigation Craig Clunas apparently manages to penetrate deep within his subject of study due to his organic combination of study of Chinese arts in their proper contexts with attention to all their essential aspects, starting from tomb artifacts and up to the Mao Zedong era. Interestingly, with these observations in mind we can also think of Clunas`s book as simultaneously a critical investigation of the Western perception of Chinese art. Let us see how the author tackles the task that he has set before him. This can already be seen from an introduction where, instead of attempts to superficially describe the most important artists and works of art of different periods of history, Clunas rather chooses to elaborate on the plausible historic context that accompanied works of Chinese art. As we learn, it turns out