■ Liang Zhiqin (senior media person)

April 23 is the “world reading day”. The topic of how to read (read) once brushed the screen in these two days. Occasionally, some friends will also ask about the recommended books for introduction to art. Although many celebrities have said that reading is a very personal thing. Just as everyone’s body needs different nutrition. But from the perspective of introduction, it seems to be able to sort out a basic framework of reading.

Now there are a wide range of books on art theory, which are not only subdivided and rich, but also divided into popular and professional readings. If you want to understand the changes of Western art from the perspective of door categories, the history of western culture and the general history of the world can be said to be the most basic foreshadowing. On this basis, you can then read Gombrich’s story of art, but it should be emphasized that this can only explain various art schools before contemporary art, because Gombrich doesn’t pay much attention to what happened after modern art in his book, It’s an unfinished story. Therefore, in order to further understand modern art and contemporary art, Wang Tianbing’s western modern art criticism, Robertson and Mike Daniel’s theme of Contemporary Art - visual art after 1980, Dover’s Kant after Duchamp, Danto’s the end of art and the evolution of ordinary things - a philosophy about art are necessary readings, especially Danto’s two great works, It explains the changing process of how ordinary objects become works of art in contemporary art. Of course, you can also add an additional copy of Jimenez’s “the struggle for contemporary art”. So far, the context of Western art can be basically sorted out clearly.

For the part of Chinese art, let’s focus on painting and calligraphy. On the premise of mastering the general development of Chinese history, it is necessary to read through the outline of Chinese art history co authored by Bo Songnian, Chen Shaofeng and Zhang Tongxia, while Zhou Jiyin’s Compendium of Chinese painting theory is a book that can not only systematically and comprehensively understand the theoretical discourse of Chinese painting in previous dynasties, and Fu Baoshi has also compiled a Book of Chinese painting theory, which is better for comparison. In addition, in order to understand the charm and artistic conception pursuit of Chinese painting, Chen Chuanxi’s “Research on painting theory in the Six Dynasties” and Fang Wen’s “Xinyin: style and structure of Chinese painting and calligraphy” are required bibliographies, Then Gao Juhan’s “color across the river and mountains: painting of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)”, “farewell along the river: painting in the early and middle Ming Dynasty (1368-1580)”, “momentum shaking: nature and style in Chinese painting in the 17th century” and “mountains beyond the mountain: Painting in the late Ming Dynasty (1570-1644)”, which almost connect the characteristics of Chinese painting before the Qing Dynasty.

If you want to find some books with alternative views, Wan Qingli’s “not a century of decline” provides an alternative evaluation of paintings in the Qing Dynasty. After that, Su Liwen’s “Chinese art and artists in the 20th century” is also worth reading.

Of course, there are also Xu Fuguan’s “Chinese artistic spirit”, Zong Baihua’s “aesthetic walk” and Zhu Liangzhi’s “15 lectures on Chinese Aesthetics”.