A female ink painter prominent in her day but eclipsed in modern histories, Wu Shujuan (1853-1930) offers a glimpse into the tensions and uncertainties that underlie late nineteenth and early twentieth century China, when concepts such as “art history,” “gender,” “tradition,” and “modernity” were constantly reexamined and redefined. It was through the cultivation of her image as a traditional painter that Wu established a modern platform, visibly engaging in contemporary constructions of traditional art histories and modern Chinese nationhood.
Throughout the 1910s, Wu Shujuan acquired a considerable national and international presence, and two painting catalogues published during this period are central to this thesis: Chinese Paintings by Madame Wu Hsing-fên, the most Distinguished Paintress of Modern China, printed in 1915; and the second edition of The Eighteen Famous Chinese Landscapes Painted by Madame Wu Hsing-fen, the most Distinguished Paintress of Modern China, published in 1926. With titles that immediately evoke the relationship between gender and modernity, these volumes further reflect contemporary uncertainties as to how such a renowned woman artist should be classified within early twentieth-century Shanghai—an issue that is addressed in chapter one.
Each of the subsequent three chapters examines a different way in which Wu Shujuan distinguished herself within modern forms of artistic production, participating in a wider movement wherein women acquired unprecedented visibility in the public eye. To begin with, the artist was an extensive traveler, and through her many journeys she appropriated a kind of cultural prestige previously reserved for the male literatus. In painting the sights she beheld in various ancient styles, Wu moreover created geographic and art historical travelogues as part of a culturally nationalistic vision of a unified China. The artist’s step into the world of international commerce and use of new printing technologies are further markers of her quest for modernity. Branded in her publications as authentic, masterful, and sensational, Wu effectively targeted both Chinese and foreign audiences. Within a market confused with fakes and forgeries, the genuine artworks of Wu Shujuan also emerged as viable substitutes for paintings that appeared ancient but were of dubious origins. Finally, the artist achieved considerable success on the international stage. Through her participation in exhibitions in the U.S., Italy and Japan, Wu strove to create a dialogue of cross-cultural friendships. Indeed, a study of her relationships with foreigners in Shanghai reveals the role of the American Women’s Club as a feminine networking tool that promoted her art to foreign audiences.
Wu Shujuan’s artistic narrative thus contains a much greater depth and complexity than what her traditional paintings might superficially suggest. Far from being an anachronism in the new republic, Wu was an artist actively aware of her own identity as a new woman and engaged in contemporary negotiations between tradition and modernity.