ABSTRACT
This chapter examines main trends in Chinese art in imperial times, Maoist period and globalized era of the late 20th century and early 21st century. Traditional art includes ink painting, watercolours and gouaches that depict mountains, rivers, court members and conveyed intellectual and religious messages. The influence of Western art and Japanese art was more important between 1911 and 1949 (modern China) although these influences retreat during the Maoist period (1949–1976) when art was viewed mainly as a tool of political mobilization a trend that exacerbated during the years of the cultural revolution (1966–1976). As China, after the death of Mao moved to the adoption of markets and globalization, within a socialist framework, artists started to criticize the political control of the state and the type of art in favour during the Maoist period, searching for more personal meanings, abstractionism and new conceptual art. In the 1990s and 2000s, main international auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's opened operations in mainland China and an emerging segment of high-wealth individuals in China started to spend money on Chinese and Western art. In the 2010s, the Chinese market consolidated second/third place in the world in terms of the volume of sales.
