Chinese Christian Art

UPDATE - 2-11-2020:  Decided to put the Madonna and Child image back up despite lack of information about copyright status.  If anyone claims ownership of the image, kindly submit a comment with your permission or request to withdraw the image.  Thank you.

UPDATE - 7-13-2013:  We have removed the images of the Good Samaritan and Madonna and Child pending receipt of further information as to their copyright status.

ORIGINAL POST - 3-23-2009:
In 1937, over fifteen years after Anna Bog wrote of her experiences at the language school in Beijing, Helga Johansen, a new missionary, wrote of hers:

"Among the language students are also some Roman Catholic priests. Some time ago there was a painting exhibition here at school. The pictures came from the Catholic University here in Peking and are to be sent to Rome. They are only of biblical images, painted by Chinese. One of [the artists] was here one day to speak to us. Up until 10 years ago there was no Chinese Christian painting. This man, who was a very skillful painter, was called upon to paint some biblical images while he was still a pagan. To be able to do this, he necessarily had to understand the subject. After having painted his first two Madonna pictures, he was convinced of the truth of Christianity and wished to be a Christian. Since then, he has dedicated his life to serving God through his art."

Accompanying the article were paintings of the Good Samaritan and of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. The artist's name is not stated. It appears, however, from the similarity between this story and one in an article by Father Sergio Ticozzi, PIME, of the Holy Spirit Study Centre, that the artist was Luke Chen Yuandu.

According to Father Ticozzi, Archbishop Celso Costantini (1876-1958, later a Cardinal), who was the Apostolic Delegate to China beginning in 1922, wrote in 1940:

"'One day, in 1929, I went to visit in Peiping the personal exhibition of the painter Chen Yuandu. I noticed that this young artist showed a special mastery of his craft, good talent, together with a very solid background in the national style of painting. What I enjoyed most was the spirit and poetry that his paintings expressed. It could be said that he turned lines into scale and the colors into music. I invited him to come to the Delegation's quarters, and I talked to him about the Virgin Mary and the Bible. I showed him several pictures of the early Italian painters and handed him religious works of art for study. After a few days, he painted a picture of the Virgin Mary adoring the Child Jesus, and showed it to me. This beautiful picture in the Chinese style, which has been published in almost all the missionary magazines, became the first symbol of the new Chinese Catholic painting. At Pentecost in 1932, Mr. Chen received baptism and joined the Catholic Church, taking the name of Luke.'"

Father Ticozzi further explains:

"Luke Chen Yuandu (Chen Xu, 1902/03-1967) was later invited to teach in the Art Department of Furen [Fu Jen] Catholic University in Beijing. He formed a group of Catholic artists. Their work has enjoyed considerable success, both in Beijing and in the West. Among his students were Lu Hong Nian, Wang Su Da, Zeng San, Xu Qi Hua, Monica Liu, and other artists. The Art Department of Furen Catholic University produced more than 180 works of Christian art. From 1935 to 1938, the Art Department organized three exhibitions each year for consecutive years. In 1938, at the instigation of Mgr. Costantini, it also organized and conducted a series of itinerary exhibitions in Budapest, Vienna and the Vatican (Rome)."

Father Ticozzi's article can be read here.

For an online exhibit of Chinese Christian art, visit the Ricci Institute here.

Information about Fu Jen University, now re-established in Taiwan, can be found here.

Source:
The letter from Helga Johansen was published in the 1937 Dansk Missionsblad, Nr. 12, pp. 176-177. Translated from the Danish by Preben Jorgensen.

All D.M.S. items used with permission.