From Nationalization to Regionality: A Thematic Review of Chinese Landscape Oil Painting Studies
Keywords:
Chinese Landscape Oil Painting, Nationalization, Expressive Aesthetics, Regionality, Thematic Literature ReviewAbstract
Landscape oil painting has played a significant role in the development of modern Chinese art, serving as an important site for negotiating cultural identity, aesthetic values, and spatial experience. Over the past decades, scholarly research on Chinese landscape oil painting has expanded from early discussions of nationalization to more diversified approaches focusing on expressive aesthetics, formal language, and regionality. However, existing studies remain theoretically fragmented, with descriptive analysis often outweighing explanatory synthesis. This article presents a thematic literature review of research on Chinese landscape oil painting. Drawing on representative Chinese and selected English-language scholarship, the review organizes existing studies into four interrelated research strands: nationalization discourse, expressive aesthetics and artistic conception, formal language and technical strategies, and regionality studies. Through critical synthesis, the article traces the evolution of theoretical perspectives and identifies persistent limitations, including the lack of mechanism-oriented analysis and the uneven distribution of regional research. Special attention is given to studies on Guizhou landscape oil painting as an underexplored research area. The limited and fragmented nature of existing scholarship on Guizhou highlights broader structural issues within regional landscape oil painting studies in China. Based on this analysis, the article argues for a shift from descriptive characterization toward integrative and mechanism-based approaches that link environmental experience, aesthetic mediation, and visual form. By clarifying theoretical trajectories and proposing future research directions, this review aims to contribute to a more coherent framework for understanding regional diversity in Chinese landscape oil painting and to support further interdisciplinary inquiry at the intersection of art, culture, and education.
Keywords: Chinese Landscape Oil Painting, Nationalization, Expressive Aesthetics, Regionality, Thematic Literature Review
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