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Western and Chinese Art: Masters and Classics | TsinghuaX on edX | Course About Video

4,150 views · Published 30 January 2015 · 2:35 · Indexed 23 September 2026

Channel: edX · 2015 · Education

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Western and Chinese Art: Masters and Classics

From da Vinci to Zhang Xu, Wu Daozi and Warhol, explore immortal works of Western and Chinese art and gain an appreciation of culture, history and civilization

About this Course
Throughout human history, art has served as a window into current events, traditions, societies and culture. And, Chinese and Western civilizations have produced some of the most famous artworks by world-renowned artists.

This course will examine Western and Chinese art, artists and history. Through exploring immortal works of art, this course will help learners gain insight into our shared history and better understand culture, both past and present.

From an interdisciplinary perspective of art history, aesthetics, intellectual history and cultural history, we will explore spiritual and cultural questions such as “where are we from” and “what is humanity.” The course will present a general overview of Chinese art and Western art, focusing on major works with special attention paid to the comparison between China and the West and between tradition and modernity.

Throughout our 15 weeks together, we will cover the following:

A Survey of Art: Subjects and Methodology
Dawn of Icons: Masterpieces by Anonymous Masters
Aesthetics of Mythological Creation: From Homer to Phidias
Majesty and Divinity: From Bronzes to Han Dynasty Stone Carvings
Grief and Transcendence: Wang Xizhi  and Gu Kaizhi
Unrestrained-ness and unconventional-ness: Zhang Xu and Wu Daozi
The Divine Human Body: Giotto and Jan van Eyck
Divinity of the Human Body: From da Vinci to Titian
Nature and Human Nature: Rubens, Poussin and Rembrandt
Verve and Character: From Wang Wei to Ni Zan
Personality and Love for Ridicule: Xu Wei the Lunatic
Transition of Classicism: From David to Courbet
Wilderness of Passion: Constable and Turner
Experience and Contemplation: Van Gogh and Cézanne
Boundless Art: From Marcel Duchamp to Andy Warhol
In this course, learners will develop a systematic knowledge of Western and Chinese art history, its artists and aesthetic theories. Students will develop aesthetic judgment, appreciation and a knowledge of humanities, and cultivate their artistic tastes.

Join us as we survey renowned Chinese and Western artists and deepen our understanding and appreciation of art, history and culture.

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