AstheOpiumWarunfoldinGuangdongProvince,thepainterSuRenshan(1814—c.1850)explodedontotheartscenewithabold,paradigm-turningnewvoice.ADefiantBrushtakesafreshlookatthisunderappreciatedartistinthecontextofanascentChinesemodernism.
In1839,Guangzhouhasshiftedfromacosmopolitantradingcenterwithadiverseartworldintoaplaceofviolence.Duringthefollowingdecade,onevoiceofdiscontentanddefiancerangoutaboveallothers:SiRenshan.Hisprovocative,uncompromising,andsometimesuglypaintingsberateConfuciusforhishypocrisy.Heturnshisbrushtraceintographiclinesthatmimictheprintedpage,andhedepictswomenasalternativeexemplarsofamoralintelligentsia.Itisbelievedthathisoutspokennesspromptedhisfathertoplacehiminprisonforfilialimpiety,whereheprobablypaintedhislastwork.Duringthisturbulentperiodofincipientmodernity,closereadingsofSuRenshan’spaintingswithintherichcontextualhistoryofartinGuangdongProvincerevealhowthetraumaofwarpromptedare-evaluationofsocialandpoliticalvalues,andindeedthemoralresponsibilityofascholar-artist.
