Development of the Russian School of Art in the context of emigration to China in the first half of the 20th century

Abstract

The art of emigres to the Far East (i.e. China) has been studied less in comparison with European emigration. China was not a main centre for emigre art (more precisely, it was its periphery). Artists did not tend to come to China; they went there due to some particular circumstances. Among them there were no outstanding or prominent people who defined the future of art. They were professionals of the second class or, even more likely, of the third class. According to data from various sources^ about 130 Russian emigrants worked professionally in the sphere of the fine arts in China during 1920-1948. Two main centres were the focal point of the Russian artists: Harbin and Shang­ hai. (Some Russian artists also lived in Hong Kong, Beijing, Tianjin, but in these Chinese cities the activity of the Russian diaspora wasn’t so widespread). About half of the Russian artist-emigres living in China received a standard education in art. Twenty-five people studied in the best schools of Russia: Petersburg Academy of Arts, Moscow School of Painting, Sculpturing and Architecture and Stroganov School of Industrial and Applied Arts. Ten people studied art at the School of Industrial and Applied Arts of Yekaterinburg, Chita and other