Surrealism through the lens of China.

Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai is the first English language book dedicated to introducing Chinese Surrealism, enlarging the geographical authority of Surrealist studies beyond a Eurocentric prism of analysis. The book reveals the mutual cultural influence between China and the Western avant-garde, moving beyond notions of “copying from the West.” Utilizing primary source materials, particularly periodicals, Lauren Walden reveals the underexplored dissemination of Surrealism in Shanghai. Highlighting how Surrealism was applied across a broad political spectrum in Shanghai including anti-colonialism, communism, and nationalism, Walden also demonstrates why Shanghai’s former French concession became the birthplace of Surrealism in China.

Lauren Walden is a resident of the Giacometti Institute Research Residency and a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in contemporary Chinese art at Birmingham City University, UK.

Acknowledgements . vi
Introduction 1
Pang Xunqin and the Storm Society . 24
The Storm Society . 47
The Chinese Independent Art Association 64
Chinese Interpretations of European Surrealist
Works 80
Xiandai [Les Contemporains]: All Surrealism
under Heaven . 89
Surrealist Photography in Shanghai: Shidai
Manhua [Modern Sketch] . 97
Surrealist Photography in Shanghai: Lang
Jingshan (1892–1995) . 105
Conclusion . 125
Appendix I: The Storm Society Manifesto
(1932) . 131
Appendix II: Manifesto of the Chinese
Independent Art Association (1935) 134
Appendix III: Biographies . 136