The Profits of Philanthropy: Relief Aid, Shenbao, and the Art World in Later Nineteenth-Century Shanghai

Painting in Shanghai of the later nineteenth century occupies an uncertain place in the history of Chinese painting. Often referred to as the "Shanghai School," artists active in the melting-pot of Shanghai from the 1860s onwards were not in fact part of any school nor were many from Shanghai; instead, they came from a broad spectrum of social backgrounds and worked in an equally wide range of styles and subjects. What many did share in common was their Shanghai sojourner status, created by the violent events of the Taiping Rebellion. Uprooted from their Jiangnan hometowns, many chose to flee to the relative safety and prosperity of the recently-establishedtreaty port. Shanghai's merchant population provided a ready market for their goods; it was the tastes of this clientele and the cosmopolitan stimulus of Shanghai itself that helped shape a body of works that were brash and dynamic, vibrant and sophisticated, and that favored popular and auspicious subjects. Art was undeniably a thriving business in Shanghai, and whether literati or professional, artists working in Shanghai were there to earn money. Their often forthright commercialism has proven to be a significant obstacle in the study and understanding of later Shanghai painting. Art historians have tended to avert their eyes from this aspect of Shanghai artistic production, usually preferring to anchor the period to its past by tracing its roots in and relationships with older art.¹ The prominent place economic issues hold in Shanghai art remains to be acknowledged: in a city that was commercial to the core, art world business practices played a crucial role in shaping the identity of the artist, transforming his clientele, his relationship to that clientele and to the public at large. However, it is important to note that, despite its openness, the relationship between art and business was neither simple nor unsophisticated.

One especially intriguing and little-addressed aspect of his integration into Shanghai's modern mercantile arena was the artist's savvy use of the city's burgeoning mass media. Artists were conspicuous in the pages of the numerous magazines and newspapers that sprang up in Shanghai with the advent of lithography, and in capacities beyond merely providing illustrations. Their engagement with the print media reveals much about their commercial activities, including selling or promoting various products in advertisements for paintings, calligraphy, illustrated books, and lithographed images. They were also a presence in Shenbao and the literary magazines in their parallel identities as public men-of-letters, publishing poems and short pieces that enhanced their reputation and served as a refined form of self-promotion. However, their use of the press transcended mere publicity; the establishment of a public identity for the artist had greater ramifications than increased sales alone. A closer examination of their active engagement with Shanghai media—and Shenbao in particular—gives flesh to our understanding of the art world as a business world, but also as a community, a profession and as members of the larger community.

The artist's easy use of the newspaper is demonstrated in two very different notices placed in Shenbao by a now unknown painter, the Suzhou-born Jin Ji (also known as Jin Zhenji, zi Mianzhi). The first, a brief advertisement from 1880, showcases the artist as entrepreneur. In this advertisement, Jin Ji and another artist, Fuqiu sheng, announce their intention of "Giving away paintings and calligraphy":

Fuqiu sheng [Student Who Bestows Autumn] is giving away a hundred album leaves of bird-and-flower subjects. Mianchi daoren [Daoist Who Avoids the Idiotic] is giving away sixty hanging scrolls with painting and calligraphy. Please come to the upper floor of Simei xuan [the fan shop Four Beauty Studio] in Yu Garden and register. Pick up works from 10/4 on.²

The act of advertising in the newspaper was not unusual, particularly for lesser-known artists seeking to reach clients in a crowded and competitive market. Fuqiu sheng and Mianchi daoren's notice is notable for its cheerfully gimmicky appeal to buyers hoping to get something for nothing. This, presumably, [End Page 188...