Yuan Dynasty (Mongol Period)
Chinese Art - 1279-1368 AD
You might think that the invasion of the Mongols in 1279 AD would have killed off a lot of artists and there wouldn't be much good art during this time, but that's not true. Or, you might think that Chinese artists would begin to paint in a more Mongol style, but that's not what happened either. Actually traditional painting continued at a very high level throughout this time. Artists went right on drawing landscapes, although people became more important in the landscapes than they had been under the Sung Dynasty. Artists also began to pay a lot of attention to different kinds of brushstrokes and the surface of paintings.
Still-life painting of objects like flowers also remained important, or even got more important.
At this time, a lot of rich men painted pictures, men who wanted to show how artistic and well-educated they were.
Pottery also continued to develop during the Yuan dynasty.
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To find out more about Yuan Dynasty art, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, by Jessica Rawson and others (1996). Rawson is a curator at the British Museum, and she uses the collection of the British Museum to illustrate this book. Library Journal calls it "easily the best introductory overview of Chinese art to appear in years".
Art in China (Oxford History of Art Series), by Craig Clunas (1997). Not specifically for kids, but a good introduction to the spirit of Chinese art. Warning: this one is not arranged in chronological order. Instead, it has chapters on sculpture, calligraphy, and so on.
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