Humans attempt to gain insights into something new and unknown by making comparisons with already known concepts. The book “Chinese Landscape Painting as Western Art History” offers reflections on Chinese art through the lens of Western art. Such an approach harms both Western and Chinese art. Elkins conducted a qualitative study of a large number of publications authored by leading Western art historians in the 20th century focusing on Chinese art. His analysis of these publications revealed inefficiencies associated with applying the Western art historical method to understand the art of other non-Western cultures. The publications were biased towards descriptions provided by Western art which poorly presented Chinese landscape paintings. Furthermore, the present study of art history has adopted a Westernized point of view in its understanding of unknown art. In the effort to review the book, it is necessary to determine whether the application of Western methods of art analysis is productive and appropriate. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Elkins' ideologies focus on the presentation and understanding of art beyond Western traditions. In the introductory part, the author agrees that using Western art to understand the art of non-Western art history weakens them. As an outsider with little knowledge of the Chinese language and a deeper understanding of Chinese culture, one is deprived of the opportunity to make informed inferences pertinent to Chinese art. The author notes that many Chinese art specialists will consider him to lack the desired basic knowledge about Chinese art, which deprives him of the competence to vividly understand and present Chinese art. The author's premises on the interpretation of Chinese art tend to refute the previous interpretations of art historians. He observes that “The history of Western art is deeply tied to the enterprise of art history itself, so much so that the history of Chinese landscape painting tends to appear as an example or a set of possible examples, and not as a set of coequal examples". in the production or understanding of the history of art itself”. This highlights the insignificance accorded to Chinese art. While the interpretations are assumed to be intended to provide an understanding of Chinese art, they do so without offering significant insights. The history of art is based on a set of rules that guide the comparison between known and unknown artistic styles and periods. However, these rules are heavily skewed towards Western art. When used to provide insights into the artistic styles of non-Western culture such as Chinese art, they fail to accurately present the art. However, the author provides a case for the feasibility and continued use of comparisons with current, originally non-Western art. He observes that “the question is how it is possible, within a given disciplinary practice, to manage the comparisons that continue to give us our art and our history. There is a moral to be drawn, I believe, in not running away from comparisons." This transcript simply advocates using comparisons to gain insights into art that is unfamiliar. He sees it as the only viable and respectful approach to gaining insights into an unknown art. However, it should be conducted in a way that does not imply that the artist concerned and his art are bound by Western culture and its interpretation of art. Furthermore,.
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