Q: Can you talk about when, where and how you joined the Storm Society?
A: The Storm Society was established in Shanghai in 1931. At the time, people like Pang Xunqin and Ni Yide were involved, and they also invited us as well. I was the youngest among them. Since my paintings were relatively avant-garde for the period, they attracted a lot of attention. As a young man, my ideas were fresher. I was also very bold and insisted on painting in my own style.
Pang Xunqin and Ni Yide were well known in the arts-and-culture scene. And I was a young artist, a young man who was quite progressive.
We had a motto: Develop new things and be innovative. Have an independent, artistic spirit. Create yourself. Innovate. Bring out the spirit of the modern era.
Voice over:
In 1931, Pang Xunqin and Zhang Xian, who had studied in France, and Ni Yide, who had studied in Japan, gathered together several young painters, such as Zhou Duo, Duan Pingyou, Yang Qiuren and Yang Taiyang, in preparation for the establishment of an artistic association named the Storm Society. Pang Xunqin had a studio on Luban Road in Shanghai’s French Concession. Actively involved in artistic creation, he was exploring oil painting as a mode of expression. At the same time, he was running an art and design business to support himself financially. A group of young artists who were determined to be innovative, including Qiu Ti, Zhou Duo, Duan Pingyou, Liang Baibo, Li Zhongsheng, Liang Xihong, Zeng Zhiliang, Yang Qiuren and Yang Taiyang, frequented Pang’s studio. Ni Yide, Zhang Xian and Wang Jiyuan were regular visitors as well. There was also Li Baoquan, a writer and an art critic. When gathered together, they had lively discussions about the arts, looked at paintings, and exchanged ideas and experiences together. The atmosphere was intense, indicating a powerful impetus towards innovation that would break from the monotony of the art scene of the time. Pang Xunqin and Ni Yide drafted a declaration, which said: “Let us rise up! With our raging passion and iron intellect, we will create a world interwoven with color, line and form! …We detest all the old forms and colors, as well as all the mediocre and rudimentary techniques. We will represent the spirit of a new era with new techniques. …It is time for a new atmosphere to emerge throughout the 20th-century artistic community of China.”
Q. How did the name Storm Society come about?
A. Well, we came up with the name (Storm Society) together. Storm Society expresses the idea of a stormy wave, something very strong and progressive. This stormy wave came from the sea crashing down on this era. A stormy wave, a very powerful one, had been formed.
Q. How did the members of the Storm Society come to understand the development of European arts? Did you have access to art magazines and publications from Europe?
A. Some of us personally studied in Europe. You could learn about other countries from magazines. Those that didn’t go abroad were reading magazines and art publications. Those that went abroad learned about Europe firsthand. Some of us personally studied in France. I was always looking for current newspapers. I was always looking for new things. I read tons of newspapers and other publications. Some of the painters studied in Paris. We didn’t go abroad and had to learn in China, but others did study abroad.
Q. What artistic goals did the members of the Storm Society hope to achieve?
A. One word, “innovation.” Our overall goal was to make something new, in the direction of modernism. We wanted to break out of the mold of conservatism. Mainly, we wanted innovation. We wanted to create something that expressed our individuality. That’s it. Again, the main goal was innovation. After all, they did study in France. They had been to Japan and France, trying to bring Chinese painting up to date to the modern era. They had a progressive idea. A storm, as powerful as a tidal wave, was crashing down on the era.
Q. What is the significance of the Storm Society?
A. In terms of its significance to China, the Storm Society was one of the earliest artistic organizations to advance forward, to start innovating and to accept new ideas from abroad. It was ahead of its time. People all felt that the Storm Society gang was quite something. They all found the ideas of its members very avant-garde, very contemporary, so people thought highly of it. Society thought highly of it.
Q. What is the influence of the Storm Society on Chinese art at the time and thereafter?
A. The influence of the Storm Society was immense, as it promoted new painting and broke away from the conservative attitude of the time. Mainly, it advocated an innovative spirit that broke from the old framework. It promoted an individualistic approach to art in order to create one’s unique individuality. The influence of this type of thinking was immense, and it did have its effects. At the time, it had a tremendous influence on society and on the art scene in China. The direction that the Storm Society took was to borrow from other nations. We did quite a good job in learning oil painting. Some of us were painting really well. We did it in terms of borrowing from others for our own use. Many talents in oil painting also came out of our group. By mastering new things from other nations, we understood that we should learn from the advancements of other nations, that we should borrow from their art, and that once we had a grasp of these things, we should learn to use them as tools and to take them further with our own strengths. That was the direction we were going. So, the paintings from some members of the society, both the ones who studied abroad and the ones who studied in China, were indeed quite good. They all played good roles. The Storm Society was quite influential at its time.
Q. Did the members of the Storm Society share a certain common style? Were they consciously pursuing a common style? Did you often discuss or argue about this issue?
A. Our ideas were similar. Our thinking was quite similar. Of course, we each had our own achievements. Our individual artistic achievements were different. However, our overall goal was to develop this new wave of thinking, this new wave of artistic thinking, trying to transcend the old and to create a new way of painting. We wanted innovation to express the new artistic spirit of the Chinese. We wanted a type of progress that had a stormy impetus, and that transcended our time. We were all passionate about it, and society at large also paid attention to us. Our works were featured in all kinds of magazines and art publications. We shared a common inclination, which is, in overall terms, our quest for innovation. However, we each followed our own paths and had our own outlook. The members of the Storm Society each had their own temperament, so their styles were all different. But, everybody wanted innovation. The overall spirit was to create something new, each according to his or her ability and artistic training. So, everybody was different in this respect. We didn’t all do the same thing like a herd. We each developed our own individual creativity. We each found our own creative path. We discussed, but didn’t argue. We followed a similar line of thinking, which was to bring about innovations, so we were quite consistent. Our innovative thinking allowed for the borrowing of things foreign. The main thing was that we got to create our own stuff. During that time, the idea was quite clear. So, the magazines and art publications at the time published stories, saying that the Storm Society was an innovative and rather progressive organization. The members of the society had the courage to transcend traditional styles of painting, old ways of painting. They had the courage to break out of traditional control and discouragement and move forward to a new era. Modern painting of the West had an influence on us. We revered the world’s master painters, and had been influenced by them. We learned from them as well. However, we did it in a smart way - not to completely imitate them, but to create something of our own. We considered ourselves to have done well with just a bit of creativity. We didn’t just copy the works of others, right? We had the spirit and the courage to create something new, with our brushes and ink, through our compositions and conceptions. These were what we had. We were following a modern current, a new current, and even that we were trying to transcend by seeking something more innovative.
Q. Were the members of the Storm Society concerned about social and political issues?
A. We were all concerned about our society, which was rather chaotic and backward. So the members of the Storm Society were trying to transcend the spirit of the time through painting. A new, progressive, and revolutionary spirit, reminiscent of the nature of a storm, was to break out of the old era and to create something new.
Of course, we were targeting the backward and conservative thinking of China at the time. That is, we wanted to transcend it, like a stormy wave, like a tidal wave. Our ideas were fresh and bold. We wanted to create something new, something new for our nation. That’s the spirit we had.
We wanted to see progress in the culture and art of China. We all shared this vision: to borrow things from other nations, develop them and transform them into something of our own. We wanted to learn from others in order to create something new for ourselves. Some of the painters were older; others were younger. But we all shared this innovative spirit, and we achieved our goal.
Q. Did you support the motto “Art for Art’s Sake”?
A. We didn’t support the idea of “art for art’s sake.” Our motto was “art for life,” not for art’s sake. Art is for life. We still had to transcend the old society and move forward toward this new idea and new world. Of course, it was inseparable from this era. In overall terms, that was the new spirit. Everyone had his own individuality, but as a group we all moved in the direction representing the era, the advancement and innovation.
Q. What significance does the Storm Society have on your own artistic career?
A. The Storm Society has been very significant to me. As I was an active member, it served as a source of encouragement to me. It gave me more courage to create something new. So, they often said that my paintings were rather avant-garde and bold. Being younger, I was more daring and free and was able to present my ideas boldly. Some people didn’t accept Western influence. I was able to experience Western art for myself and accept Western things. I also knew how to keep our own tradition, how to accept foreign culture and create from it something new. At the time, this idea was quite clear in my mind. When painting, I was very particular about creating new shapes. The form of my painting was rather avant-garde. My style was not that of the academician, but was a new style for the new era. It had a new spirit. I did quite well in sketching, at the time, with a bolder style. I was then quite young. Everybody felt that the spirit behind my paintings was quite good, and that I was imaginative. Being bold and willing to break out of old ways, I always had new material from form to content.
Q. Have you kept any photographs, portfolios or any information from that period?
A. I used to have some. But, gradually, with the coming of the Cultural Revolution, I lost a lot of them. Many of my old things have been lost. I used to paint a lot, as I was one of the hard working painters. I was young, and quite prolific. I accepted new things fast. I am not exaggerating, as I am telling you this.
Q. How do you see the Storm Society today?
A. The Storm Society had a tremendous influence in the past. Indeed, it provided an impetus for innovation, which overturned the conservative ways of painting, and helped painting move in a new direction towards a new era and with a new spirit. It achieved this goal. We should recognize the Storm Society’s inclination. The society accepted new ideas, and exercised its own creativity as well. It also transformed things from other nations into something that the Chinese could use. This spirit was indeed the spirit of innovation.
Voice over:
The Storm Society is the most representative modern painting society in the history of modern Chinese art. To some degree, it can be regarded as a truly unique modern painting society. It had a Manifesto, with a theoretical underpinning. It had a sustained history of artistic output and exhibitions. It presented awards. Its purpose was neither social nor commercial. Artistically, the members of the society were inclined towards the modernist styles after Post-Impressionism. Several of its members persisted for a long time in their pursuit of art. The significance of the Storm Society in the history of modern Chinese art is that it had demonstrated to the Chinese art world how modern art worked, allowing people to see a genuine artistic organization that was non-commercial and non-instructional. Through its pioneering, distinctive pursuit of art, the society raised the status of artistic organizations in Chinese cultural circles.