Ann Massing's new book, West Meets East in East Asian Brush Paintings, combines decades of experience in restoration to provide a unique and beautiful insight into the world of East Asian art.

Initially trained in the traditions of Western art, following a trip to China in 1986, she began doing East Asian painting in the literati style (painting by scholar-artists) and have been using the Four Treasures (brush, paper, ink and ink stone) ever since. Her current work using the traditional Chinese painting materials is a synergy of East and West in inspiration, materials and techniques.

In Western painting, an artist’s individuality and innovative practices are often what arouses a positive response and prestige by the artistic audience. In the East, the transmission received from the teacher to the student is believed essential. One’s teacher is honoured and lineage is important. Her teacher, Peter Cavaciuti, was her first important link to appreciating traditional Chinese art. While visiting Beijing in 2006 with her husband, Jean-Michel Massing, who was lecturing on aspects of the relationship between Western and Chinese art at Tsinghua University, the Xu Beihong Museum was an essential visit for her as Xu Beihong (1895-1953) could be considered in some sense a great-grandfather. He taught Professor Fei Cheng Wu (1911-2000) who in turn taught Peter. Ann never met Mr Fei (as Peter called him), although he lived in Finchley in north London from 1946 until his death and Peter often visited him and spoke to Ann of his visits. Xu Beihong had studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris after World War 1, and his ink paintings, especially his painting sof horses,a re his best known images. Mr Fei painted in traditional Chinese style as did his wife, Chang Chien-Ying (1913-2014). Peter learned from him the traditional way of Chinese painting from the start.

However, she was well trained in the art of the West before her introduction to Eastern art. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Art History and Fine Art from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana’ she also studied Art History in Strasbourg, France and took classes in drawing at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under François Cacheux (1923-2011). Thus she first studied Western Art, and her subsequent career as a painting restorer was all based in Western art.

During her career as a painting restorer, she kept the creative flame alive by practising life drawing and then with Peter’s classes in East Asia brush painting. It was rare that she would miss the eekly class. The use of watercolour instead of oils and the opportunity to be creative and spontaenous was a healthy contrast to her work as a painting conservator. Now that she has retired, she continues these and has added printmaking to her activities.

While Peter’s sessions provided an initial exposure to ink painting techniques and the history of Chinese art, they also provided her with a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and philosophy. This awareness is critical when viewing Chinese painting against the norms of the Western art world because a shift in focus is required to appreciate the artistic achievements of the major artists of a different tradition.

Her artwork today has become a fusion of the artistic techniques and aesthetics from both the East and the West. Sometimes she consciously tries to work in a traditional technique, but usually end up breaking at least one rule before she finishes. At other times, she allows her ‘painterly skills’ to decide her technique, but ends up by referring to one of the ‘rules’ of traditional Chinese painting to make her own painting work. Mostly, however, she does not think consciously of the techniques she could be using when she is concentrating on an image but simply on its expression – which of course depends on how she is feeling about that image in that moment and the materials she has to hand.

Please note that the book is bilingual, and it is printed in both English and French.

After having studied art history and fine art at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, and then at Strasbourg University in France, the author trained as a painting restorer at the Institut für Technologie der Malerei in Stuttgart, Germany, becoming Diplom Restorator in 1978. She was Assistant to the Director at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge from 1978 to 2007 where she was a painting restorer and taught painting restoration. She edited several books for the Hamilton Kerr Institute mainly on the history of European painting materials and techniques and wrote her own book on the restoration of paintings in France in the eighteenth century before she began developing her own artistic interests.

The second publication about Ann’s paintings began as a small brochure that she printed for the visitors to her studio and her exhibition at King’s College, Cambridge, in 2019.

The information presented here about traditional East Asian painting was initially for those who came to view her artwork, to give some explanation about the images displayed and why she was painting in a style that was not of her own culture. The brochures disappeared rapidly, so during the long months of lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic, she revisited what she had written and then, with the encouragement of Zilan Wang, Director of Cam Rivers Publisihing, added the interview.

We extend our sincere appreciation to the following teams for their substantial contributions to the editing, design, and management of this book.

Honorary Editor: Professor Alan Macfarlane FBA
Editor-in-Chief: Zilan Wang
Editors: Chloe Marschner, Yuchen Qin, Levente Koroes, Yue Li
Design and Typeset: Yubin Qin (MUYE Studio)

Book Design © Cam Rivers Publishing

The publishing of this book is supported by the Vanishing Worlds Foundation, Cam Rivers Academy and the Cambridge Asian Culture Society.

ISBN: 978-1-916858-07-7