After the opening of Shanghai as a treaty port in 1843,the Bund gradually became the centre of Shanghai port for international commerce.More and more images of the Bund emerged in pictures which depicted the bustling port.These early Bund images,often featured in paintings for ex-port,adopted a standardized compositional style characterized by a linear,planar arrangement.The Huangpu River,the bustling river traffic,and the imposing Western-style architecture along the Bund formed the core elements of these paintings.These paintings integrated Western painting techniques but retained traditional Chinese visual styles.With realistic and representational functions,they depic-ted the historical features and recorded the subtle changes of Shanghai's ocean shipping industry and foreign trade since the opening of the port,showing the unique spatial and cultural landscapes of the Bund.The Bund images exhibit a notable resemblance to the depictions of the Thirteen Hongs in Guangzhou's export paintings from the early 19th century,both in composition and content elements.The convergence of these visual representations underscores the profound impact of the shift in China's foreign trade centre following the opening of the five treaty ports,which not only influenced the paintings for export but also reshaped the cultural landscape of these port cities.
PortShanghaiThe BundImagesExport Paintings of Guangzhou
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