An artistic phenomenon in China from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s where some artists attempted to bring the spirit and aesthetics of traditional literati paintings back to life in the face of western influence on most contemporary art currents in China as well as the theoretical circles’ all-out assault on ‘tradition’. From 1989 to 1997, New Literati artists held annual exhibitions, each with a classical conceptual theme. While the phenomenon represented the desire to revive traditional civilization after it was ravaged by social and political change, few New Literati artists are considered to have surpassed older masters in terms of artistic achievements.
