Publication Date: 2018

Publisher: UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art

Binding: Hardcover, 327 pages

Language: English

ISBN: 9789491435515

Hans van Dijk: A Life with Art in China is dedicated to the life and work of Hans van Dijk (b. 1946, the Netherlands) and outlines his seminal role in Chinese contemporary art. Van Dijk—or Dai Hanzhi, as he was called by his Chinese friends—was both a witness and a catalyst in the development of Chinese contemporary art. He was active as a curator, art historian, and gallerist in China from the late 1980s until his death in 2002.

This richly illustrated publication documents the recent history of Chinese contemporary art through the lens of van Dijk’s extraordinary life and work. The book includes never-before-published correspondences between him and artists such as Ding Yi and Huang Yong Ping, over twenty interviews with artists close to van Dijk including Geng Jianyi, Wang Xingwei, and Zhang Peili, historical photographs, and a full-length scholarly essay about the history of Chinese modern and contemporary art by van Dijk.