Europeans introduced oil paintings to the Chinese. The Chinese and eastern ancient tradition has always been the use of ink or water color.
Oil paintings, however, remained a curiosity and novelty to the Chinese. Chinese oil paintings became popular because Europeans wanted things that were Asian or Chinese such as Chinoiserie, which is now a popular type of antique.
When the market for oriental oil paintings was established, it was not really for the Chinese but for European traders and travelers to China.
Oil paintings by the Chinese came from the demand of anything Asian in Europe. "Hongs," European and American factories, were often the subject matter of these Chinese paintings.
Three different types of painting techniques were used: water color, reverse glass painting and oil painting. Landscapes and portraits dominated Chinese paintings. Chinese paintings were mostly imaginary scenes with military and civilian subjects and imaginary scenes of palaces and Imperial gardens.
What differentiated oil paintings from their traditional Chinese counterparts was the use of Western techniques, especially in perspective.
After the mid-nineteenth century, there was a decline in the market for Chinese paintings mainly due to the introduction of the camera to Asia. Another reason was that Chinoiserie was out of fashion and China was thought of as a weak and backward nation.
Another reason was because of the decline of the Imperial state. Very little Chinese paintings were made since the end of the Qing Dynasty. Only in the last quarter of the twentieth century was there a renewal of interest in Chinese paintings done in oil seen.
Many old Chinese and eastern oil paintings are easy to find in Asian art galleries worldwide.
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