常書鴻於1936年歸國時意興風發，似乎正是一位前途不可限量的成功畫家。但中日戰爭爆發，改變了許多人的命運。常書鴻於1942年赴敦煌，將餘生奉獻給敦煌壁畫的保存與研究。從某方面來說，常書鴻同時也淡出中國畫壇，在中國現代繪畫史上幾乎未曾扮演重要角色。常書鴻藝術生涯的轉變，除了受中國戰爭環境的動亂、生活困難、藝術環境等外圍的變動因素，以及對敦煌藝術的熱愛外，還有一些是來自藝術家個人內在於藝術的根本因素。本論文的目的在探討常書鴻畫藝與風格的養成，以及他在將西方敘事性繪畫移植到中國時所遭遇的困難。筆者相信後者是常書鴻在1942年之後逐漸放棄繪畫的主要原因。 ;Chang Shu-Hong was one of many ambitious Chinese artists who went to Europe between two wars to study western painting. He arrived in France in 1928, began his academic training in Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts at Lyon, hesitated at times between textile design and painting, finally made up his mind to devote himself entirely to art. He went then to Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts at Paris, enrolled in the studio of Paul-Albert Laurens. During his sojourn in France, Chang Shu-Hong was awarded many times, the most remarkable was the prix d’argent won in 1936 at the Salon des Artistes Français, an achievement never equaled by other Chinese artistes.
When Chang Shu-Hong returned to China in 1936, he had all the allure of a successful artist with promising future. But the Sino-Japanese war broke up, disrupted everything. In 1942, Chang Shu-Hong went to Dunhuang, and dedicated the rest of his life to preservation and researches of Dunhuang murals. In a way, though still an excellent painter, Chang Shu-Hong had ceased to play an active role in the history of Chinese modern painting. The reasons for which Chang Shu-Hong abandoned painting after 1942 may have been multiple, but the most important must have been about art itself. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how Chang Shu-Hong had built up his art, and difficulties he encountered in transplanting western narrative painting in China, which at last prevented him from continuing.
