本书是美国著名中国现代美术史学者安雅兰1998年在纽约古根海姆博物馆策划的大型展览“危机中的一个世纪:20世纪中国艺术中的现代与传统”的展览图录。该展览试图对一个世纪以来的中国艺术作一次概括性的回顾和总结。在书中作者把现当代中国美术划分为四个时期，即“中国画的革新，1850一1950";“现代主义者，1920-1950";“新中国艺术，1950-1980";以及“传统的改造，1980至今”，并分别描述和分析了各个时期的风格特点以及其时代特征。

Between 1850 and today, China has undergone an unprecedented series of shocks and transformations. This dramatic period -- which has seen urban industrialization, conquest by foreign powers, civil wars, changing governments, and, more recently, a gradual opening to the international community -- has also marked an explosion of artistic experimentation and innovation. Spanning 150 spectacular years of artistic production, A Century in Crisis -- which accompanied a landmark exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum SoHo in early 1998 -- offers the first systematic exploration of modern and contemporary Chinese art.

Essays by leading scholars show the ways in which Chinese artists have grappled with modernity, tradition, self-definition, and the adoption and rejection of Western conventions. Sumptuous colorplates showcase a dazzling array of achievements -- including Shanghai School paintings, modern calligraphy, commercial art, 1920s and '30s woodblock prints, modern guohua (traditional ink and color paintings), socialist realist paintings, and other contemporary works.