Learning to Paint in Premodern China

This painting bears a signature of Ma Xingzu, a member of the Imperial Painting Academy under Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127–62), first emperor of the Southern Song. Ma was the second painter from his famed artistic family to serve at the Song court. His father, Ma Fen, was in the Painting Academy of Emperor Huizong (reigned 1101–25), while his son Ma Shirong, his grandson Ma Yuan, and his great-grandson Ma Lin all served as artists at the Southern Song court (1127–1279). Ma Yuan’s and Ma Lin’s works are on view nearby.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

This painting offers a stolen glimpse into a quiet, personal moment. An elegantly dressed man leans on a balustrade as his assistant waits dutifully by his side. Framed by the branches of an old pine, the man appears lost in thought as he looks into a stream. The artist, Ma Yuan, was the preeminent painter at the court of Emperor Ningzong of the Southern Song dynasty and especially under the patronage of his empress, Yang Meizi. He passed his style and status on to his son Ma Lin.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Like his father Ma Yuan, Ma Lin worked primarily in small formats, especially fans and albums. In this work, Ma Lin followed his father’s compositional approach: filling one corner of the composition, he left the upper left of the silk surface untouched save for the full moon that illuminates the scene. While the image can stand on its own, it might originally have been part of a series of related images in a multi-leaf album.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Like his father and grandfather before him, Liu Jie made paintings for the Ming dynasty imperial court. This painting possesses the combination of legibility, technical finesse, and immense scale that the emperors required, and it would have been at home in one of the palatial spaces of the Forbidden City in Beijing, where Liu worked. The abundance of fish, the blossoming narcissus, and the flourishing sheaf of grain all work in concert to create an image of harmony and abundance well-suited to the emperor’s vision of his realm.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Xia Gui served the Southern Song court in the early years of the thirteenth century. Like his colleague Ma Yuan, Xia produced small, gem-like landscapes that suited the court’s taste, but where Ma favored subtly graded washes of color, Xia sought infinite variety within the gradations of monochrome ink and often employed chunkier brushstrokes. On this album leaf, Xia suggests layers of atmospheric mist through carefully calibrated differences in ink tone, evoking a world of mystery and vastness within a tiny piece of silk. Like many court artists, Xia trained his son, Xia Sen, as a painter.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Although this painting bears the spurious signature of Xia Gui, the undisputed master of landscape painting in the Song Imperial Painting Academy, its motifs, brushwork, and palette relate it to the work of Ma Yuan, Xia's contemporary and the other leading
Song Academy master. Images of caves and grottoes have rich associations involving their role as possible access points to Daoist paradises. The use of such imagery here may imply an escapist wish to leave behind the cares of the mundane world.

The Southern Song artist, eschewing the Northern Song monumental landscape traditions of "a hundred peaks and ten thousand trees," viewed nature through the microcosm of a single pair of trees and one or two rocks suspended in an infinite void. In this scene of unbounded space, vigorous wet-ink lines and dots against broad flat sweeps of ink wash define forms with startling boldness.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

This sweet vase features a typical ceramic form decorated with archaic-style bronze motifs. Its form is in a manner that resembles top-quality celadon vessels from the Southern Song dynasty. The broad band of stylized dragon interlace encircling the vessel’s belly is derived from 5th–4th century. B.C. bronze models, but its treatment is much bolder. Such décor also can be found on an excavated piece, which helps to securely date this vessel to the 12th or 13th century. The successful combination of ceramic form and bronze décor demonstrates the creative fusion of contemporary form and function with an antique medium and decoration.

Yan Ciyu and his brother Yan Ciping learned to paint from their father Yan Zhong, who painted in the courts of Emperors Huizong and Gaozong of the Song dynasty. Following in their father’s footsteps, Ciyu and Ciping went on to paint for Emperor Xiaozong in the 1160s. Because there is no signature on this painting, its attribution must be made on the basis of style alone. While some have argued that its style resembles that of Ciping, the scholar and Met curator Wen Fong attributed it to his brother, Yan Ciyu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

For an elite family, one way to cultivate an artistic tradition was to build a collection of ancient paintings that could serve as a resource for teaching across generations. Wang Jian was fortunate to be born into such a family—his grandfather Wang Shizhen possessed one of the great art collections of his day, which gave the younger Wang the opportunity to learn firsthand from the old masters.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Collecting important old paintings was one way for an elite family to build a tradition around the creation and appreciation of art. This painting by Guo Xi, one of the eleventh-century’s leading landscape painters, was already considered a rare treasure in the sixteenth century, when the prominent collector Wang Shizhen (1526–1590) acquired it. Wang’s grandson Wang Jian (1609–1677/88) was nurtured on this collection in his youth, and his love of old paintings fueled his original creations for the rest of his life.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Wang Yuanqi’s talent was fostered by his grandfather Wang Shimin, who possessed a significant collection of old paintings and who was himself taught by Dong Qichang, the leading painter-theorist-collector of the late Ming dynasty. In this painting, made late in his life, Wang Yuanqi displays his mastery of the art historical tradition by creating a highly original homage to a famous eight-century painting by Wang Wei. In his calligraphic colophon, appended at the end of the scroll, he acknowledges the importance of his grandfather’s training to his own development as an artist.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

Wang Yuanqi was tutored in painting by his grandfather Wang Shimin, who, in turn, transmitted the ideas of his teacher, Dong Qichang. But where the elder Wang’s systematic approach tended to flatten some of Dong’s quirkiness, the younger Wang showed an understanding of Dong’s interest in unusual shapes and intense juxtapositions of solid and void, both of which are in evidence here. According to the artist’s inscription, this painting was inspired by a blue-green landscape by Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) that belonged to his family’s collection.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

According to a colophon appended to this scroll, the painting was begun by Shen Zhou, the leading figure of fifteenth-century Suzhou artistic circles, and finished decades later by his student Wen Zhengming. As a young man, Wen studied with Shen, who was more than forty years Wen’s elder, and after Shen’s death, Wen regularly wrote of his grief for his mentor. When he was shown this apparently unfinished painting in 1546, thirty-five years after losing his teacher, Wen undertook its completion with full humility, stating, “The composition was already fully realized, but the dotting and washing had not been completed. I, his student, have now finished it. But considering my clumsy effort, this is really like a crow’s foot attempting to embellish a sable’s tail!”

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Although he was a gifted scholar, Shen Zhou did not pursue the typical scholar’s path of making a career as a government official. He remained in his native Suzhou, where he wrote poetry, painted, collected art, and engaged in religious practice. The choice to eschew service made Shen a living model of reclusion, and many celebrated his choice as a sign of his righteousness. Among his many admirers in Suzhou, his most famous student Wen Zhengming went on to become the central figure of the sixteenth century.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Yao Shou, a native of Jiaxing, was friendly with several key figures of the Suzhou scholar-artist scene during the latter half of the fifteenth century, especially Shen Zhou. Like Shen, Yao admired the bold, frank manner of Wu Zhen, a fourteenth-century painter—also from Jiaxing—whose brushwork he emulates in this painting.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Though this work bears a fake signature of a thirteenth-century artist, its style places it in sixteenth-century Suzhou, among the students of Zhou Chen.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In sixteenth-century China, courtesans played an active role in elite society. Extensive literary education was relatively rare among women, and even those fortunate enough to receive it almost never had the chance to display their gifts in public. Courtesans, by contrast, were celebrated for their talents in literature, painting, and music, and they participated in scholarly gatherings. Ma Shouzhen was one of the most famous of these; she mixed freely with the literary luminaries of Suzhou and Nanjing and carried on a long-term romance with the poet Wang Zhideng. Because of her fame, Ma’s paintings were much copied; this is likely one such homage, made in the generation or two after her death.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Wen Zhengming was one of the key cultural figures in sixteenth-century Suzhou—a respected poet, calligrapher, and painter whose taste had a profound effect on his time and place. As a young man, Wen studied with the great Shen Zhou. While Wen revered his teacher’s boldness, he also brought his own sensibility to painting, pursuing a more polished, meticulous manner, which is evident in this painting. Wen’s own students and descendants also developed this finer style.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

This painting, made by Wen Jia for Xiang Yuanbian on the occasion of his fifty-third birthday, reflects the friends’ shared passion for art history. Wen, the second son of the celebrated polymath and art collector Wen Zhengming, grew up surrounded by important works of painting and calligraphy collected by his father and grandfather. Xiang was a scholarly merchant who devoted his life to amassing one of the greatest collections in the empire. The two men seated on the mat could well represent Wen and Xiang; each has brought a bundle of paintings to share with his companion.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In a thatch-roofed pavilion next to a rock by the water’s edge, two scholars sit engrossed in conversation. Behind them, an assistant fans a brazier, heating water for tea. A grove of ancient trees rises around them, the foliage a blaze of autumn colors. The mountains in the distance enclose the scholars’ moment of reclusion within a safe and placid haven. Born in Anhui, Ding Yunpeng spent formative years in Suzhou, where he became friendly with students and descendants of Wen Zhengming; this early work reflects his knowledge of the gentle palette and soft, meticulous texturing used by Wen and his followers.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Beneath towering evergreens, two scholars converse at the water’s edge, attended by assistants. A scene of verdant peaks rising from the banks of a river stretches backward from the figures, evoking a world untouched by any other human presence. This work by Hou Maogong, who received training in the circle of Wen Zhengming, shows the artist’s command of the narrow landscape hanging scroll rendered in light blues and greens—a classic type in the Wen family canon. At the same time, through diminishing scale, Hou creates a sense of three-dimensionality in the landscape that appears to reflect his own interests.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18–July 16, 2023

Xiang Shengmo grew up surrounded by the art collection amassed by his grandfather, Xiang Yuanbian, one of the preeminent collectors of painting and calligraphy in Chinese history. He saw these treasures early and often, and by the time he began to paint, the styles of the old masters were ingrained in his hand and mind. His training was deepened by interaction with those who came to study the collection, including the peerless Dong Qichang (1555–1636). In this album, which features the artist’s poetry paired with his paintings, he does not identify specific old-master styles by name, but the diversity of manners reflects the encyclopedic knowledge afforded by his fortunate upbringing. There is no doubt that Xiang expected knowledgeable viewers of his day to recognize subtle references to famous styles and even specific paintings.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Tang Yin was one of the most talented and versatile artists of sixteenth-century Suzhou. After early success in the official examinations, he was dismissed from office due to scandal in 1498; returning home to Suzhou without further prospects for a career in government, he devoted himself to a career in the arts, especially painting. Tang was capable of painting in the spare, scholarly tone of his friends Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming (whose works are on view in the previous gallery), but he could also paint in the manner you see here, with the polish and finesse of a professional painter. In this particularly fine example of Tang’s meticulous mode, he uses carefully calibrated ink washes and precise brushwork to create a transporting vision of figures moving through a forbidding mountainscape.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Zhou Chen was a professional painter who lived and worked in Suzhou during the time of Wen Zhengming. Little is known about Zhou’s life—unlike the scholar Wen and his friends, professional artists like Zhou did not publish autobiographical writings, and little was written about them—but paintings like this one reveal an extremely assured hand that combines the polished atmospherics of court painting with a gentle touch that might have appealed to scholars of the day. Zhou’s influence on the Suzhou painting scene was expanded through his students Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, both of whom mixed with the circle of Wen Zhengming.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Qiu Ying was a professional painter who lived and worked in Suzhou during the city’s flourishing sixteenth century. At the time, social divisions between educated elites and professional painters could sometimes be difficult to cross, but Qiu Ying managed to mix with the circle of Wen Zhengming despite the fact that he did not share their extensive literary training. This painting of a woman in a bamboo grove typifies Qiu’s ability to paint with polished, meticulous brushwork while still maintaining the atmosphere of understated elegance that appealed to his scholarly friends.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In 1679, publishers Shen Xinyu and Li Yu printed the first edition of the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Produced in five volumes, it included sections on technique, trees, rocks, figures, and reproductions of works by famous painters. Nanjing painter Wang Gai was chosen to illustrate the book, and he did so by adapting a painting primer from an earlier artist. For an aspiring painter without access to a collection of their own, the Mustard Seed Manual and others like it were invaluable resources, as they offered a glimpse into the elite training available to painters of privilege. While numerous painting manuals found favor in China, Korea, and Japan, none had so great an impact as the Mustard Seed Manual, which was widely reproduced and disseminated.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In 1679, publishers Shen Xinyu and Li Yu printed the first edition of the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Produced in five volumes, it included sections on technique, trees, rocks, figures, and reproductions of works by famous painters. Nanjing painter Wang Gai was chosen to illustrate the book, and he did so by adapting a painting primer from an earlier artist. For an aspiring painter without access to a collection of their own, the Mustard Seed Manual and others like it were invaluable resources, as they offered a glimpse into the elite training available to painters of privilege. While numerous painting manuals found favor in China, Korea, and Japan, none had so great an impact as the Mustard Seed Manual, which was widely reproduced and disseminated.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In 1679, publishers Shen Xinyu and Li Yu printed the first edition of the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Produced in five volumes, it included sections on technique, trees, rocks, figures, and reproductions of works by famous painters. Nanjing painter Wang Gai was chosen to illustrate the book, and he did so by adapting a painting primer from an earlier artist. For an aspiring painter without access to a collection of their own, the Mustard Seed Manual and others like it were invaluable resources, as they offered a glimpse into the elite training available to painters of privilege. While numerous painting manuals found favor in China, Korea, and Japan, none had so great an impact as the Mustard Seed Manual, which was widely reproduced and disseminated.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In 1679, publishers Shen Xinyu and Li Yu printed the first edition of the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Produced in five volumes, it included sections on technique, trees, rocks, figures, and reproductions of works by famous painters. Nanjing painter Wang Gai was chosen to illustrate the book, and he did so by adapting a painting primer from an earlier artist. For an aspiring painter without access to a collection of their own, the Mustard Seed Manual and others like it were invaluable resources, as they offered a glimpse into the elite training available to painters of privilege. While numerous painting manuals found favor in China, Korea, and Japan, none had so great an impact as the Mustard Seed Manual, which was widely reproduced and disseminated.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In 1679, the author Li Yu published a primer for aspiring landscape painters called the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, and he commissioned the versatile painter Wang Gai to provide designs for the illustrations. The first edition features volumes on the components of landscape painting—trees, rocks, and human figures—with instructions on how to draw different types of each. It also includes two volumes of landscapes in the styles of old masters, which show readers how to transform what they have learned into their own historically minded compositions.

The manual transmitted the fashion for studying old masters' styles beyond the rarified elite circles that had given rise to the practice, and it went on to become the most widely used introduction to painting not only in China, but in Korea and Japan as well. Subsequent editions added flowers as a subject and expanded sections on human figures. It remains in use today across the world.

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is one of the earliest and finest examples of color printing from China. The book, which served as both luxury object and guide for the aspiring painter, compiles familiar images from Chinese art, especially flowers, rocks, birds, and bamboo.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Yuan Yao’s towering Inn and Travelers in Snowy Mountains envelops the viewer in a scene of frost-covered northern mountains. Yuan was a professional painter from Yangzhou, a commercial city located on the Grand Canal just north of the Yangzi River in Jiangsu Province, and he belonged to a workshop that produced heroic images of nature’s majesty for lavish interior spaces.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

This album contains paintings by Wang Hui and four of his students. In 1692, Wang was organizing a major imperial commission to commemorate the Kangxi emperor’s 1689 Southern inspection tour, a visit to the empire’s south. As the workshop master, Wang had to find worthy assistants, and this collaborative piece seems to have played a role in the selection, as the four students who worked on this album would go on to assist with the Southern Inspection Tour handscrolls. Each leaf is painted in the manner of a different old master; together, the album expresses Wang Hui’s and his students’ mastery of the landscape painting tradition.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024

Wang Yuanqi was fortunate to be born the grandson of the great collector, scholar, painter, and calligrapher Wang Shimin. As a child, Wang Yuanqi was taught art history by his grandfather directly from paintings in the family collection. At first, the child copied what he saw, but as he grew more confident, he developed his own style infused with what he had learned through careful observation. In this painting, he pays homage to two painters of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), working in his own style while simultaneously revealing his knowledge of the past.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In his youth, Wang Shimin studied with Dong Qichang, from whom he inherited a zeal for the study of old masters. Building on Dong’s theories, Wang later became one of the founders of the so-called Orthodox School. To this group, no painter was considered more orthodox than the master Huang Gongwang of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Here, Wang emulates Huang’s use of ropy brushstrokes to texture the hillsides and overlapping horizontal dots to depict trees and rocks.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Wang Jian learned to paint from Dong Qichang, and he proudly carried forth Dong’s championing of particular landscape styles. The style of the late Yuan-dynasty painter Huang Gongwang (1269–1354) was a favorite for Dong and his followers, as it allowed for virtuoso displays of technique, especially the sensitive layering of subtly varied tonalities of ink to build up landscape forms. This painting demonstrates Wang’s mastery of the manner—each finely applied layer of rich, silvery ink is legible despite the density of the composition.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Zhu Angzhi inscribed this fan for the painter Shen Xuan, his contemporary, with one simple line: “After the brush-concept of Wang Meng’s [ca. 1308–1385] Clearing Dawn over Summer Mountains.” Had Zhu not written this, his friend would still have been able to identify the stylistic reference to the famous Yuan-dynasty painter thanks to the combination of two features: precarious leaning peaks and “hemp-fiber” strokes that provide a ropy texture. These elements were codified as essential to Wang Meng’s style as early as the Ming dynasty.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

As a youth, Wang Xuehao studied with a grandson of Wang Yuanqi, who trained him in the elements that made the elder Wang’s manner so beloved: loose dotting, bold interplays of solid and void, and a studied awkwardness of line that somehow never departed from elegance. Wang Xuehao, like his mentors before him, was particularly interested in the fourteenth-century painter Huang Gongwang, whose manner he interprets here.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

C. C. Wang spent a lifetime engaging with the history of Chinese painting. As a young man in Republican-period China, he studied painting and connoisseurship with the leading scholar-painter Wu Hufan, and after moving to the United States he continued to develop as a collector, artist, and mentor to many in the field. This painting, made when Wang was in his eighties, refers to the style of Fan Kuan (active ca. 990–1030), but the bold blocks of color and ink wash also reflect Wang’s concerted engagement with modern art.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

This evocative vignette is signed by a certain Lu Kezheng, an obscure artist who has gone unrecorded in histories of Chinese painting. Centering the composition on the lower half of the fan, Lu left the top shrouded in mist, creating a feeling of suspense by withholding a view into the far distance. The painting is dated according to the sixty-year cycle of the premodern Chinese calendar, so it is not possible to know whether it was made in 1591 or sixty years later in 1651, although the latter seems more likely based on its style.

A seated, red-robed figure with fingernails so long they curl around his hands. A stoic, squashed-face monk levitating across the ocean on a magical two-wheeled vehicle. A wizened man who has meditated for so long and with such focus that a cypress tree has grown around his body. These are luohans, disciples of the Buddha who stayed behind on this earth after their teacher’s extinction to protect the teachings. Painting these figures with exaggerated—even grotesque—features is a tradition that goes back to the Tang-dynasty painter Guanxiu (832–912). Here, Wu Bin, one of the most original painters in Chinese history and a student of Guanxiu’s luohans, transforms the Guanxiu tradition into his own, adding a sparkle of humor to the past master’s exaggerated manner.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Growing up in and around Buddhist monasteries, the young artist Shitao would have seen many images of luohans, disciples of the Buddha who remained on earth after his extinction to safeguard the Buddhist teachings. Luohans were often depicted as exaggerated, silly, or even grotesque figures—this is the tradition of Guanxiu (832–912)—but in this work Shitao follows another tradition, that of Li Gonglin (ca. 1041–1106), in which the artist strives to imbue the figures with a sense of understated humanity. This celebrated masterwork was painted when Shitao was in his twenties; according to an inscription by his cousin, Mei Qing, it took him over a year to complete.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

Of the many luohan painters throughout Chinese history, none was more influential than the Buddhist monk Guanxiu (832–912), whose wild caricatures inspired generations of artists to depict luohans as exotic, superhuman beings. Guanxiu’s paintings were already considered rare in 1757, when the Qianlong emperor encountered what he believed to be an authentic set in a monastery in Hangzhou. To preserve their appearance, the emperor commissioned copies and had them carved in stone so that rubbings like these could be made. The original paintings are now lost, making these copies some of the most important surviving evidence of Guanxiu’s style. Wu Bin, whose handscroll is on view nearby, was directly inspired by Guanxiu.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

In 1757, the Qianlong emperor visited the Shengyin Monastery in Hangzhou and saw a set of sixteen luohan paintings attributed to Guanxiu (832–912), a monk-artist renowned for his eccentric depictions of Buddhist adepts. The emperor fell in love with the paintings and commissioned responses in various media, including jade carvings like this one. The figure’s posture and feather fan suggest the luohan Gopaka.

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024

On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024