Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on February 18, 2023, Learning to Paint in Premodern China will consider the underexplored question of how painters learned their craft in premodern China. Some painters learned at home, from parents or relatives for whom painting was a shared language of familial communication. Others learned from friends or painting manuals and treatises that expanded the knowledge of painting. For many, the past was the greatest teacher, and careful study of ancient paintings allowed them to connect with previous master painters as they sought their own artistic voice. Through important artworks, this exhibition highlights both the many ways people at this time learned to paint and the human stories behind the artworks.
This exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
The exhibition is organized in four sections that explore different pathways to learning: Learning from Family, Learning from Friends, Learning from Manuals, and Learning from the Past. Presented in two installations, the exhibition features over 80 works, drawn largely from The Met collection.
Highlights of the first installation (February 18–July 2, 2023) include Orchid and Rock; Bamboo, a joint handscroll by Zhao Mengfu and Guan Daosheng, a renowned artist couple of the late 13th century, from a private collection. A landscape handscroll titled The Humble Hermit of Clouds and Woods, by Zhao and Guan’s grandson Wang Meng, also from a private collection, will be shown nearby, along with The Simple Retreat, a treasured work by the same artist from The Met collection. Learning to Paint will also mark the debut display of Streams and Mountains without End, a heretofore unknown masterpiece by Wang Yuanqi that was recently designated a promised gift to The Met by the family of Lo Chia-lun.
The second installation (July 31, 2023–January 7, 2024) will feature Guo Xi’s celebrated late 11th century handscroll painting Old Trees, Level Distance; Wang Yuanqi’s 1711 masterpiece Wangchuan Villa; and Shitao’s ambitious early work, Sixteen Luohans.
Credits
Learning to Paint in Premodern China is organized by Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, the Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang Associate Curator of Chinese Paintings in the Department of Asian Art.
The exhibition is featured on The Met website as well as on social media using the hashtag #MetChineseArt.
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February 8, 2023
Contact: Stella Kim
Communications@metmuseum.org
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