Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), ALISHAN IN OBLIQUE SUNRISE, 1980, 24.25” x 52.25”
In April, a painting by Chinese artist Zhang Daqian that was estimated to sell at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong for $8 million sold for $35 million to Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian, who just announced he will build a third art museum in … Continue reading
Xu Bing, Book from the Sky, 1987-1991, Ink on Paper, Photo by Sally Whitman Coleman.
Contemporary Chinese artist Xu Bing’s groundbreaking work of art, Book from the Sky, currently is on view at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX. Belonging to a group of artists who emerged from the Cultural Revolution with an … Continue reading
Ma Yuan, Album leaf, A Mountain Path in Spring, c. 1190, silk painted page, 10.8
The Chinese court painter Ma Yuan explored the relationship between landscape painting and poetry. A Mountain Path in Spring depicts a scholar communing with nature. He stops for a moment to feel the breeze and watch a bird as it takes flight. He twists his beard as … Continue reading
Duan Jianyu, Detail of Beautiful Dream 4, 2008, Ink on cardboard, 23 1/2 × 20 in., Sigg Collection, Hong Kong, Photo by pburka via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 License.
Currently on view through April 6th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the fascinating exhibition, “Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China.” All of the works of art exhibited continue the Chinese artistic tradition of using pen and … Continue reading
Guo Xi , Early Spring, 1072, ink on silk, 62.3” × 42.6”, National Palace Museum, Taipei City, Taiwan, Photo in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Floating Perspective (noun) Floating Perspective is the name for the type of perspective sometimes used in Chinese art where there is not a single view of a subject but rather several shown at the same time, shifting from near to … Continue reading
Wang Ximeng, Detail of A Thousand Li of River, 1113, ink on silk, 2’ x 39’ (full scroll size), Palace Museum, Palace Museum, The Forbidden City, Beijing, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Wang Ximeng was a prodigy artist working in China during the Northern Song Dynasty during the early twelfth century. He painted his masterpiece, A Thousand Li of River, a long landscape scroll painting, when he was only eighteen years old in … Continue reading
© 2012 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
One year ago today, China’s most famous artist, Ai Weiwei, was released from eighty-one days of detention with the Chinese government. Theoretically, the government will return his passport today. If they do, it is not clear if he will be … Continue reading
Wenbi Pagoda in Changzou, 10th century, wood, Changzou, China, Photo by Jakub Hałun, Creative Commons Attribution License via Wikimedia Commons.
Pagoda (noun) A pagoda is a tiered building with multiple eaves found most commonly in the Far East. More often than not, a pagoda is a religious building used for the practice of Buddhism. The Wenbi Pagoda in Changzhou, built … Continue reading
Qi Baishi, Cicada, c. 1950
The Chinese artist, Qi Baishi (1864-1957), created the most expensive painting sold in the world last year. His Eagle Standing on a Pine Tree with Four-character Couplet in Seal Script, which he painted in 1946, sold for $65 million. The … Continue reading