Chinese Paintings from Japanese Collections
This is the first major exhibition in the United States to explore the story of Chinese paintings in Japan over the course of six hundred years, featuring nearly forty masterpieces of the Tang (618–906), Song (960–1279), Yuan (1260–1368), and Ming (1368–1644) dynasties. Most of these paintings, owned by Japanese museums, have never been displayed outside of Japan.
The exhibition demonstrates Japan’s role in preserving a large part of China’s cultural and artistic heritage during three key phases in Japanese history: the Kamakura and Muromachi period (14th–16th centuries); the Edo period (17th–19th centuries); and the Meiji, Taish?, and early Sh?wa periods (early 20th century). Chinese paintings functioned in Japan as symbols of Chinese culture, indicators of social status, and models for styles of Japanese painting, such as Zen and Kan? School painting.
Due to the light-sensitive nature of the works of art in this exhibition, the exhibition takes place in two parts.
Part I May 11–June 1, 2014
Part II June 7–July 6, 2014
The exhibition will be closed to the public June 2–6 to accommodate the change in the selection of works on view.
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This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was made possible in part by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Blakemore Foundation. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
LACMA is grateful for the special cooperation of the Tokyo National Museum.
Additional support is provided by Bonhams.
Image: Liang Kai, China, The Poet Li Bai Chanting a Poem on a Stroll, Southern Song dynasty, 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Tokyo National Museum, Important Cultural Property, image courtesy of TNM Image Archive.
A Curators Point of View
In one painting, a dragon’s powerful body writhes in space as it hurtles through clouds and mist. In another, a Zen master leans on his pet tiger; both the monk and the tiger are sound asleep. In a third, two Zen eccentrics sit on the exposed roots of a pine tree and cackle with laughter in a mountain forest. Dating to the 13th and 14th centuries, these three paintings are among the many masterpieces included in the first...
