Exhibition poster (screenshot of the official website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
On July 31, 2021, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York unveiled a new exhibition, "Companionship in Solitude: Seclusion and Elegance in Chinese Art", focusing on the two themes of "Seclusion" and "Art Collection" in Chinese art.
For more than two thousand years, "seclusion" has been regarded as the ideal state of Chinese literati to cultivate themselves and transcend worldly troubles. At the same time, communicating with like-minded people is also considered an important part of life. "Alone" or "Socializing"? It has always been at the heart of the spiritual life of ancient Chinese scholars and artists. In ancient Chinese art, there are many figures who pursue these two paths, and there are also combinations of celebrities and scholars like "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest" that blend the two together.
"Companionship in Solitude: Seclusion and Elegance in Chinese Art" will bring together more than 120 works from the 11th century to the present, including paintings, calligraphy, literati stones, porcelain, jade, furniture and other forms. The exhibition is divided into eight parts: "Forest Spring", "Guiyin", "Fishing Tree", "Mingshi", "Distance", "Garden", "Poetry", and "Elegant Collection", to describe how people find personal space from the world, or try to bridge the gap between themselves and others.
There are many famous works in the exhibition, such as the Southern Song Dynasty Li Jie's "Xisai Fishery Society Map" volume, the Ming Dynasty Wen Zhengming's "Donglin Summer Resort Map" volume, the Ming Dynasty Jiang Song's "Winter Landscape Map" volume, the Qing Dynasty Shi Tao's "Xunxian Landscape Atlas", the Qing Dynasty Wu Li's "Mojing Caotang Summer Elimination Map" volume, etc., while contemporary works include Yu Peng's "Return to Nature" and Li Jin's "Banquet No. 1".
In the view of the curators, after 2020, we are physically isolated, but in fact, everyone is connected as never before, and the exploration of the theme of seclusion and interaction of ancient Chinese people will trigger our current thinking about the relationship between people.
The exhibition is curated by Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, Assistant Director of the Asian Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and sponsored by the Sir Ho Foundation. The works will be exhibited in two phases, the first period is from 2021.7.31 to 2022.1.9, and the second period is from 2022.1.31 to 2022.8.14. (Compilation / Xu Baicheng Pictures are from the official website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Ming Wen Zheng Ming Donglin Summer Resort Picture Volume
This volume presents Wen Zhengming's paintings and three poems. Wen Zhengming's flexible ink color and flowing brushstrokes are reminiscent of Ni Zhan (1301-1374), who spent the trauma of the Yuan Dynasty's later years in a houseboat. The characters on the ship present the image of a scholarly hermit in the midst of sparsely populated nature, who returns to inner peace in the silent landscape.
Qing Shitao (Zhu Ruoji) Xunxian Landscape Atlas
The album is framed in album form, only 15 x 27 cm in size, suitable for placing in sleeves or baggage. Shi Tao painted a variety of scenes suitable for seclusion, such as retreating in the isolated mountains or a grass pavilion by the water, which included two iconic figures of a hermit and a fisherman, one sitting on a bridge with a fishing rod in hand, and the other reclining on a boat.
Southern Song Dynasty Legend Liu Songnian Xishan Snow Intention Volume
This hand scroll presents the stylistic characteristics of the Southern Song Dynasty court painter Liu Songnian. Although the title at the beginning of the scroll attributes the painting to the 11th-century painter Gao Keming, this appears to have been added later. The artist uses side seams to represent the erosion texture of the rock walls and riverbanks, which was improved by Liu Songnian's Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy after learning the Li Tang style.
Ming Zhong Li View Waterfall Chart Axis
The image of this person sitting in front of a waterfall in contemplation may refer to the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai (701-762), whose "Wanglushan Waterfall" is one of the most classic poems in Chinese poetry. The painters have interpreted this subject countless times. Shi Yun: Sunshine incense burner produces purple smoke, and the waterfall hangs on the front river from afar. The current flowed down three thousand feet, and it was suspected that the Milky Way had fallen for nine days.
Yuan Tang Di Songxi guiyu chart axis
Ming Shen Zhou Qiulin idle fishing map
Qing imitation Gong Xian Yunshan hermit chart Axis
Ming Chen Hongshou Under the tree Coats figure axis
Qing imitation Meiqing Xiangshan rafting map axis
On May 21, 1673, Mei Qing and her friends took a boat trip to Xiangshan near their hometown of Xuancheng, Anhui Province. In this painting that Mei Please painted to commemorate this collection, the peaks of the mountains roll like clouds, and the literati and scholars float below. Mei Qing and her friends inscribed poems at the top, to the effect that the clanging of the ship echoed in the empty pool; the bells came from the temple in the distance. How can the ancients enjoy the wine tasting and chanting and watching the scenery?
Qing Shitao Qiulin People Drunk Figure Axis On Paper
Yuan/Ming Anon. Hou Chibi Futu Fan
Ming/Qing Anon. Old Biography Yuan Zhang Keguan Moon Ying Songtai Album
Ming Chen Hongshou Landscape Map Fan
Qing Ren Yi Read on the stone Fan surface
Ming Wen Zheng Ming To The Book of Wu Yu
This letter from Wen Zhengming to his father-in-law in his thirties shows a different side of him, talented, and at the same time full of deferential respect for his elders, and the plum blossom pattern of the letterhead is very delicate.
Ming Tulong Cursive Seven Absolute Axes
Qing Kangxi Jingdezhen kiln blue and white landscape figure figure incense burner
Qing Kangxi Jingdezhen kiln multicolored landscape stick mallet bottle
Qing Kangxi Jingdezhen kiln blue flower before and after chibi futu square bottle
Qing Kangxi Lingbi Appreciation Stone
Source: Art China