Wu Ch'ang-shuo
Chinese, 1844-1927
Bamboo and Rock after Cheng Hsieh, 1919
Ink on paper
Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 2004.12.4

Celestial Fragrance: Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting

Sunday, February 26, 2012—Saturday, June 30, 2012
Sit Investment Associate Galleries (200 and 203)
Free Exhibition

This exhibition presents an enduring tradition of Chinese flower-and-bird painting during the Ming and Qing dynasties (fourteenth through nineteenth century). Drawn from the holdings of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the exhibition features a group of thirty stunning scrolls. It will show the diversity in style: some of the artists worked mainly with descriptive line and color on silk, pursued a meticulous, naturalistic rendering, a dazzling surface, and a sensuous effect, the others tended to favor a more expressive style, deliberately departed from naturalistic rendering and pursued impressionistic effects. The exhibition also explores the symbolism beyond the fragrance and natural beauty: often the motifs in these paintings were suffused with poetic overtones or imbued with social, religious, and political allusions, and have been used to express an endless range of meanings and sentiments.