Exhibition Dates: September 10, 2022 – January 29, 2023
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Galleries 210–16, Douglas Dillon Galleries, Floor 2
Flowers, plants, and animals abound in Chinese art. From simple objects for the home to fancy vessels for the imperial court, popular prints to meticulously crafted paintings, manifestations of the natural world are found nearly everywhere. On view at The Met September 10, 2022, through January 29, 2023, Noble Virtues: Nature as Symbol in Chinese Art explores these themes through over 100 works of painting, calligraphy, and decorative arts, drawn primarily from The Met collection.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
The exhibition is organized thematically in seven sections, with the first three titled after things found in nature: Bamboo, which is a material that possesses hardiness—a quality that could symbolize an honorable man weathering turmoil; Plum Blossoms, which could represent righteous bravery; Pine, which often represents longevity and constancy; Auspiciousness; Puns; Rebuses and Wordplay; and Plants and Animals in Modern Chinese Painting. For artists and viewers alike, associations with the natural world added layers of depth to an artwork. For example, a vignette of the natural world could become a celebration of life, a wish for good fortune, or even a defiant act of protest.
Featured artworks in the exhibition include—from a private collection—a rare 16th-century handscroll by Lu Fu, a leading Ming-dynasty master of plum blossom painting, that is inscribed by major figures of the artist’s day. Another highlight, Zheng Xie’s Orchids and Bamboo, is one of the Yangzhou master’s surviving masterworks. Two remarkable oversized tapestries from the 18th century, both recently conserved, will be shown together for the first time since they entered the Museum’s collection some 100 years ago. A selection of modern paintings—including three recently designated promised gifts to the Museum by Jack and Susy Wadsworth, one of which is an imposing painting of a pine tree by the modern master Zhang Daqian—rounds out the selection.
Credits
Noble Virtues: Nature as Symbol in Chinese Art 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 will be featured on The Met website as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using the hashtag #MetChineseArt.
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September 10, 2022
Contacts: Stella Kim, Jennifer Isakowitz
Communications@metmuseum.org
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