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The Artist as Collector: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the C. C. Wang Family Collection

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Remonstrating with the Emperor. Liu Jun (act. ca. 1475–ca. 1505). Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; 65 x 41 15/16 in. (165 x 106.5 cm). Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family. Promised Gift of the Oscar L. Tang Family (L.1997.24.10).

More about This Exhibition
Nearly 100 works of Chinese painting collected by the renowned artist/collector C. C. Wang—who has amassed one of the two most important private collections of Chinese old master paintings of the 20th century—was on view in "The Artist as Collector: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the C. C. Wang Family Collection." The exhibition featured the recent promised gift by the Oscar Tang family of 12 major works acquired from the C. C. Wang Family in 1997, along with some 50 additional paintings and calligraphies acquired from Mr. Wang by the Museum over the last 26 years. These works were augmented by important loans from The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Art Museum, Princeton University, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the British Museum, and The C. C. Wang Family.

"The Artist as Collector" explored issues of authentication and connoisseurship in Chinese art, and featured the side-by-side juxtaposition of the renowned 10th-century hanging scroll Riverbank attributed to Dong Yuan (active 930s–960s)—which some scholars claim to be a modern forgery by Zhang Daqian (1899–1983)—with a landscape forgery by Zhang. The comparison of the two works was facilitated by the inclusion of full-scale digital reproductions that made the brushwork more legible.

The exhibition and catalogue were made possible with the support of The Tang Fund.

More about the Collection of C. C. Wang

More about Riverbank

More about C. C. Wang

Exhibition Publication

More about the Collection of C. C. Wang
The collection of C. C. Wang is a unique historical achievement, encompassing many masterpieces dispersed from the Qing imperial collection early in this century. The collection is richest in paintings of the 10th through the 14th century; however, the Ming and Quing dynasties are also well represented.

Learn more about the collection of C. C. Wang.

More about Riverbank
A special feature of the exhibition was the display of Riverbank, which the Museum considers to be a 10th-century masterpiece by Dong Yuan, but which some scholars have suggested may be a modern fabrication by the renowned painter, connoisseur, and forger Zhang Daqian. In response to this suggestion, the Museum borrowed a landscape from the British Museum that was formerly attributed to Dong Yuan's follower, Juran (active ca. 960–95) but which is now acknowledged to be a Zhang forgery. These two paintings were displayed side by side to enable the public to draw its own conclusions.

More about C. C. Wang
C.C. Wang (Wang Chi-ch'ien or Wang Jiqian, born 1907) is an accomplished artist who has collected paintings since he began practicing his art more than 70 years ago. For Mr. Wang, collecting has always been a means to an end-a firsthand knowledge of the styles of earlier masters.

Learn more about C. C. Wang.

Exhibition Publication
A catalogue, "Along the Riverbank: Chinese Paintings from the C. C. Wang Family Collection," was published by the Metropolitan Museum in conjunction with the exhibition. It features the twelve promised gifts from the Tang Family and isorganized in three sections: an essay by Wen Fong presenting an in-depth stylistic analysis of Riverbank; a narrative essay by Maxwell K. Hearn examining the 12 promised gifts; and an analysis of the physical and documentary evidence pertaining to Riverbank. The publication is available in a hardcover edition in the Museum shops and online in the Met Store. It is distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York.

Photograph Credits