In the winter of 2005 the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum received an important group of gifts and promised gifts from the family of the noted Chinese author Lin Yutang (1895–1976). Consisting of 43 modern Chinese paintings, calligraphies, and prints, this donation significantly enhances the Museum’s ability to present China’s traditional literati arts of the mid-20th century. Having moved to New York City in 1936, Lin Yutang became the most widely read authority on China in America at the time. During the Second World War, Lin helped Xu Beihong (1895–1953), one of China’s preeminent artists, to organize two exhibitions of Chinese contemporary paintings at the Metropolitan Museum, thus beginning a long and intimate relationship with the institution. The exhibitions took place in 1943 and 1948, and Lin wrote introductions for both catalogues. Among the Lin Family gift are 21 works that are linked directly to Lin Yutang, a connection that is reflected in the organization of this volume. The entries begin with four calligraphies by Lin Yutang, written for his daughters, Taiyi and Hsiang Ju, and for Taiyi’s husband, Richard Lai. These are followed by two late Qing dynasty works that Lin collected while living in Shanghai in the early 1930s, and then 15 works that were presented by the artists to Lin or through him to Taiyi or Richard Lai. The remaining 22 works in the gift were either presented to or purchased by Taiyi and Richard Lai when they were living in London and Hong Kong in the 1950s through the 1980s. This group features works by several prominent 20th-century Chinese painters and calligraphers, including Qi Baishi (1864–1957), Feng Kangwho (1901–1983), and Zhao Shao’ang (1904–1998), all of whom were contemporaries and friends of Lin Yutang.

127 pages, 76 illustrations (69 in full color), 9 1/4 in. x 12 1/4 in. Paper.

Straddling East and West: Lin Yutang, A Modern Literatus
05-007976
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