How to Read Chinese Paintings

Front Cover
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008 - Art - 173 pages
The Chinese often use the expression du hua, U+001cto read a painting, in connection with their study and appreciation of such works. This volume closely U+001creads thirty-six masterpieces of Chinese painting from the encyclopedic collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to reveal the major characteristics and themes of this rich pictorial tradition. The book examines multiple layers of meaningU+0015style, technique, symbolism, past traditions, and the artistU+0019s personal circumstancesU+0015through accessible texts and numerous large color details. A dynastic chronology, map, and list of further readings supplement the text. Spanning a thousand years of Chinese art, these landscapes, flowers, birds, figures, religious subjects, and calligraphies illuminate the main goal of every Chinese artist: to capture not only the outer appearance of a subject but also its inner essence.
 

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