Within China, the literati were a select group of people who had the necessary intelligence and education to understand, interpret, and propagate the essential elements of the Chinese cultural legacy. Few people in the twentieth century represented the Chinese concept of the cultured elite as well as Wang Fangyu (1913–1997), who was an exemplary artist, scholar, teacher, collector, and connoisseur of Chinese art. Praised as a contemporary “eccentric,” Wang formed his own style of calligraphy as a modern vehicle of self-expression by blending the traditional legacy of Chinese art with the essence of contemporary movements. This exhibition contained over sixty items from the collection of Wang Fangyu, including paintings and calligraphy by Wang Fangyu, Bada Shanren, Qi Baishi, and Zhang Daqian, as well as rare books, seals, and other scholarly objects.
A Literati Life in the Twentieth Century: Wang Fangyu—Artist, Scholar, Connoisseur
二十世纪的文人:王方宇—艺术家 学者 鉴藏家
Exhibition Catalogue
Authors: H.Christopher Luce
Wang Fangyu (1913-1997), as an artist, a scholar, and a connoisseur, embodied the late Ming ideals of the literati gentleman. Wang's artistic and scholarly life is explored through the personal tools of his studio, the woodblock-printed seal books in his library, his own art, and selected works form his collection. These include works by Bada Shanren, Dong Qichang, Jin Nong, and Chang Daqian, artists who were the focus of his research and who influenced his own artistic production.
Exhibition catalog, 1999. Paperback, 48 pages: ill.
Media Coverage
- Holland Cotter “Dizzying Realm of Asian Art: China Institute in America,” The New York Times, March 26, 1999.
- J. May Lee Barrett, “A Literati Life in the Twentieth Century: A Modern Scholar-Artist and his Collection at China Institute Gallery,” Asian Art, April 1999.
“The exhibition was not meant to be a retrospective or a biography of the multi- faceted scholar-artist who died in October of 1997. Instead, this outstanding little exhibition is about a traditional way of life, that of the Chinese scholar-artist, carried into the twentieth century.”
“Through a careful selection of the tools of Wang’s art, the works that he collected and the works that he created, curator H. Christopher Luce conveys the complex interplay of past and present in one man’s artistic and intellectual pursuits.”
- CANS藝術新聞, 华美协进社——纽约的中国美术推手，June 1999.
“华美美术馆 China Institute Gallery 则成立于1944年， 在 其所办的活动中，每每吸引到学者、专家、藏家及一般大众的热烈 参与，现今每年固定举办两档大展，每次展览都会别出心裁的设定 一个主题，展出的项目则从史前出土文物到当代创作，并无设限， 每次展览特别邀请各有专精的学者主持策展，因此展览颇具原创 性、学术性与美感体验。”
Media Coverage
- China Press 侨报
- The New Yorker
- World Journal 世界日报
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