Abstraction and Expression in Chinese Calligraphy
中国书法的抽象与抒情

Calligraphy is a revered art form, uniting language and aesthetics. It repeats and endorses traditional forms while fostering individual creativity. In the West, however, calligraphy is harder to comprehend. In this exhibition, the art of calligraphy was made accessible through an exploration of its expressive graphic beauty, an aesthetic that links contemporary Western art and traditional Chinese calligraphy. Drawn from the collection of H. Christopher Luce, this exhibition presented seventeen calligraphy works dating from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to the twentieth century. By demonstrating how the expressionistic quality of Chinese brushstrokes has resonances with modern art, including imagery associated with artists such as Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, this exhibition suggested that a similar aesthetic impulse may be shared by artists of different times and different cultures.