The Last Emperor’s Collection: Masterpieces of Painting and Calligraphy from the Liaoning Provincial Museum
末帝宝鉴：辽宁省博物馆藏清宫散佚明清书画

Painting and calligraphy have been a treasured part of the imperial collection throughout Chinese history since at least the fifth century. In the early twentieth century, China’s last emperor, Puyi, sold off and dispersed countless palace treasures. Since 1949, the Liaoning Provincial Museum has successfully reassembled a large part of that collection, ranging from the earliest masterworks of painting and calligraphy created in the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420) to works from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). This exhibition included twenty-four works of Ming (1368– 1644) and Qing dynasty calligraphy and painting, all from the former imperial collection. It introduced the history of imperial collecting and examined the impact of imperial collecting on contemporaneous society. In addition, the exhibition gave insight into the imperial collection management system and illustrated critical standards used in the appreciation and recording of works of art.