CURRENT EXHIBITION
Flowers on a River:
The Art of Chinese Flower and Bird Painting, 1368-1911
Masterworks from Tianjin Museum and Changzhou Museum
March 23, 2023 - June 25, 2023
100 Washington Street, 2nd Floor (Enter through 40 Rector St)
A rare opportunity to appreciate over 100 Chinese masterworks of Flower-and-Bird Painting by 59 artists through 500 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The highest forms of Chinese art have always been regarded as painting and calligraphy. The three major traditional Chinese painting genres consist of landscape, figures, and flower-and-bird painting. This first exhibition presented by the China Institute Gallery gratefully introduces the masterworks from two renowned museums of China, Tianjin Museum and Changzhou Museum with a featured extraordinary handscroll by the most famous monk painter Zhu Da (1626-1705, known as Bada Shanren): Flowers on a River. This over 40 feet long handscroll, visually and artistically states the artist’s life journey and marked him a forever-remembered individualist artist.
The exhibition also attempts to systematically review the two major painting styles of academy and literati with several noticeable painting schools and explore the significance of this genre that thrived and endured for over a thousand years as it transformed the observation of nature into art and culture. It transmitted the traditional Chinese concept of “humanity in harmony with nature” as well as a universal outlook and the wisdom of life. It is arranged in three sections: “Precious Plums of the Palace: Academicism and Court Painters”; “Fragrant Plums in the Wild: The Literati and Their Painting Schools”; and “Vitality of Nature: Flower-and-Bird Painting and Social Customs.”
This exhibition is lead curated by Willow Weilan Hai, Director, and Chief Curator of China Institute Gallery, with guest co-curators Chen Zhuo, Former Director of Tianjin Museum; Lin Jian, Director of Changzhou Museum; and David Ake Sensabaugh, Former Ruth and Bruce Dayton Curator of Asian Art at Yale University Art Gallery.
Yun Lanxi (dates unknown) and Zou Yigui (1686-1772) Eight Immortals in the Flower World Album of 8 leaves; ink and color on paper 12 1/8 x 19 in. (30.8 x 25.2 cm) Tianjin Museum (Leaf 3)
Wu Changshuo (1844-1927) Red Plum, 1924 Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper 61 x 33 1/8 in. (155 x 84 cm) Tianjin Museum
Leng Mei (dates unknown) Dog Sitting under Flowers Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk 44 x 15 in. (111.5 x 38 cm) Tianjin Museum (Detail)
Watch Exhibition Introduction by Philippe de Montebello
Flowers on a River: The Art of Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting, 1368-1911, Masterworks from Tianjin Museum and Changzhou Museum, THROUGH JUNE 25th
Highlight of the exhibition:
This exhibition prominently features Zhu Da’s Flowers on a River handscroll. Known as Bada Shanren, Zhu Da (1626-1705), an imperial family member of the Ming dynasty, stands as the preeminent master painter of 17th century China. His extraordinaire handscroll Flowers on a River is his most important work, also the most renowned masterpiece in the history of Chinese flower and bird painting. It exhibits Zhu Da’s unconventional composition and remarkable freehand brushwork, imbued with abstract and conceptual elements. Complemented by his unique poetry and calligraphy, the painting intertwines the imagery of lotus and orchid within a landscape setting, depicting the journey of the artist’s life. Through his poetic verses and calligraphic expressions, it delves into profound spiritual realms. As Zhu Da himself indicated, the world started from a seed of lotus, the world is within the lotus.
This avant-garde masterpiece represents not only Zhu Da’s magnum opus but also stands as the sole exemplar of its kind worldwide. Making its debut in the United States, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness its splendor in New York City. Do not miss the chance to experience this extraordinary masterpiece.
Welcome you to China Institute Gallery to meet with Bada.
In case you miss it, we have a full color catalog preserves the entire exhibition as well, look up for the virtual exhibition coming up soon on our website.
Visitors say:
EXHIBITION-RELATED PUBLIC PROGRAMS
March 23, 2023 | Curator’s Lecture: Flowers on a River
March 25, 2023 | International Symposium – The World of Flower-and-Bird Painting
An overview introduction by Willow Weilan Hai, Lead Curator of the Exhibition, Director and Chief Curator of China Institute Gallery with discussion of the highlights by Guest Co-curators, Lin Jian, Director of Changzhou Museum and David Ake Sensabaugh, the former Ruth and Bruce Dayton Curator of Asian Art and Head of the Department of Asian Art at the Yale University Art Gallery. For more information, please contact Lewei Li at (212) 744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
A full day international symposium in conjunction with the exhibition Flowers on a River: The Art of Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting, 1368–1911, Masterworks from Tianjin Museum and Changzhou Museum. For more information, please contact Lewei Li at (212) 744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
April 15, 2023 | The Artists' Talk II: Our Observations and Feelings
Join China Institute on the evening of May 19 to appreciate music in celebration of our current exhibition, Flowers on A River : the Art of Chinese Flower and Bird Painting, 1368-1911 (on view until June 25, 2023). As the exhibition features over 130 Chinese masterworks of Flower-and-Bird Painting by 59 artists through 500 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties rarely seen outside of China, our talented performers from the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music will present the sound of flowers and birds from Chinese music tradition, with renowned pieces of music including Blossoms on a Moonlit River in Spring “春江花月夜” and Midnight Jackdaw’s Cry “乌夜啼”.
For more information, please contact Lewei Li at 212-744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
March 23, 2023 | Curator’s Lecture: Flowers on a River
An overview introduction by Willow Weilan Hai, Lead Curator of the Exhibition, Director and Chief Curator of China Institute Gallery with discussion of the highlights by Guest Co-curators, Lin Jian, Director of Changzhou Museum and David Ake Sensabaugh, the former Ruth and Bruce Dayton Curator of Asian Art and Head of the Department of Asian Art at the Yale University Art Gallery. For more information, please contact Lewei Li at (212) 744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
March 25, 2023 | International Symposium – The World of Flower-and-Bird Painting
A full day international symposium in conjunction with the exhibition Flowers on a River: The Art of Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting, 1368–1911, Masterworks from Tianjin Museum and Changzhou Museum. For more information, please contact Lewei Li at (212) 744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
April 15, 2023 | The Artists' Talk II: Our Observations and Feelings
Join China Institute on the evening of May 19 to appreciate music in celebration of our current exhibition, Flowers on A River : the Art of Chinese Flower and Bird Painting, 1368-1911 (on view until June 25, 2023). As the exhibition features over 130 Chinese masterworks of Flower-and-Bird Painting by 59 artists through 500 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties rarely seen outside of China, our talented performers from the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music will present the sound of flowers and birds from Chinese music tradition, with renowned pieces of music including Blossoms on a Moonlit River in Spring “春江花月夜” and Midnight Jackdaw’s Cry “乌夜啼”.
For more information, please contact Lewei Li at 212-744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
Flowers on a River was made possible in part due to the generosity of the following sponsors:
Flowers on a River is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.