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)
Zhu Da / Bada Shanren (1626–ca.1705), Flowers on a River (detail), Qing dynasty, handscroll, ink on paper, 18 1/2 × 508 7/8 in. (47 × 1292.5 cm). Collection of the Tianjin Museum
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)
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
May 19, 2023 | Music Night: The Sound of Flowers and Birds
Hosted by Willow Weilan Hai, SVP, Director, and Chief Curator of the China Institute Gallery, three contemporary female artists will introduce their artworks and discuss their creations and relationship with nature and flower-and-bird painting, followed by a light reception. For more information, please contact Lewei Li at (212) 744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
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
Hosted by Willow Weilan Hai, SVP, Director, and Chief Curator of the China Institute Gallery, three contemporary female artists will introduce their artworks and discuss their creations and relationship with nature and flower-and-bird painting, followed by a light reception. For more information, please contact Lewei Li at
(212) 744-8181, ext. 117 or llewei@chinainstitute.org
May 19, 2023 | Music Night: The Sound of Flowers and Birds
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.