18.9.12

Chinese gardens at the metropolitan museum . . .

Chinese Gardens

Pavilions, Studios, Retreats

August 18, 2012–January 6, 2013


This exhibition explores the rich interactions between pictorial and garden arts in China across more than one thousand years. In the densely populated urban centers of China, enclosed gardens have long been an integral part of residential and palace architecture, serving as an extension of the living quarters. The preferred site for hosting literary gatherings, theatrical performances, and imaginary outings, gardens were often designed according to the same compositional principles used in painting; likewise, as idealized landscapes, they frequently drew inspiration from literary themes first envisioned by painters. Artists were called upon not only to design gardens but also, as gardens came to be identified with the tastes and personalities of their residents, to create idealized paintings of gardens that served as symbolic portraits reflective of the character of the owner.
This exhibition features more than sixty paintings as well as ceramics, carved bamboo, lacquerware, metalwork, textiles, and even several contemporary photographs, all drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's permanent collections, that illustrate how garden imagery has remained an abiding source of artistic inspiration and invention.

©2012 the metropolitan museum
http://www.metmuseum.org (thank you for beautiful exhibitions. . . when you're far away from NYC. . . how wonderful to type  in the museum website online and hop hop you're there. . .