China is hot, especially on this autumn's New York art scene.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting a landmark exhibition of ancient
Chinese art and culture - one of the largest ever held in the United States -
with eye-opening treasures on loan from across the Chinese mainland.
Attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the world's leading museum, the
China exhibition, which opened on October 12 and runs through January 23, 2005,
makes a sensation among the general public as well as the New York artistic
community.
Its indisputable success has also aroused complicated feelings, besides
appreciation, among Chinese museum professionals and spurred their thinking.
"China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD" brings together more than 300 works
of extreme rarity and historical importance, some of which have never before
been exhibited outside China, and tells the story of Chinese art and culture
from late Han (206 BC-AD 220) to Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties.
"It is indeed a great privilege for the Metropolitan Museum to present this
breathtaking assemblage of treasures from China, and particularly now, as new
scholarship and recent archaeological finds warrant a full-scale cultural
reassessment of the late Han to high Tang periods," said Philippe de Montebello,
director of the museum.
Most of the objects in the exhibition have been excavated in the past 30
years, according to the director.
"The recent finds on view lead us to consider this period not as a 'dark age'
following the collapse of the Han empire, but rather as a time of massive influx
of foreign ideas that invigorated Chinese culture and laid the foundation for
glorious artistic achievements during the Tang dynasty," he added.
Assemblage of treasures
The exhibits are in an astounding variety of media, including jade, bronze,
gold, silver, metal, stone and wood, as well as textiles, works on paper and
wall paintings. They range in size from an enormous sculpture of a fantastic
animal to a small gold coin.
The exhibition is chronologically and geographically organized into seven
sections. Highlights include a set of 14 bronze cavalry and charioteer figures
arranged in the formation of an official procession; some of the most famous
early Chinese Buddhist sculptures; and luxury articles of glass and precious
metals imported from Western and Central Asia during the 4th to the 6th
centuries.
The imports, often combining Hellenistic and Persian motifs and forms,
represent an early international style in the arts, remarked James C Y Watt,
chairman of the Department of Asian Art at the Met and curator of the
exhibition. Examples of such pieces - including a tall, 5th- or 6th-century gilt
silver ewer in a Persian form that is decorated with Hellenistic motifs - are
among the treasures on show.
While almost every section of the exhibition represents a climax in one way
or another, the final section centres on the Tang Dynasty, when the new
multi-ethnic artistic tradition flowered.
The final section includes a large stone sculpture of a seated Buddha, an
earthenware sculpture of a girl resting on a camel, a silver six-lobed plate
decorated with a mythical winged animal, a spectacular tomb guardian animal with
a human head and a small female figurine of wood and pigmented clay.
The statuette, titled "Female Figure" and dressed in silks with patterns
woven to scale, represents high fashion in both dress and makeup of the early
Tang Dynasty. The work is printed as the cover image of the exhibition's
catalogue and audio tour guide, attracting a lot of visitors.
"It reminds me of my ancestors," said Jun Yoshimatsu, a Japanese-American
student from Columbia University's Teachers College. Yoshimatsu was referring to
the period when the Japanese were tremendously influenced by the culture of Tang
Dynasty, even in fashion.
John Barell, a local resident who said he is fascinated with the "simplicity"
of traditional Chinese landscape painting, was resting on a step at the main
entrance of the museum, where a red banner with the huge white word "China" was
waving high over him in the air.
Barell said he felt "a little disappointed" for not seeing many ink paintings
this time. But, the fact is, he saw "the painting" - the only ink painting on
display was a six-panel picture of a groom and horses, which was unearthed in a
Tang Dynasty tomb and is reportedly one of the earliest Chinese ink paintings
discovered.
"I also loved the bronze horses and chariots displayed at the beginning of
the show. I was surprised to see the crowds of visitors in the gallery, which is
great. People from all walks of life come to see this show," Barell said.
Cultural exchange
Rather than the "dawn of a golden age," the period after Han had often been
interpreted in some Chinese historical files as a time of continuous wars,
social turbulence and state division. In official Tang documents and following
dynasties, part of this period was even denounced as "wuhu luanhua" (the time
when the central empire was disturbed or ruled by ethnic minority groups).
But curator Watt saw things differently.
"Seven or eight years ago, the director of the Met asked me: 'There hasn't
been a major exhibition of Chinese relics for almost 20 years, do you have any
good ideas?'" recalled Watt, a Chinese-born art historian. "I immediately
thought of this period, a period of openness that represents a highlight of
China - especially during the Tang Dynasty when almost all aspects of arts and
culture flourished," he said.
In Watt's view, the works selected for this exhibition illuminate a new
interpretation of the 3rd through the 8th centuries in China as "a time of
active and fruitful cultural exchange between East and West."
"Since few people have curated a similar exhibition of this period,
especially in an encyclopaedic and comprehensive manner. Even in China, it's
impossible since the works are very difficult to be seen together," he said as
another reason for the exhibition.
Chen Jianming, director of the Hunan Provincial Museum, agreed with Watt.
"I think many museums will envy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even in
China, I have never seen so many first-class relics put in a single exhibition,"
said Chen, who visited the exhibition in New York.
According to the standards of the Chinese cultural heritage authorities, a
"first-class" relic is an extremely precious and rare piece that is usually
restricted from export.
Chen Yu, a curator with the National Museum of China in Beijing, said: "We
rarely curate exhibitions in such an encyclopaedic way in China. Most of our
exhibitions include relics in the collection of only one museum, or museums in
one province."
He accepted that the national museum might well have the capacity to present
a comprehensive exhibition like the one at the Met. The National museum did
exhibit "Archaeological Finds in China over the Past 50 Years" about four years
ago, which also included many first-class relics.
Encyclopaedic nature
But, he pointed out the difficult part of the story is "to present such an
encyclopaedic exhibition, a museum needs much time, money and, especially,
strong co-ordination to make sure the loans can be obtained from so many museums
around China."
"We usually don't have seven or eight years to prepare for an exhibition, or
that much money to travel around the country to choose pieces. And, it can be
really hard to bargain with so many museums - sometimes a museum simply will not
lend you what you want most - which is indeed a frustrating experience," he
said.
Watt said he wanted to thank the Chinese State Administration of Cultural
Heritage for their full support that helped make this exhibition possible.
"Most of the pieces come from China. Among the 350 or so works, only four
pieces are from the collections of American museums," he said.
The exhibits were assembled from 46 Chinese museums and cultural institutions
in 14 provinces and municipalities, according to Shan Jixiang, director general
of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China.
Among the lenders are such leading museums as the Palace Museum and National
Museum of China as well as local museums and institutions with outstanding
collections.
Besides its encyclopaedic nature, The Met's spectacular exhibition has much
more to be appreciated by Chinese museum professionals.
"I like the way the masterpieces are installed in the exhibition hall, which
create a tranquil, oriental atmosphere," said director Chen of the Hunan
Provincial Museum.
"I also wish our audiences in China would show such enormous interest in the
cultural heritage of their own country, as the American audiences admire the
exhibits in this show," he said.
"I think the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nature of the Chinese works in
this exhibition fits the cosmopolitan context of New York perfectly," said Watt.
