How to read Chinese paintings

Abstract

The Chinese often use the expression du hua, read a painting, in connection with their study and appreciation of such works. This volume closely reads thirty-six masterpieces of Chinese painting from the encyclopedic collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to reveal the major characteristics and themes of this rich pictorial tradition. The book examines multiple layers of meaning--style, technique, symbolism, past traditions, and the artist's personal circumstances--through accessible texts and numerous large color details. A dynastic chronology, map, and list of further readings supplement the text. Spanning a thousand years of Chinese art, these landscapes, flowers, birds, figures, religious subjects, and calligraphies illuminate the main goal of every Chinese artist: to capture not only the outer appearance of a subject but also its inner essence.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 50 citations exist upstream.