Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717)

by Maxwell K. Hearn (Contributor), Chin-Sung Chang (Contributor), Wen C. Fong (Contributor)

Wang Hui, the most celebrated painter of late-17th-century China, played a key role both in reinvigorating past traditions of landscape painting and in establishing the stylistic foundations for the imperially sponsored art of the Qing court. An artist of protean talent and immense ambition, Wang developed an all-embracing synthesis of historical landscape styles that constituted one of the greatest artistic innovations of late imperial China. This comprehensive study of the painter’s career—the first published in English—features essays examining his life and achievement as well as his masterwork, the monumental scroll depicting the Kangxi emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour. Twenty-seven of Wang Hui’s paintings, drawn from the Metropolitan Museum and from museums in Beijing, Taipei, Shanghai, and Tokyo, are supplemented by a wealth of images ranging from ancient Chinese paintings to works by Wang’s contemporaries.

Genres: Art, China, Nonfiction, Art History

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Author and specialist on Chinese art. Currently Curator in Charge of the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York.

Reviews

[Ring Chime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wang Hui's origins as a copyist who modified the works of previous masters in various imitations of his own combined with the commodification of art are detailed here, as well as aspects of his personality and how they were interpreted by his former "friends". His efforts to create a grand synthesis and the way he realized it are also described. His production of state propaganda for Kangxi and the differences between his state-sponsored art projects in the handscroll format as opposed to that of later state supported art projects are detailed. I didn't get a good impression of his character from the details of him asking for inscriptions from his friends and teacher which would enhance the value of his products while he refused to produce paintings for them as he became increasingly successful. While he could sell them for more to other people, it wasn't like they were taking advantage of him even if they got paintings for cheaper as friends, because their inscriptions made his own work more valuable. His decisions can be understood for the economic value of it, but I think a bit of reciprocity on his part might have been good.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

not a very interesting book text-wise, but absolutely amazing pictures from the exhibit in the Met a few years ago