Founding the Nation marks the rapid transformation of mainstream art into propaganda during the Mao era.
Art of China
One Torah’s decoration—from Iraq to China and India—reveals global artistic and cultural connections in the 19th century.
Chinese export silver, a 19th-century Torah case
Han’s Night-Shining White exemplifies the expressive power of the line, the backbone of Chinese painting.
Han Gan, Night-Shining White
To the Front! is a widely circulated print that sought to denounce the inaction of those in power.
Hu Yichuan, To the Front!
In this captivating oil painting, Xu Beihong recounts an ancient legend that pictures the heroic 3rd-century B.C.E. prince Tian Heng at a pivotal moment.
Xu Beihong, Tian Heng and His Five ...
In Flying in the Rain, Gao Jianfu pictured a squadron of biplanes emerging from cloudy skies in loose formation.
Gao Jianfu, Flying in the Rain
“One Hundred Birds” was a common subject matter in embroidery from the Guangzhou region.
“One Hundred Birds” hanging scroll
Why does this Qing-dynasty porcelain mimic ivory?
Européenerie on a Chinese Table Screen
Portrait of Chabi is a glimpse into the crucial role played by court dress in the consolidation of Mongol rule across Eurasia.
Portrait of Chabi
The carpet showcases the cultural interaction and integration happening at the crossroads of East and Central Asia, South Asia, and China in the 5th–6th century on the ancient Silk Road.
Cultural exchange and integration, a Khotanese carpet ...
Color and brushwork create a golden pheasant in this Qing dynasty hanging scroll
Hua Yan, Pheasant, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum
Wang Shimin reimagines the past in this Qing dynasty landscape
Wang Shimin, Cloud Capped Mountains and Misty ...
Peonies, plum blossoms, radishes, and cabbages are all depicted in these calligraphic ink paintings
Zhao Zhiqian, Flowers Album
These garden scenes are examples of how professional artists in Qing-dynasty China made a living
Wang Shishen, Garden scene album leaves
Ren Xiong's captivating self-portrait tells us a great deal about the principles of Chinese painting, the roles of self-portraiture and portraiture, and the canon of Chinese art.
Ren Xiong, Self-Portrait
An artist who used landscape as a way to process the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty.
Gong Xian, Eight Views of Landscape
Mini furniture and figurines give us a tiny look into Ming dynasty life
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