Founding the Nation marks the rapid transformation of mainstream art into propaganda during the Mao era.
Location Country: China
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
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
Mini furniture and figurines give us a tiny look into Ming dynasty life
Miniature furniture and figurines in a Ming ...
Upon its discovery, Lady Dai’s tomb was in a remarkable state of preservation with wooden objects and silks in near perfect condition, as though immune to the ravages of time
The search for immortality: The Tomb of ...
This begonia-shaped porcelain bowl attempts to achieve purity and perfection in its shape, thinness, and glaze
Tang Yue ware
This porcelain bowl with reeds and geese for decoration has a metal rim where the bowl couldn't be glazed
Ding ware bowl, Northern Song dynasty
Along the River during Qingming Festival offers a rare glimpse of the thriving commercial activity of medieval China.
Attributed to Zhang Zeduan, Along the River ...
Emperor Huizong's Auspicious Cranes records natural phenomena that would be interpreted as a good omen for the dynasty.
Emperor Huizong, Auspicious Cranes, handscroll
Gu Hongzhong’s The Night Revels of Han Xizai offers an intriguing portrayal of a court minister testing the bounds of Confucian propriety during the Five Dynasties
Gu Hongzhong, The Night Revels of Han ...
Painting and poetry among friends during Mongol rule in Yuan dynasty China
Wang Mian, Plum Blossoms in Ink
Musicians on camels, women on horseback, and terrifying guardians—these are some of the figurines found in Tang dynasty tombs
An introduction to tomb figurines, Tang dynasty
Qin Shi Huangdi, the first unifier of China, is buried at the center of a complex designed to mirror the urban plan of the capital, Xianya.
The Tomb of the First Emperor
The largest Buddha in the world is at Mount Emei in China.
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