World culture: The exhibition devoted to Chinese Art, opens in Metropolitan Museum of Art

August 18, 2012 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) opens the exhibition “Chinese Gardens. Pavilions, Studios, Retreats”.

In the densely populated urban centers of China, enclosed gardens have long been an integral part of residential and palace architecture, serving as extensions of living quarters. The preferred site for hosting literary gatherings, theatrical performances, and imaginary outings, gardens were often designed following the same compositional principles used in painting.

This exhibition, which encircles the Astor Chinese Garden Court, explores the pictorial imagery of gardens as an abiding source of artistic invention. Featuring more than sixty paintings, as well as ceramics, carved bamboo, lacquerware, metalwork, textiles, and several contemporary photographs from the Museum's collection, the exhibition examines the rich interactions between pictorial and garden arts in China across more than one thousand years.