Weng, a longtime supporter of the MFA who, until he passed away in 2020 at the age of 102, devoted his life to the preservation, study, and promotion of China’s cultural heritage.Nebu was an Egyptian symbol for gold and the hieroglyph was depicted by a golden collar with ends hanging off the sides and seven spines dangling from the middle. This is the third in a series of three exhibitions celebrating the landmark donation made by Wan-go H. And rocks of all kind-large and small, weird and imperfect-are on view throughout the gallery, welcoming viewers to ponder, explore or, like the ancient poets, venerate. Visitors can envision themselves in paintings of gardens where colossal rocks loom over a scholar’s studio, or scenes of fantastical caves where artists gaze in awe at mysterious rock formations.

This exhibition features more than 25 works from the gift as well as the MFA’s collection that explore how rock aesthetics have permeated architecture, landscape design, and painting styles in China for a millennium. Rocks were integral to the Weng family’s art collection, as subjects of paintings and as art objects themselves. Weng (1918–2020) made the largest gift of Chinese paintings and calligraphy to the MFA in the institution’s history, comprising more than 390 objects acquired and passed down through six generations of his family. In the minds of serious connoisseurs, rocks, as microcosms of mountains-or even the entire universe-were meditations on life itself.įrom 2018 to 2021, Wan-go H. The humble rock became, like an abstract sculpture, a medium to explore forms and textures, and to express one’s inner being. They used terms like strange, weird, and awkward as complimentary descriptions of the rocks they most preferred. Rather than celebrating superficial beauty, collectors exalted imperfection for its expressive possibilities and sought rocks that were not symmetrical or smooth or pretty. As far back as one thousand years ago, serious art collectors and critics acquired and competed for rocks with the same passion they afforded great works of painting and calligraphy. In China, rocks in their natural form are objects of great aesthetic appreciation. Conservation and Collections ManagementĬelebrating a landmark gift of Chinese art.

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