Exhibit Simplifies Artistic Heritage

Heritage of the Brush, an exhibit of Chinese art, aims to depict major and fundamental trends in the field. While it frequently succeeds in illustrating an artistic development, and contains some terrific examples of Chinese art, this exhibit's treatment of the implications of an artistic heritage is, at best, cursory.

The Sackler show is composed of pieces from the Roy and Marilyn Papp collection, predominately paintings, but also fans and leaves from books. Regardless of the medium, the exhibit focuses on the transmission and re-interpretation of conventional styles, rather than on innovation.

The heritage in the title usually refers to the exalted tradition of the landscape. This genre is presented in long, vertical canvases and the painting style varies between free-stroking airiness and meticulous craftsmanship, depending on the artist. Often, the works within one heritage are juxtaposed. This is particularly effective in a series of landscapes by the Lan family; Lan Meng, Lan Tao and Lan Ying. These landscapes are characterized by a detail and tranquility which span all three generations.

At other times, an artist will refer to his roots by inscribing a tribute within the actual painting. Thankfully, the organizers, Dr. Claudia Brown and Dr. Ju-hsi Chou, frequently inform the viewer of this, as in the case of Zhang Pengchong's Landscape: Brush Marks in Blue and Green (early 18th cent.) This pain ting's subtle coloring is inspired by Sheng Zhou, an artist who worked 300 years earlier.

The presentation of pieces in context of one another succeeds with a series of slightly different fans. For example, Flowers and Rock by Wen Shu, a simple and elegant work, is placed beside Sheng Maoye's fan, a descriptive landscape, allowing the viewer to appreciate each artist's technique.

In an exhibit focused on tradition, it is significant that the accompanying problem of authorship--the assertion of a particular artist's role--is rarely acknowledged. The works in the show are from the Ming and Qing dynasties, a period which spans 400 years. And the artists often allude to masters from even earlier centuries. The heritage presented is extraordinarily unified, and, to the Western mind set, has peculiar implications on the artist's creative role. The exhibit would be more satisfying if it directly addressed the social bases for such a convention-based aesthetic.

Jang Jisheng's work is an exception to this omission. His Travelling at Mount Tianhua, a landscape that resembles a Lan Meng or a Lan Yin, is embedded with a reflective political statement, expressed in the inscription. Jisheng, exiled for political dissidence, has inscribed his lonely, cloudy seascape with a sad, romantic poem, translated as follows:

"From an elegant window, official tassels glitter against a clear view of the sky;/ Clouds enter, and one could stoop them along with one's sleeves./ There is no predicting whether I'll return to this place again;/ About to leave, I brush past the rocks and waste a new verse."

This work's clear political context is atypical of the show. Generally, the tension between adherence to aesthetic heritage and social conditions remains unexplored. This is most obvious in the case of Wang Hui's colorful masterpiece Southern Inspection Tour: Bennui Zhen to Changzhou on the Grand Canal. This work is a fascinating depiction of the emperor's journey into the country. The small shops and local village society are commemorated carefully and sensitively.

But, we wonder why the emperor commissioned such a work. What purposecould such a precise recording serve? Was it meant to record, to legitimize, to intimidate? The problem is compounded by the sheer uniqueness of this work. Its scale (it is one part of eight scrolls) and degree of detail is unlike any other piece presented. Its presence, rather than demonstrating an artistic heritage, compels us to question the relationship of artist to patron and of art to society.

Unfortunately, these questions are not answered. While the works are inspiring, the lack of social context makes for a shockingly simplistic view of the "heritage" of the brush, one that stubbornly avoids the significance of individual works.