Ancient Chinese Art

When I walked into the Wang Hui art galleries at the Metropolitan, I was struck by the serene silence of the rooms. It was the perfect time and place to enjoy the realistic natural landscape paintings of the objects that contribute to the beauty of the world and simultaneously contrast the everyday violence in it: trees, mountains, rocks, and rivers. Borrowing his ideas from the Song Dynasty, one of the most affluent dynasties in Chinese history, Wang Hui paints the idealistic peaceful life of human existence among the mountains and the streams – free from the worries of the world. The landscapes adhere to the Buddhist principles of peace, nonviolence, and moral order in the world and invite contemplative reflections from viewers.