The Bottom Line
Working my way through the pages of How to Read Chinese Paintings made me feel as if I could begin to get to grips with the vast subject that is Chinese art, about which I know very little and have long been unsure about where to even start. Unlike other books on the subject I've tried to read, this one didn't feel like it required me to already know lots of jargon or historical context already.
Pros
- Analyzes and explains 36 paintings and calligraphies from the Metropolitan Museum's collection.
- Paintings range from the eighth to seventeenth centuries.
- Subject matter ranges from landscape and figures to flowers and birds.
Cons
- Most recent painting is from c.1679.
Description
- Paperback book, distributed by Yale University Press for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
- 184 pages. 175 illustrations. ISBN 9780300141870.
- Author Maxwell K Hearn is a curator in the Asian art department of the Met.
Guide Review - How to Read Chinese Paintings by Maxwell K Hearn
If you ever wished you could do an "Introduction to Chinese Painting" course with a friendly tutor who would explain things in ordinary language, not incomprehensible artspeak, then you should take a look at How to Read Chinese Paintings. Through the careful description and analysis of 36 paintings from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in an accessible style, you begin to understand what's going on in each as well as something of the various styles, techniques, and approaches of painting.
For each of the 36 paintings (which includes calligraphies, that is paintings without images, just words) the author describes what's going on, how it was painted, who the artist was and what influenced them. If you know something about Chinese painting you may well find it too basic, but I found it very readable, enjoyable, and informative.
The paintings are reproduced in their entirety, and with close-up details, the size of which let you get right in close (without a museum guard warning you off!). The text introduces concepts that you can see in the particular painting, and which equip you to appreciate others. For instance the "three traditional ways in which Chinese artists conceptualized landscape": level-distance, deep-distance, and high-distance. Or that three little dots are used to indicate an error in a character (erasing calligraphic mistakes not being an option). Or why the painter deliberately didn't re-ink his brush. It also highlights developments through the centuries, in technique and approach.
It's a book that left me feeling I'd taken the first steps to gaining an understanding and greater appreciation for Chinese painting, rather than merely knowing I liked some styles.
For each of the 36 paintings (which includes calligraphies, that is paintings without images, just words) the author describes what's going on, how it was painted, who the artist was and what influenced them. If you know something about Chinese painting you may well find it too basic, but I found it very readable, enjoyable, and informative.
The paintings are reproduced in their entirety, and with close-up details, the size of which let you get right in close (without a museum guard warning you off!). The text introduces concepts that you can see in the particular painting, and which equip you to appreciate others. For instance the "three traditional ways in which Chinese artists conceptualized landscape": level-distance, deep-distance, and high-distance. Or that three little dots are used to indicate an error in a character (erasing calligraphic mistakes not being an option). Or why the painter deliberately didn't re-ink his brush. It also highlights developments through the centuries, in technique and approach.
It's a book that left me feeling I'd taken the first steps to gaining an understanding and greater appreciation for Chinese painting, rather than merely knowing I liked some styles.
