Structure and Spirit, Sublimity and Freedom

David Ake Sensabaugh
Former Ruth and Bruce Dayton Curator of Asian Art and Head of Asian Art Department at the Yale University Art Gallery and co-curator of the Flowers on a River exhibition

Although flowers and birds were depicted separately in China from as early as the Neolithic period, it was not until the Tang dynasty (618–907) that a genre “flower-and-bird painting” (huaniaohua) emerged. By the early 12th century, this genre was well enough developed to be represented by five chapters (juan) in the catalogue of the imperial collection, Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings (Xuanhe huapu), more than any other genre. Each period was defined by famous masters and their works. Almost none of those works survived, but using archaeological material, texts, and a few extant paintings, a history of early flower-and-bird painting can be constructed. That history from the 8th to the 12th century unfolds in this talk.

Sponsored by Friends of Asian Art