Streams and Mountains Without End
I did some Met mezzanine stuff, but now the second floor . . .
China: The landscape in length: “The Mountains in Fog” is a scroll (1’ high and over 20’ long) and is “time over size”, “like time over strength” in “ruin lust” (see Week Two). The involvement of the viewer – walking the path – is a “different” form of contemplation.
The landscape in sheer size: “The Palace of Nine Perfections” [Yuan Jiang, Qing dynasty, 1691] is over 6’ high and 18’ long. It dominates the room; the impact is immediate.
On the Importance of Being: Flowers and Birds
Exaltations of Nature.
Vase with flowering plants and birds, China, late 17th-early 18th century, gallery 200.
Mankind . . . we regard as only one of Nature’s varied manifestations, and less worthy of appearing in the annals of Art than any other element: the fragile beauty of a flower or the graceful motions of a bird in flight rouses in our hearts, an emotion as poignant as any human loveliness or pain. – The Chinese Eye, Chiang Yee, 1935.
Moon Vase
Moon-shaped bottle, China, 18th century, “slippery stone”, gallery 200.
“Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do”. – Montaigne
The Celebration of Error
Kenzan-style Dish with Bamboo Leaves, Japan, 17th–18th century (not on view) kintsugi (kintsukuroi) gold lacquer repair.
Artist Uses Kintsugi to Mend Cracked Streets with Gold. https://mymodernmet.com/sidewalk-kintsukuroi-kintsugi-art/
Window onto Bamboo on a Rainy Day
“There are four principal ways of painting bamboo. In fair-weather, the leaves are spread out joyously; in rainy-weather, the leaves hang down despondently, in windy-weather, the leaves cross each other confusedly, and in the dew of early morning the leaves all point up vigorously.” – Henry P. Bowie, On the Laws of Japanese Painting, 1911.
Family apocrypha claims that at 2 I was bilingual in English and Japanese. Our gardener Mr. Yamamoto spoke no English, but our talks gave me an appreciation of bamboo, gardens, and the Japanese grid.