Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

Contrasts 111ust be understood VIEWING a Chinese paint– Ing requires an understand– Ing of the differences be– tween the art of China, and art as we know It In the west. Says Oriental art specialist Dr Edmund Capon, director or the NBW Art Gallery: "Any comparison between a Chinese painting and Its western contemporary Is a compelling In– dication or the gulf which sepa– rates the cultural and artistic traditions or the Far East from those or the west." The enduring featu re or Chi– nese art Is the concept that painting Is a means whereby the thoughts, reellnps n11d as1,1rn– Uons or Individual man might be expressed. In Chinese art, the quest Is lo capture the spirit or essence or the subject. and from t111s has emerged an art com1,osed around the exploitation or expressive line. So. to appreciate fully the Chi– nese paintings now on show nt the Queensland Art Gallery an understanding or "how to read a Chinese painting" Is necessury. Dr Capon, who came to Bris– bane to open the $50 mllllon ex– hibition at the gallery until July 19, has producen a brochure to be distributed to schoolchildren vis– iting t.he exhibition. The brochure offers six key points In reading n Chinese painting. The example Is lhe 17th centu– r)' painting ''Thatched Hut In Green Mountain". catalogue number 51 al the exhibition Dr Capon says the painling Is a good exam11le of the classic Chi– nese landscape format. 1'he exhibition oeal. Here Is Dr Capon's guide to run enjoyment or this painting. and the olher srroll paintings on show : J. You begin you1• "ascent" or the pa inting here on this path which leads up to the bridge, 2, The path follows ol'cr the bridge and hel'e standing be– side the stream Is a crane. tra– ditionally In China the •rmbol or long Ure. 3. You next encounter llulldlngs and pavilions In which nre seated scholars drinking, read– mg or wrlLlng poetry. 4. The rising mists parallel the path and lead tJ1e viewer Uil through pine trees. Additional l'crtlcal emphasL~ ls pro,•ided lly the wnterfall on the left ol the pa.lntlng. 5. The path now disappears from sight through the archway. The landscape beyond is mo, c dlSlUnl Rnd l'C1110le and domi – nated by the towering and odd· ly-shaped peaks which suggest t.hat nature is ,·ast nnd unend– ing. 6. This lnscrl pt1011 is • poem written by an artist It\ which he describes his feelings about the- beauty and \'n3lness or na– lurc. SYl\fBOL·s or longevity, such as a crane and 11ine trees, and a strettm of mist, suggesting mystery and lm_pene– trable depth, are features of this Chinese scroll 11alntlng. It Is part of the S50 million exhibition "Treasures or the Forbidden City" now showing at the Queenslnml Art Gallery, In the MIM building In Ann St.reel. A guide to fuller appreciation or the Chinese landsca11e art Is pro- vided on the lcfl.