After I saw the “Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632 – 1717),” I admired the artist, Wang Hui. There are millions of leaves within all the paintings. I could not imagine the patience and the time he spent on his paintings. The Metropolitan Museum of Art did a great job on this exhibition by organizing the paintings in chronological order and size order. When I got into the room, I felt peaceful and relaxed.
Before I mention the exhibition, let’s talk about Wang Hui himself. Wang Hui was the most famous painter in the late 17th-century China. His family had five generations of artists. His great-grandfather was talented in painting flowers and birds. Wang Hui’s grandfather was a master painter of mountains, portraits, and flowers. His father was good in painting mountains and seas. Therefore, Wang Hui already had the potential to paint well when he was young. He was a student of Wang Shimin, a famous painter. The way he learned how to paint was by copying the paintings from his master and some works of other great painters. After endless hours of copying, he created his own style which appears in his most famous paintings.
Wang Hui’s paintings mostly are landscapes: trees, mountains and seas. These images create a beautiful and peaceful atmosphere for the viewers. I liked seeing all his hand scrolls. When I first went into the showroom, I did not see any color paintings. However, when I walked to the side of the room, many beautiful green, blue and red colors in the paintings suddenly attracted me. Soon, I saw the one I loved the most I stayed close to appreciate it. “The Kangxi Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Three: Jinan to Mount Tai” by Wang Hui and assistants (1698) showed huge and cloudy mountains. It looks like a chair for the emperor. The people in the scene were small and walking to the left. The emperor was in a carriage which was towed by a horse. He used his incredible technique to make this painting gorgeous and detailed.
The exhibit was well organized. The personnel of the Metropolitan Museum of Art put the small paintings at an angle within the display glass on the table while the big paintings were hanging against the wall. The room was rounded. I am not sure if they intended to create a large circle with some big paintings and a small circle with some small paintings, but it made me feel like I was in the mountains. I liked the Chinese landscape paintings because they made me feel peaceful. Wang Hui paintings are huge, but he did not ignore the detail of the leaves. When I was walking between these paintings I imagined that I was soaring like an eagle from one mountain to another. Everything beneath me was so clear; I saw the trees, the villages and the ant-sized people.
In conclusion, I enjoyed a day in this art exhibition, and I especially admired the value of Wang Hui’s “Landscapes Clear and Radiant”. I have learned that adapting from the others’ unique works and applying it to my own style is necessary for the path to be a success artist. I will not forget Wang Hui’s delicate and ingenious work.