THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY, SE PTEMBER 10, 1967 I The Divine Spirit of China' :A View by Tao-chi 0 EDITOR'S NOTE: Richard Ed- wards is a professor in the History of Art department whose field is Far Eastern art. He organized the current Tao-chi exhibit at the Mu- seum of Art and edited the cata- logue, "The Painting of Tao-chi." By RICHARD EDWARDS Seldom does one have the op- portunity to view a major share; of the existing works of a great Chinese painter assembled to- gether under one roof. In fact, it is doubtful that this: has ever been attempted in the: western world. Such is the unique opportunity that is still available for a final week in the Museum of Art where an exhibition of the painting of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century master, Tao-chi, is currently on{ show.+ The exhibition, along with a similarly significant display of Sasanian silver ,was one of the features of the International Congress of Orientalists held in Ann Arbor from Aug. 13-19. Held over for the first few weeks of the fall term, it will not close until Sept. 17. Aside from a continued confir- mation of the University's estab- lished commitment to the area of Asia, occasions of celebration that involve the 150th anniver- sary of the University and the bringing of a great congress to Ann Arbor, why present the painting of a Chinese artist? In our relations with China we have come a long way in our judgments and knowledge about art and other matters since Mat- teo Ricci in the early seventeenth century who saw Chinese paint- ing as "primitive" and "likely to, resemble the dead rather than the living." And few of us any longer think of Confucius as an impassive. slant-eyed sage who strolled about a mysterious land uttering devastating epigrams about life at exactly the appro- priate moment. Still it is clear that we have great difficulty in understanding Asia and at social and political' levels co-exist on suffrance, and often in suffering, with most un- certain and patchwork arrange- ments. This is not to say that an exhibition of art will offer solu- tions to the contemporary social problems that concern most of us. But art has a curious way of insisting on what is real and the reality of the story of Chinese painting is not to be couched in vague generalities. It is not, for example, the un- folding of an enduring series of UNT .1 TWINING FLYING CLUB TWINING AVIATION j pleasant water-colorists who de- the appearance of divine spirit." lighted in charming delicate As "flesh and bone." Tao-chi is views of nature. Nor is it the an artist of extraordinary interest collective vision of impassioned both within and without the Chi- sages with special mist-enshroud- nese .scene. (A possible western ed insights of mysteries that must parallel might be suggested in forever remain hidden from lesser such a figure as Cezanne.) Born in mortals, particularly those whose 161. he lived in an age of tur- consciousness is trapped in the moil and resettlement that mark- prison of a "western mind." ed the collapse of the Ming dy- On the contrary, Chinese artists nasty and the establishment of were alive in their world as our the alien Ch'ing. artists are 'alive in ours, and the Much has been made of Tao- purpose of an exhibition of a chi's allegiance to the fallen Ming single Chinese painter called, Tao- since he was distantly related to chi, is to point out that whereas that imperial family. Closer study, his view is not exactly our view however, indicates that he accept- (which would indeed be a bore), ed much of Ch'ing rule and seems he has left in his painting a rec- to have had no difficulty in rever- ord of experience with which we encing the great Emperor K'ang- can have sympathy. To quote Tao- hsi who ruled during all of Tao- chi's own statement on the sub- chi's mature life. Still, there are ject, ". . flesh and bone compel regrets for vanished Ming glory, and one of these is found on a hanging scroll of calligraphy in this exhibition on which he writes his feelings upon being presented with the writing brush of a fornier Ming emperor. But the world of a painter is essentially a world of visual forms, and the exhibition visitor will find a rich store of these in over 100 individual paintings. If one is to try to settle for one theme that might be thought of as permeating the entire exhibi- tion, perhaps it could be defined as a love of country--not certain- ly in the modern nationalistic sense, but as something closer to a metaphysical point-of-view in which the great beauties of China's, mountains and rivers and the cen- turies of living with them that is China's civilization are closely linked to the individual experience of the artist, Tao-chi. He travelled extensively, as an exhibited map clearly shows, and many of his most beautiful pic- tures are travel scenes. One of the greatest of these is the im- peccably delicate "Eight Views of Huang-shan" which, in a series of scenes, tells of a visit to a fa- mous mountain site in Anhwei. Another is the tiny intimate "Small Album," which he did while visiting a friend near Yang- chou. Sometimes travel is the memory of travel as in his famous monumental hanging scroll on silk, "The Waterfall at Mt. Lu." And this in turn is linked to the poetry of China for on it the artist writes a poem by the eighth century T'ang poet, Li Po. Throughout is great variety and inventiveness. Tao-chi may see a mountain as "bending to the man," or he may see it a rigid un- yielding rock-like symbol, as in two leaves from the album, "Rem- iniscences of Ch 'in-huai." Again, the whole world may become de- liberately active, moving and alive, a continuing powerful outpouring of form and color that is the large handscroll, . "A Trip to Chang-kung's Stalactite Grotto." Sometimes the theme of flowers is of major interest. Blossoms may be calm and quietly beautiful ("Lotus") or they may speak of a kind of elemental wildness, as in "Searching for Plum Blossoms." In still another facet of his work, Tao-chi's direct debt to Buddhism is seen in an intricate long hand- scroll, "The Conversion of Hariti." Here, then, are a few hints. Clearly there is much more than can be stated here, and viewers may find the rather complete and # scholarly catalogue a helpful guide and source of study. But mostly, for any who wishes to ex- plore. in the pictures themselves will be found the reality of the artist. -The Art Museum, Princeton University "SEARCHING FOR PLUM BLOSSOMS" is the subject of this detail of a hand scroll by Chinese artist Tao-chi. -Cleveland Museum of Art "THE MOUNTAIN BENDS TO THE MAN" is a painting by Chinese artist Tao-chi, whose works are now on display at the Museum of Art. "Amusing, poignant, beautifully arst.. .,- . .. .,. "Amusing, poignant, beautifully performances!". .-N. Y. Times in Technocolor balanced. Excellent TE Starrn wcdm ard SADY DENNIS IWinner t ,/ Shows at 1 :30- 4:00-6:30-9:05 MICHWIGAN Feature at 1:45 4:20 - 6:55 - 9:25 fel d(inn (1IIse Daily Classified Ads Municipal Airport 663-93211 ,1 Slowly they stripped Sam Laker down until there was nothing but animal left... 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