The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California, United States
11 April – 12 July 2009
Assembled primarily during the 19th century, the Weng Collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy has survived more than a century of dynastic changes and warfare to remain unscathed in the care of one family.
Weng Tonghe (1830–1904), who formed the collection, was a preeminent figure in China, holding some of the highest positions at the imperial court.
His collection was passed down through six generations, finally coming to his great great grandson Wango H. C. Weng. “Treasures through Six Generations” presents 42 masterworks of Chinese painting and calligraphy created over a period of 900 years
Among them is a hand scroll by the Southern Song artist Liang Kai (13th century), the only known example of his courtly style.
Also on view will be the monumental hand scroll painting Ten Thousand Li up the Yangzi River by Wang Hui (1632–1717), in which the artist traces China’s greatest river in more than 50 feet of imaginatively layered brushwork.
In tandem with these works, paintings and calligraphy created by generations of the Weng family, including Weng Tonghe and Wango Weng, will show the continuation of discipline and cultivation of the scholar class—traditionally the leading elite of China.
The exhibition originally was organized by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts as “Through Six Generations: The Weng Collection of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy” in 2007.
Wango H. C. Weng is an academic adviser to The Huntington’s Chinese garden, Liu Fang Yuan, or Garden of Flowing Fragrance.
A fully illustrated catalog will accompany the exhibition.
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