Weng Family Collection of Chinese Painting: Travel and Home exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston April 3, 2021 – March 6, 2022
* Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Art, like travel, is a two-way lens. You look through it to see, to learn something new outside yourself, something about the world. And, like travel, art allows one to see something new within oneself.
The extraordinary Wang-go H. C. Weng exhibition currently at the MFA provides a refracted view of a privileged and productive life of its collector. This is a further reflection of the art of China particularly during the Ming and Qing dynasties. “Travel and Home” is beautifully curated, inviting you through the moon door into a serene exploration of the Weng’s impressive collection. It is a most intriguing time to experience this particular exhibition.
“Travel and Home” represents the product of six generations of scholars and artists, advisors to China’s highest courts, which may end with the recent passing of Wan-go H.C. Weng in December of 2020. One granddaughter enjoys the study of calligraphy, one of “the three perfections.” We can hope the brushstrokes she practices will trace a path luring her back through the generations’ of her family legacy and inspire her to carry grandfather’s work forward. Luckily, we need not wait to see how that story unfolds because we can enjoy an immersive experience at the MFA now.
In contemplating this exhibition, several themes emerge. Of course, the title of the exhibition itself, “Travel and Home,” is so relevant to us in this era of pandemic solitude. But this exhibition, the second from The Weng Family Collection, also suggests other dualities, all relevant in these times.
The artistic movement of the Literati emerged in reaction to the rise of professional art which emphasized realism, used bright colors and appealed to broad audiences. The intellectuals in the Literati school of thought emphasized classic studies and styles, based on “the three perfections: painting, calligraphy, poetry.” The highest achievement was exemplified by a person who could master all three. Easy, bright, popular and commercial art was art for the masses, whereas the Literati were clearly a class apart, quite literally.
The third refraction suggested by this collection is the nature of the relationship that emerged to produce this profound gift. Weng felt the MFA was the perfect home for his family’s collection, representing 700 years of rich work. In this month, we reflect on Asian American Heritage and explore things that unite us and divide us. That this collection survived the Japanese invasion of China is no small miracle. Museum curator Kojiro Tomita, began corresponding with Weng in 1949, building a relationship which enabled Weng to feel the MFA was his museum and the perfect home for his collection. This relationship between a Japanese curator and a Chinese collector is, in itself, inspiring especially given the time in which it took shape.
Turning back to our exhibition, I spoke with Nancy Berliner, Wu Tung Senior Curator of Chinese Art and Feier Ying, Curatorial Research Associate of Chinese Art. Their deep knowledge of and love for this collection was readily apparent. I asked each to tell me about a favorite item of theirs in from this exhibition.
Nancy mentioned “Boating under Autumn Moon.” She explained the handscroll was intimate by design, to be carried, unrolled to view or share. The moon leaps out over still waters and we can imagine ourselves on a river bank watching the moon rise or on the boat, on calm waters viewing that same moon.
*Gift of the Wan-go H. C. Weng Collection and the Weng family, in honor of Weng Tonghe
*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Feier mentioned “Entering the City Gate,” where four panels, like an album, depict different regions – travel itself had become something of a regional competition, and visiting famous sites and collecting those experiences was highly valued then, as it is now. At home we long for travel, while traveling we have nostalgia for home.
The Literati followed the pursuit of the three perfections: calligraphy, painting, poetry; a person who could master these three was held in the highest esteem. Weng represents a bridge from the past to the current times, a published poet, an award-winning author, art scholar, a self-taught filmmaker, and a man who designed his own home including a classic moon door. Weng followed the generations of art scholars in his family, documenting with modern technology Asian art through film and photography.
In ancient Chinese art, paintings became evolving living documents, added to by subsequent generations. While the added embellishments or notations on these pieces have ended, we each have a chance to have something inscribed on our hearts as we contemplate these pieces. Like a calligrapher’s water brush strokes, a trace of that brush stroke lingers; can you feel it?
