Scholar by a Waterfall

Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225)
Scholar by a Waterfall
Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), late 12th–early 13th century
Album leaf: ink and color on silk
9 7/8 x 10 1/4 in. (25.1 x 26 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
image: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/eac/ho_1973.120.9.htm

Ma Yuan "was a master of “one-corner” painting, in which visual interest is focused in a corner of the work." (britannica.com). Very much a master, the corner focus is what drew me to this work. I think it creates a greater intimacy in the work, a small delicate world that the viewer can enter.

I have to admit to my complete lack of knowledge in Chinese painting as from what I can gather with a little research, Ma Yuan is one of the most famous and popular Chinese traditional painter known to the western world. Landscape painting in Chinese art.

Bronze McDonald's

Zhang Hongtu
Mai Dong Lao, 2002
cast bronze
same size as actual McDonald containers
edition of 10
image: http://www.plumblossoms.com/jidachun/maodanglao.htm

Mai Dong Lao is the Chinese pronunciation of McDonald's.

麦 (mai) is wheat or a general term for wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.
当 (dang) means appropriate, to serve as, or to be used as.
劳 (lao) means to work or to labor. (http://goodcharacters.com/blog/2007/04/05/mcdonalds-mai-dang-lao/)

A humorous use of the traditional Chinese medium bronze to create an object of American pop culture.

Chinese Artists: Reinventing Tradition
Reading Zhang Hongtu

Birds and flowers

Title? Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Lu Ji (1477-?)
likely on silk

A painter of bird and flower works, I haven't been able to find much on Lu Ji, discovering the painting on ChinaCulture.org.

Ming Dynasty art was known for its many different styles stemming from its variety of schools and sects. Lu Ji and others were known for more true to life/reality paintings, Lu Ji most specifically birds and flowers. Flower-and-bird painting is a genre of Chinese painting alongside genres such as landscape. His vivid colors and finely detailed work are exemplary. The rich goldenrod of the background is what draws me to the painting, the other works I've been able to find consist of much more muted colors.

Website dedicated to understanding Chinese painting.

Monkey

Sitting Monkey, 2nd-1st centuries
State of Chu, Southern China
Lacquered carved wood
Mingqi (ming-chee, object for burial chamber)
Toledo Museum of Art 2005.49

Animals are fantastically prevalent in art throughout the centuries, from small companions and magical creatures to monkeys! Monkeys are so common in the TMA collection that there has been mention of having show just to showcase them. I discovered this wonderful little gem on my first jaunt into the Asian Galleries (and yes I should be reprimanded for not visiting them sooner, but hey my MA is in Modern and Contemporary Art! ;).

I think it is fairly cool that many of the objects I am attracted to, I later realize are highlights of the collection, which is also good because I need to build up that knowledge to be the best art librarian I can be of course.

This little monkey is particularly rare due to its age and being made out of wood, a material we would think would have long since ceased to exist after 2000 years in the form of this burial object. These figures were coated in a thin lacquer that proved resistant to insects and water. Funerary wares were so important during the Tang Dynasty that there was an government agency responsible for overseeing their manufacture. (nga.gov.au)

Yay for art, creativity and learning. A google search for mingqi brought up as a first hit an art project for students to create their own mingqi out of clay. The education programing that museums provide is fantastic, if you have a great kid in your life I highly recommend checking out what your local art center or museum offers for kids, from hour long drop in projects just for kids to recurring courses and activities for kids and adults to do together.