Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming 夢回金陵

February 21–May 13, 2018

Created in collaboration with a UC Berkeley course, this exhibition explores the cataclysmic end of the Ming dynasty through paintings and literature of China’s long seventeenth century.

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Yuan Jiang: The Garden of the Secluded Villa, 1706; ink and color on paper; 7 1/2 x 20 7/8 in.; BAMPFA, purchase made possible through a gift from Jane Lurie.

Upcoming
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Upcoming
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Selected
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Past
Films
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Past Events

Saturday, May 12, 11:30-1 PM or 1-2:30 PM
Gallery + Studio: Ink-Brush Landscapes

Learn the basics of landscape painting with brush and ink as you make your own scroll inspired by Dreaming the Lost Ming.

BAMPFA

For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Guided Tours: Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming

Learn more about the fascinating visual and literary expression of the cataclysmic end of the Ming dynasty.

BAMPFA

Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming 夢回金陵

February 21–May 13, 2018

Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming explores the cataclysmic end of the Ming dynasty by examining the paintings and literature of China’s long seventeenth century. The exhibition presents paintings by such artists as Xu Wei, Lan Ying, and Shitao in tandem with text from the plays and memoirs of the period. The Ming dynasty city of Nanjing, a flourishing urban center of pleasure and artistic innovation, was decimated in 1645 by the conquering Qing army. The paintings and inscriptions on exhibit here, by the artists and connoisseurs of seventeenth-century Nanjing, capture the ephemeral world portrayed in the play The Peach Blossom Fan (1699), which narrates a tragic tale of dynastic collapse, lost futures, and social disarray. Works by artists from the Ming–Qing transition period suggest an intense effort to come to terms with nostalgia for a lost past. Some painters and connoisseurs found solace in eccentricity, eremitism, and monasticism, while others collaborated with the Qing rulers. All had to negotiate their nostalgia for the Ming with an allegiance to the reigning Qing dynasty.

This is the second in a series of annual exhibitions developed in collaboration with UC Berkeley classes. Students in Professor Sophie Volpp’s seminar Seventeenth-Century Nanjing: Painting, Theater, Memoir designed this exhibition in conjunction with Senior Curator for Asian Art Julia White and postdoctoral fellow Yi Yi Mon Kyo, drawing on BAMPFA’s permanent collection. Students formulated the exhibition concept, delved into the relations between visual and literary representations of seventeenth-century Nanjing, translated seals and inscriptions, and wrote essays for a guide that accompanies the exhibition.

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Download the exhibition brochure (PDF)

Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming is organized by the students in UC Berkeley Professor Sophie Volpp’s seminar Seventeenth-Century Nanjing: Painting, Theater, Memoir in conjunction with Senior Curator for Asian Art Julia White and post-doctoral fellow Yi Yi Mon Kyo.

Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming 夢回金陵

February 21–May 13, 2018

Selected Exhibition Objects

Painting

Flower and Landscapes

Yun Shou-p'ing (Yun Shouping)

Painting

Lotus

Shitao

Painting

Evening Landscape

Fan Qi

Painting

Garden Rock

Lan Ying

Painting

Reminiscences of Nanking, 1 of 10

Shitao

Painting

The Willow Dwelling (Yang-Liu Chu)

Gong Xian

Painting

Melon and Vine

Xu Wei

Painting

Album of 12 Landscapes

Hu Yukun

Painting

Landscape with Portraits of Scholars

Lan YingXie Bin

Past Events

Gallery + Studio: Ink-Brush Landscapes

Guided Tours: Cal Conversations: Dreaming the Lost Ming

Lan Ying
Xie Bin