Professor Emeritus James Cahill made many contributions to the University of California community during his thirty-year tenure, none more lasting than the collection of Chinese and Japanese paintings that form the core of the Asian art collection at the Berkeley Art Museum. Known as the Ching Yuan Chai Collection, after Professor Cahill's studio name, this group of paintings has long been admired by scholars, the public, and most intently by the many students who studied with Cahill, whom many consider to be among the most knowledgeable connoisseurs of Chinese painting in the twentieth century. In addition to providing access to his own extensive collections, Professor Cahill encouraged patrons and museum staff to acquire paintings he identified as adding significant depth to the Berkeley Art Museum collections. This exhibition is a tribute to a remarkable man who inspired several generations of scholars, curators, and professors to pursue their lifetime careers in the arts. A number of the paintings that were essential parts of the Ching Yuan Chai Collection were recently acquired by BAMPFA through the generous gift of an anonymous donor, in some cases with additional funds from other strong supporters of Asian art at Berkeley. Among these acquisitions is a major work by Dai Jin (1388–1462), Summer Trees Casting Shade. The artist's seal on this painting had long been obscured by the mounting, but once “recovered” in remounting, it allowed Professor Cahill to undertake the research necessary to confirm the work's authenticity. Dai Jin is highly regarded as one of the most important artists of the early Ming period (early fifteenth century), and because of its quality and scale, this painting is among the artist's most significant works. Among the other paintings in this installation that were acquired by BAMPFA on recommendation of Professor Cahill, none speaks more eloquently of his commitment to teaching than the large hanging scroll Scholar Instructing Girl Pupils in the Arts by the Ming artist Chen Hongshou (1598–1652). The painting depicts a scholar seated in front of a qin (zither) with one lady of great potential intently studying a painting while the other is engaged in arranging flowers. Painted in the artist's characteristic archaic style, it expresses the dedication and oversight of a committed teacher. Originally from the Nu Wa Chai, an exceptional collection that was dispersed in the 1960s through the de Young Museum Foundation, this painting is only one of many that helped to inspire generations of students at UC Berkeley. It was included in the 1971 seminar on Chinese painting that resulted in the exhibition and critically acclaimed catalog The Restless Landscape: Chinese Painting of the Late Ming Period. This installation provides an overview of the Berkeley Art Museum's holdings of Chinese paintings. To James Cahill's former students and scholars in the field who will gather for a conference in his honor on April 27 and 28, they will appear as old friends, familiar and much admired. For future generations of students, they will provide great opportunities for research and study, and for the public, a chance to admire selections from an extraordinarily rich collection of Chinese art.
