Kaikodo Journal XXX Spring 2014

The Immortal Past

Corresponding to the exhibition held between March 14 and April 25, 2014. 37 Chinese, Japanese and Korean paintings; 31 Chinese, Japanese and Korean objects (72 color plates). Preface by Howard Rogers. 230 pages.

Includes the essays:
Richard Barnhart:
    “’Wind and Snow at the Ba Bridge’ attributed to Zhang Xunli: A Note on
      Landscape Painting in North China during the Jin Dynasty”
David Ake Sensabaugh:
    “The Afterlife of Yang Sheng”
Kazuko Kameda-Madar:
    “A Sixteenth-century Korean Landscape Painting with Seal Reading ‘Bunsei’”
Michael Dunn:
    “Aesthetic Perception in Japan”

“The Immortal Past,” theme of the present exhibition, seeks to emphasize the fact that the past never really disappears. It has long been recognized, especially in Chinese art, that the past remains current, and motives from early bronzes, for example, reappear without question or apology in the arts of many later eras. Most of the material exhibited in this show was created during long-gone periods and will continue to exist into the distant future. By collecting them, studying them, and writing about them we contribute to their ongoing history and thus to their immortality, a life that does not end.  It is thus that we present as thorough write-ups for each painting and object as possible given the restraints of time, and that we include scholarly essays to further illuminate either exhibited items or topics of special interest.