Autumn in New York is observed at Kaikodo with an exhibition that brings together Chinese and Japanese paintings of autumn with a selection of works of art produced during China’s Six Dynasties period. While showcasing autumn paintings was the initial objective, inspiration to expand the exhibition’s scope was provided in anticipation of China Institute’s Art in a Time of Chaos: Masterworks from Six Dynasties China, 3rd–6th Centuries, the inaugural exhibition of the Institute’s new gallery space and on view from September 30.
The world of the Six Dynasties, when six Chinese dynasties ruled successively in the south and the north was under a succession of foreign dynasties, was a deeply fragmented one. However, in the realms of art and literature it was an intensely creative time. The earthenware and Buddhist sculptures and a varied group of stoneware vessels produced at the Yue kilns included this exhibition serve to illustrate the extraordinary creative strides made during this time of chaos.
The paintings also capture a world in flux, the transition between the scorching heat of summer and winter’s numbing cold. Chinese images of autumn are subtle, the season suggested through understated pictorial reference and not infrequently the time of year is revealed only through an inscription or specific title written on the painting. The approach of Japanese painters is quite often a sentimental one, their paintings lyrical and often colorful, the season identified by specific flowers and grasses, an autumnal moon lording over a scene, or the Japanese maple in a seasonal dress of reds, yellows, and orange.
The twenty paintings and fifteen works of art comprise Kaikodo’s tribute to these disparate worlds in flux.
A complete write-up for each painting and work of art will be made available via email by clicking the “contact us” button below each caption.