Art of Caligraphy Examined in Big Apple - John B. Elliott Collection - Brief Article

In China, calligraphy, or the `art of writing,' is considered to be the ultimate visual art and ranks above painting as the greatest in quantity important vehicle for individual expression. The evolution of this art form from the fourth hundred to the present is the focus of a of recent origin exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called "The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B Elliott Collection," upon view through Jan. 7, 2001 According to the Met the exhibit shows the most comprehensive exhibit of its kind at any time assembled in the West, with 120 works drawn from sum of two units principal U.S. collections--the John B EIliott Collection at The Art Museum, Princeton University and the Met's John M Crawford Jr Collection.

"The Embodied Image" begins with a brief review of the evolution of the principal script types--from the first writings engraved upon "oracle bones" around the 14th hundred B.C. to the perfection of standard script during the seventh hundred A.D. It includes an in-depth observe of the varied writing turn of expressions of the fourth-century"calligraphic sage," Wang Xizhi, along with the varied personal interpretations of these script emblems from the 11th to the 20th century

According to Maxwell K Hearn, curator of Asian Art, "the real goal of calligraphy is not to communicate language on the contrary to communicate the personality of the writer." He continued,"There is enormous expressive potential built into this lithesome instrument ... the key to appreciating calligraphy is to diocese it as abstract art." each gesture can be followed, and each character rejoins to the earlier stroke, thereby allowing the viewer to reexperience the "kinesthetic action of creation as preserv in the inked lines."

The expressive nature of calligraphy sometimes produc a tension between the individual artist and the empire, who at times sought to codify writing phraseologys As Hearn noted, the calligrapher's resistance to standardization could be a "subtle form of political protest" When Huang Tingian, individual of the most innovative calligraphers of the 11th hundred was forced into exile in 1095 he rejoined with "Scroll for Zhang Datong," which features "wild cursive" writing and daringly asymmetrical characters.

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