ART 100 LECTURE 12 10/14/2011 Silk Road, China Golden Ages: y 1st century y 7-8th century Reconstructed portrait

of Qin Shihuang y First emperor of China y r. 221 210 y Modern gesture western influence i.e. Augustus Great Wall (220 206 BCE) y First built by the first emperor y 5,500 miles long Underground terra-cotta army of the firs emperor y Discovered in 1974 Tang Empire (618 907) y Capital: Chang an y Religion: Buddhism o Daoism o Confucianism Yang Guifei Mounting the Horse (13th Century) y Artist Qian Xuan y Handscroll y 30.4 x 110.6 y Guifei is the top concubine y Set up fashion for women to follow y Emperor was very infatuated with Guifei y Plump face, plumper body y Woman and horses o Imperial harem had 2, 000 women o Imperial stable had 20, 000 horses y Ideal Woman (8th century) o Plump face o Small mouth o Rounder body o Tall hair-dos headdress o Wearing make-up sometimes o Wearing rich silk dress Court Ladies Preparing Silk (8th century) y Famous court artist: Zhang Xuan y Emperor Huizong s copy (r. 1101-25) y Handscroll painting y Ink and color on silk y 37 x 147 cm

y @ MFA, Boston y Copying paintings was a common practice in the court Detail 1: y Handscroll read from left to right y Definition of space: o Women s faces are arranged in different directions: frontal, profile, view, and another view the other way o Overlapping of women shows who is in front o Vertical lines emphasized by women s sticks Detail 2: y One woman is weaving, the other is sewing y Beautiful embroidery on women s dresses y Third woman holding the fan is directing her fan in the direction of the last stage Detail 3: y Woman doing the ironing is probably the most important y Little girl on the bottom is checking to see if the bottom of the silk is good Court Ladies Wearing Flowers in their Hair (Tang dynasty, 2nd half of 8th century) y Artist: Zhoug Fang became emperor s favorite painter o Highly skilled at painting court ladies y Handscroll y Ink and color on silk y 46 x 180 Detail 1: y Wearing many layers of silk dress y Woman on left s dress is transparent y Ideal face tiny mouth often painted red (cherry mouth) o Painted eyebrows to look like moth wings Detail 2: y The woman holding the flower is the oldest y Women blossom for a short time like a flower y After 10 years, the concubines were considered old and married out y Few concubines really had a chance to be with the emperor Detail 3: y Last woman is holding a butterfly y According to the stories, the emperor would release a butterfly, and whoever the butterfly landed on, she would get a night with the emperor y Flower + court lady + butterflies y y y Sexuality is portrayed differently in China: no depictions of breasts or hips of women See-through clothes was considered enticing NOTE: paintings were only viewed by emperor s eyes

Characteristics of Tang Court Paintings y Sequential from left to right telling a story, distinct beginning and end y Tryptic y No horizon line and no background no indication of setting y Organized into three sections (three space cells), each third is unified y Middle cell is a transition

Court ladies own pets, which are actually owned by the emperor