The Prosperous Cities: A Selection of Paintings from the Liaoning Provincial Museum

The Prosperous Cities: This is about an exhibition in 2009 but the scrolls are so beautiful!!

A Selection of Paintings from the Liaoning Provincial Museum
2009.09.25 - 11.22
Hong Kong Museum of Art
Special Exhibition Gallery (1), 2/F

Jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and
the Liaoning Provincial Museum
Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Liaoning Provincial Museum

A Celebration Programme of the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC

This exhibition features 15 paintings from the Ming (13681644) and Qing (16441911) dynasties, on the unique theme of prosperous cities, from the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum. Most of the exhibits, once prized possessions of the Qing emperor Qianlong, are representative works in the history of painting. Offering an insight into China's urban wealth during the Ming and Qing periods, they include significant paintings such as Along the River during the Qingming Festival by Qiu Ying (ca.1494ca.1552) of the Ming dynasty, Ten Views of West Lake by Wang Yuanqi (16421715) and Prosperous Suzhou by Xu Yang (1712ca. 1777) of the Qing dynasty.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the handscroll by Xu Yang, a Qing court painter during the reign of Qianlong. Completed in 1759 during Qianlong's second Southern Inspection Tour, the scroll painting provides a panoramic but extraordinarily detailed view of 18th century Suzhou. In it, Xu painstakingly depicts people from all walks of life from fishermen, woodcutters and tillers to merchants, literati and civil officers as well as Suzhou's fascinating scenery, in which many prosperous aspects of the city during the High Qing era are emphasised.