Studio: international art (46.1909)

Chinese Pictures

“TWO MEN PLAYING” BY TANG-YIN

weakened in their cravings for classical perfec-
tion. Then men loved principally to paint with
utmost conscientiousness the amenities of social
life and all sorts of realistic objects. High as-
pirations had not quite died out, they were
frequently lingering and speak to us from one
or the other picture with pathos and tenderness.
“Our painting,” said a Japanese writer of the
18th century, “is the flower, that of China is the
fruit in its maturity.” But in the course of time
this beautiful fruit has more and more under-
gone decay. It was delightful to find an oppor-
tunity of seeing it in all its seductive freshness.
Connoisseurs have supposed some of the paint-
ings in the collection to be only copies, but even
this would not diminish their value, as perfect
copies are ranked in China as highly as originals.

It was from purely patriotic motives that Mrs.
Olga Julia Wegener, the wife of the well-knowm
traveller, Dr. Georg Wegener, brought these treas-
ures first to Berlin. She had carefully collected
them in China after serious study of Chinese art
and with the assistance of competent critics, and
I understand that it is her intention to exhibit
them presently in London. It was a real satis-
faction to her that the Royal Academy of Arts
in Berlin acknowledged the importance of her
possessions by arranging for them an exhibition
within its own distinguished galleries.

Jarno Jessen.

“new year’s MORNING IN A MANTCHU FAMILY:
ITINERANT MIRROR-POLISHER IS POLISHING MIRROR”
SIGNED HSU-TIENG-K’UN (ABOUT 1650)

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