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Oglethorpe University Museum of Art to
Showcase An Ho
Atlanta – The Oglethorpe University Museum of Art presents
an exhibition displaying the ideas and concepts of traditional
Chinese culture, “Dream of the Red Chamber” – An Experience in
Traditional Chinese Aesthetics: Paintings by An Ho and furniture by
Henry Lautz. The exhibition will run from October 15 to December 17,
2000 and is sponsored in part by the DeKalb Council for the Arts.
This first time U.S. exhibition will display 12 of An Ho’s
life-size paintings and six of Henry Lautz’s original works of wood
furniture in the Skylight Gallery.* An Ho’s paintings, created with
traditional Chinese techniques, portray the major female characters
in “Dream of the Red Chamber,” the acclaimed 18th century Chinese
novel.
“We’re thrilled to have the works of An Ho,” said Director of the
Oglethorpe Museum of Art Lloyd Nick. “We’ve been working over four
years to get this exhibition and finally everything fit for the
first American showing of An’s pieces.”
An Ho, also known as Wen-ying, was born in Beijing in 1927 and
began her studies with painter/scholar Pu Ru in 1944 when she was 17
years old. She studied with him for 17 years, including four years
in which she lived with his family.
Pu Ru, also known as Pu Xing-yu, was a member of the Qing Dynasty
royal family as a cousin of the Xuantong Emperor, Pu Yi. He was an
outstanding painter, poet and essayist with a thorough knowledge of
the classics and antiques. Under Pu’s instruction, An began by
reading the Chinese classics, practicing calligraphy and imitating
the most important paintings of the Tang (618-906 A.D.) and Sung
(960-1279 A.D.) Dynasties.
Tang and Sung Dynasty painting, considered pinnacles of Chinese
art, were skills that had been lost over the centuries.
Characteristics of Tang and Sung Dynasty painting include: a
precision and sophistication of brushwork; perfection of line
technique; a concentration on people, religious figures and horses;
and the use of landscape. An Ho’s many years of research into these
techniques and her command of the associated skills and subject
matter have led her to be recognized by scholars of Chinese art as
the only living artist to master this ancient style.
Henry Lautz, An Ho’s son-in-law, began his education as a
woodworker at the tender age of five with his great-uncle, a
German-trained cabinetmaker. He was introduced to Chinese
craftsmanship in wood by George Larrigo, a friend of his
grandfather’s who had been a missionary in China for nearly 50
years.
Lautz creates furniture in a free-flowing way – allowing the
wood’s natural patterns and shadings to shape the final piece. He
uses Chinese joinery which allows visual and structural freedom as
well as reversible glues and finishes that “leave the look and feel
of the wood clear and accessible” so that it may develop its own
patina. The resulting works are uniquely beautiful and satisfying.
Lautz’s tables and cabinets created with traditional Chinese
techniques will contribute to and inform the study of Chinese
aesthetics as presented in An’s life-size paintings based on the
seminal Chinese novel “Dream of the Red Chamber.”
Written by Cao Xueqin (1715-1763), “Dream of the Red Chamber”
combines romance and realism, psychological motivation and fate,
daily life and supernatural occurrences. Xueqin’s variety of
individual character portraits reveals a depth not previously
explored in Chinese literature.
A catalog including 12 images of An Ho’s paintings and two images
of Henry Lautz’s furniture will accompany the exhibition. The
catalog text will be written by Kam-ming Wong, professor of
comparative literature at the University of Georgia. The catalog,
which will be available through the Museum Gift Shop, will also
include an introduction by Oglethorpe University Museum of Art
Director Lloyd Nick, as well as artist statements and biographies
from An Ho and Henry Lautz.
Lectures about the exhibition will be given by Henry Lautz,
artist, and Kam-ming Wong, catalog author. Photographs are available
for publicity purposes.
*Also on display at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art will
be the collections of Michel Bechtell and Edward Fritzi, entitled
Michele Bechtell and Edward Fritzi Collection: Old Masters and 19th
Century Art.
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