Masters of the Brush in the Forbidden City

Eight centuries separate us from the Song Dynasty, yet a single ink landscape or the gesture of a calligrapher is enough to reveal how powerfully that era continues to speak to the present. With Defining the Classics: A Journey to Tang and Song Calligraphy and Paintings, Beijing’s Palace Museum opens its extraordinary collections to explore one of the most important periods in the history of Chinese art. In the Hall of Literary Brilliance, the exhibition now presents works from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), an era when calligraphy and painting reached new heights that would profoundly influence the centuries to come. Landscapes, figures, flowers and birds trace the evolution of brush techniques while offering a window into the culture and sensibilities of the period. Two years in the making, the exhibition brings together a total of 107 treasures, 103 from the Palace Museum collection and four on loan from major Chinese museums. A rare opportunity to encounter, in the heart of the Forbidden City, works that helped define the canon of Chinese art.