Wang Yao-T'Ing

An absolutely excellent introductory book on Chinese painting by an expert, one of the world's most distinguished scholars of Chinese art based in Taiwan at the National Palace Museum.

The book consists of two main sections: Part One ["A View to Chinese Painting"] is one of the best descriptions anywhere of the basics of Chinese painting everyone needs to know: brushes, ink, textures, methodology, composition, poetic space, signatures, seals and mounting. Part Two ["An Introduction to the History of Chinese Painting"] is a 100-page overview of the history of Chinese painting through the dynasties as new styles and themes emerged and were refined or discarded. An especially important stand-alone section is on authenticating paintings.

Every beginner to the subject should begin with Section One, beautifully illustrated with some of the most famous paintings known in Chinese painting drawn from the collection of the National Palace Museum. Several illustrations highlight details rarely discussed or seen in other art books. (The sole use of NPM paintings may be seen as a negative by other reviewers, but the examples shown are all famous and should be known, plus too many introductions to Chinese painting overwhelm beginners with too many examples--this is a case where 'less is more'.) The second section is a good introductory overview for those who are new to Chinese painting, but a good review for those who have already stepped into the pond. The section on authenticating paintings should not be missed by anyone; it is a classic and an important reminder of the murkiness of the Chinese authenticity landscape--an area such scholars as James Cahill continued to work in through his lifetime.

In reading this work, it became slowly apparent to me that this work has influenced more than one writer on the subject, often without proper credit being given Wang Yao-T'ing. This is a work to acquire and keep on one's shelves; it is timeless and only its use of the old Wade-Giles spellings detracts from its use today. Newcomers to the field will need an (easily downloadable from the internet) chart of Wade-Giles to Pinyin transliterations to help them with the names; and more experienced readers will miss the lack of Pinyin and Chinese characters when such terms as 'broken ink' and 'splattered ink' are introduced. It is for these reasons that the work lost a much-deserved otherwise five stars. I would heartily recommend that the book be revised (as recommended above) and re-issued to deserve the recognition it so heartily deserves.… (mehr)