↗The quiet presence of a peony
In Hua Yan’s White Peony and Rocks, a pale flower and dark garden rocks invite two different kinds of attention.
THE ART OF LOOKING
A world within a landscape
Slow down. Look closer. Discover the stories, ideas and people behind Chinese art.
Read the storyARTPEONY JOURNAL 6 STORIESQian Xuan, Wang Xizhi Watching Geese (detail), c. 1295. The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
ARTPEONY
Begin hereNew to Chinese art?
Three ways to begin: follow a landscape, look closely at a line, and meet the artist behind the work.
FROM THE JOURNAL
Explore all storiesEditor’s selection
A closer look
One brush. A thousand possibilities.
Follow the movement of a line, the pause between strokes, the meeting of ink and paper. An invitation to look at calligraphy anew.
Read the storyFOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY
Ways into Chinese art
A subject, a gesture, a new perspective. Find your own way in.
The latest stories
Explore all storiesTwo flowers, two ways of making a mark
Zhao Zhiqian turns the curved field of a fan into an encounter between color, outline and writing.
A line, a pause, a living rhythm
Zhao Mengfu’s scroll brings stories about Wang Xizhi into a rhythm of strokes, characters and open space.
How ink makes room for mist
In Wang Hui’s landscape of 1662, the spaces between the mountains do as much work as the mountains themselves.
A world within a landscape
In Qian Xuan’s landscape, a calligrapher watching geese becomes a way to explore the relationship between nature and art.