Faces of China: Over 500 years of portraiture
Portrait painting has a 2000-year-old tradition in China. A Berlin exhibition features magnificent paintings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties spanning over five centuries, from 1368 to 1912.
A twinkle in the eye
This portrait depicts Dawaci, a regional rival of the Qianlong Emperor in the mid-18th century. After capturing Dawaci, the emperor arranged the western Mongolian warrior's marriage to a princess in 1756, the same year an unknown artist created the above painting. The visual details, including tiny dots of white in Dawaci's eyes, highlight the influence of Western techniques in the Qing court.
A historic civil servant
This portrait of public servant Yang Maolin is typical of the early Ming Dynasty. It is estimated to date from the 16th century or early 17th century. The style and the color of the man's clothes indicate that he was an official of a lower rank. His smooth, young face is painted in a relatively flat style, which was typical for paintings of that period.
A rank marked by red
This portrait of Yang Woxing, one of Yang Maolin's relatives, was painted during the same period. Also a state official, Yang Woxing's red clothes and the decorative elements embroidered with gold show off his rank in the public service hierarchy. Another typical element in this painting is the imported Ningxia rug. Portrait subjects would often pose on such a rug.
China's most powerful woman
As the mother of the first ruler of the Qing Dynasty, the Shunzhi Emperor who ruled from 1644-1661, Dowager Empress Xiaozhuangwen was the most powerful and highly esteemed woman of the imperial court at the time. She is portrayed here as a dignified older woman. Even though the portrait frames her in close-up, her pose gives an impression of distance.
A ruler's glory
This portrait of the Tianqi Emperor was probably painted in the imperial court's studios. The emperor ascended to the throne at the age of 15 in 1620 and died only seven years later from a severe illness. The portraits of rulers from that period had a double function: They served as ritual objects to be venerated and as a strategic way to establish political power.
Deer and cranes for luck
This depiction of a noble couple was created under the Qing Dynasty between the 18th and 19th centuries. The man and woman in traditional costume have formal poses. Unlike other typical ancestor portraits, this painting includes the couple's surroundings. The deer and cranes at the bottom of the image symbolize luck and longevity in Chinese culture.
Father and son
Paintings of officials in the imperial court had become increasingly popular from the 16th century onward. This one, painted by Wu Zhuo in 1790, shows the highly-ranked scholar Weng Fanggang with his son in front of an elaborate building. The son may have been taller than his father, but by making him smaller, the artist indicated his lower social status in comparison to that of his father's.
Group portrait with ancestors
This 19th century painting depicts 15 ancestors from five generations. The oldest individual sits at the top with his two wives on either side. This portrayal of a group is believed to have been prepared on the basis of earlier individual portraits, creating one harmonious picture for ancestral worship, instead of many different ones.
Self-portrait of an artist
Self-portraits were not a rarity in China, but this one, believed to be from 1856, is seen as the most exceptional one among classical Chinese art. Painted by Ren Xiong, a central figure of Shanghai's art scene, he challenged conventions by forgoing the garden scenery that was typical at the time. The artist died from tuberculosis in 1857 at the age of 34.
Female painters
Many women were also painters in China. This depiction of the artist Cao Zhenxiu is not a self-portrait. Instead, she hired a colleague for the work, later putting the finishing touches on it herself by adding bamboo and a crane. The exhibition "Faces of China — Portrait Painting of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1912)" is on show at Berlin's Kulturforum until January 2, 2018.