Rocks as Art: Collected and Displayed by Chinese Scholars

From the venue:

Please join Emory Art History on Thursday, March 26th at 6PM in the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall for an endowed lecture:

“Rocks as Art: Collected and Displayed by Chinese Scholars”
Jan Stuart
Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art
National Museum of Asian Art

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In China, for well over a millennium, selected natural rocks known as Scholar’s Rocks have been admired for their aesthetic and spiritual qualities. Like animate beings, these stones possess vital energy and breath. Collected by emperors and scholar-officials, large rocks placed in gardens served as focal points to engender thoughts about perfecting oneself and gaining immortality, and for contemplation about nature and travel through mountains. In miniature form, rocks on a scholar’s desk brought the cosmos within hand’s reach. Their visual power is reflected in the Chinese saying that a garden without rocks is not beautiful and a room without rocks is not elegant. This lecture discusses cultural meanings of rocks and the artistic criteria by which they were judged, as well as how they were displayed, including in contemporary times. Rocks themselves and their presentation in paintings and other art media will be addressed.