Chinese Art Masterpieces in Print: History, Lineage, Legacy
傳承經典: 中國古代書畫名作復刻品
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This exhibition runs from July to December, 2025, at the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, University of Toronto 多倫多大學鄭裕彤東亞圖書館
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Curatorial Statement
Chinese painting and calligraphy have had a long and rich history of more than two millennia. Numerous masterpieces have been created, admired, lost, preserved, studied, copied, and transmitted through the ages.
This exhibition presents 30 printed facsimiles of Chinese painting and calligraphy masterpieces from the Tang to Qing dynasties, in the forms of handscrolls, hanging scrolls, and mounted sheets, selected from the East Asian Library’s own collection of more than 80 facsimiles. Featured as the central star piece is a Late Ming reprint of Gu shi huapu 顧氏畫譜/歷代名公畫譜 (Mr. Gu’s Painting Manual), first published in 1603, one of the earliest popular publications that witness the power of print culture and China’s fascinating artistic traditions and achievements.
With these facsimiles, shown in conjunction with the library’s permanent modern artwork on display, we wish to showcase the splendid achievements of Chinese art, its prolonged heritage of artistic practice through copying, collecting, connoisseurship, and a unique visual and material experience offered by modern facsimile (re)production.
This exhibition is curated, developed, and executed by three generations of FAH465 Exhibiting China classes, and generously supported by the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library.
EAL’s Chinese Art Facsimile Collection and Making of the Exhibition
The painting and calligraphy facsimiles in this exhibition are selected from two lines of facsimile products, Danqing Zhongbao 丹青重寶 and Yashi Danqing 雅室丹青, published in 2010 and 2012, respectively, by a Beijing-based company Dongfang Bogu Culture Ltd. 東方博古文化公司, that specializes in art facsimile production for cultural dissemination and education. The Danqing Zhongbao series consists of 38 handscrolls of one standardized size, printed on paper, mounted to imitate historical Chinese handscrolls. The Yashi Danqing series includes five boxes of mounted, unframed sheets and/or mounted hanging scrolls (49 pieces in total), designed as elegant gifts for cultured interior decoration.
The two Chinese painting and calligraphy facsimile series were donated to the East Asian Library in the 2010s by the National Library of China 中國國家圖書館 through an exchange program “Windows to China”, a diplomatic program designed for promoting Chinese culture. The EAL’s Chinese resources librarian Stephen Xiaoqin Qiao 喬曉勤, now retired, saw a rich potential in these facsimiles’ educational value. From his experience as a biographer in the Harvard Fine Arts Library, Stephen witnessed how high-end facsimiles manufactured by the Japanese company Nigensha 二玄社 strongly aided student learning. The facsimile collection can be a great asset for gaining a hands-on experience with Chinese art, especially in the format of mounted scrolls; it is also the curatorial team’s hope that, through this exhibition, library users both in and out of UofT will know and take advantage of the existence of this valuable corpus of resource for research, education, and artistic pleasure.
This exhibition was initiated by Professor Jenny Purtle in 2020, designed to utilize and promote the EAL’s rich resources through collaboration with the undergraduate course FAH465 Exhibiting China. In March 2020, unfortunately, the university and all on-campus activities were shut down by the COVID19 pandemic, and the exhibition was put on hiatus. After the pandemic, continued attempts were made to bring the exhibition back, both in-person and virtually. It is my great pleasure to proudly announce that, four years after its original commencement, thanks to the effort and dedication of three generations of FAH465 classes and generous support from the EAL, this exhibition has finally landed.
Curatorial and Exhibition Team
Dr. Jennifer Purtle 裴珍妮 (Associate Professor, History of Art, University of Toronto)
Rose Ting-Yi Liu 珽怡 (PhD Candidate, East Asian Studies, University of Toronto)
FAH465 Exhibiting China
Class of 2020: Chuyi Deng | Hanyi Deng | Jining Yang | Jiajin Li | Julie You | Leo Zhengyao Pan | Lehan Chen | Lora Miki | Min Shin | Mingkyung | Qishu Zhu | Siyu Yang | Daisy Tian Zheng | Tsz Yin Chung | Xiaolan Lavender Gao | Xue Wang | Yifei Chen | Yuan Gao | Yuming He | Yuxiang April Yin | Zihui Yang | Ziyi Zhang | (Rose Liu, Yijie Kassia Hou, Zheyu Feng)
Class of 2023: Celine Huang | Chelsea Lyu | Crystal | Haiming | Hsuansuan Tung | Jake Li | Jiaying Xin | Jing Han | Liu Yi | Maddy Kwong | McKenzie Ramsay | Minji Kang | Nicole | Qingnan Yao | Sandy | Shihan | Shuhan Yang | Tina Fan | Tristen Woolley | Valery Chen | Xingyi Chen | Xinyue Mei | Yaoxi | Yuying Mao | Zeyu
Class of 2025: Sissi Wenqing Cai | Xinhe Chen | Leona Yixuan Chen | Zoe Chen | Cheng Gong | Jeffrey Han | Stella Han | Olivia Yueyi Ju | Sophia Lee | Davina Yang Li | Kianna Xinyue Liu | Guo Lu | Hellen Hanyan Shen | Aijia Shi | Justus Van Ewyk | Tracy Zhujun Wang | Maple Tongyu Wu | Joanna Xiong | Alivia Xu | Jane Yang | Scarlett Ningyi Yang | Vivian Yang | Leona Yufan Yang | Mandy Sin Man Yee
Exhibition Volunteers
Cheng Geoffrey Gong | Jessica Zhiying He | Yijie Kassia Hou | Yanmin Yasmine Zhang