Treasures through Six Generations: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from the Weng Collection

Exhibition of Chinese painting and calligraphy highlights works spanning 900 years

One of the greatest private collections of Chinese art in the nation is showcased at The Huntington in “Treasures through Six Generations: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from the Weng Collection,” on view April 11 through July 13 in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery. Based on an exhibition organized in 2007 by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Huntington’s presentation will feature 41 masterworks from a collection that is revered in China as well as in the United States. This past fall, the Weng collection was the focus of an exhibition at the Beijing World Art Museum.

Assembled primarily during the 19th century and including works dating as far back as the Song dynasty in the 12th century, the Weng collection has survived unscathed in the care of one family through more than 150 years of dynastic changes, political turmoil, and warfare. Weng Tonghe (1830–1904), who formed the collection, was a preeminent figure in China, a scholar-official who held some of the highest positions at the imperial court. His collection of paintings and calligraphy by many of China’s most renowned artists was passed down through six generations, finally coming to his great-great-grandson, Wan-go H. C. Weng (b. 1918).

The younger Weng left China for the United States when Japan attacked Shanghai in 1937, but he returned in 1948 to bring the family collection back to the United States for safekeeping. A few months later, Communist party chairman Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China, virtually closing off the country for the next 30 years.

Weng, who currently lives on the East Coast, is a filmmaker, poet, historian, and artist in his own right, and he has committed himself to the preservation and study of his cultural heritage. He served as a key adviser to The Huntington during construction of the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, Liu Fang Yuan, and delivered the keynote speech at the garden’s dedication ceremony in 2008. This is the first exhibition of Chinese art presented since the garden opened, and the works on view provide a rich cultural context in which to explore its pavilions and pathways.