This week, Jared Bowen reviews two new exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: “French Pastels: Treasures from the Vault” and “10,000 Miles along the Yangzi River.”
“French Pastels: Treasures from the Vault,” on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston through January 6, 2019
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is offering a rare glimpse into its pastel collection with “Fench Pastels: Treasures from the Vault.” Shown only about once every 10 years due to the delicate nature of the medium, “French Pastels” features more than 40 works by master artists such as Edgar Degas, Jean-François Millet, Edouard Manet, and Claude Monet. “Artists were really interested in the here and now,” says curator Katie Hanson, “using pastels for things that are ephemeral, things that are passing, like fleeting effects of light and weather or the passing expression over a person's face.”
“10,000 Miles along the Yangzi River,” on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston through September 30
Take a journey along Asia’s longest river with master Chinese painter Wang Hui in “10,000 Miles along the Yangzi River.” Painted in 1699, Hui’s 53-foot-long scroll depicts several historic sites along the river that incorporate traditional Chinese poetry. “He believed in what's called the orthodox school of Chinese painting, which believes in incorporating the styles and the spirits of previous artists,” says curator Nancy Berliner, “which does not mean that you were completely imitating them, but you're rhyming with them.” The work was donated to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by Wan-go H.C. Weng on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Weng himself is an art collector whose family has stewarded the scroll for six generations.
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