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Past Exhibitions

Of Nature and Friendship: Modern Chinese Paintings from the Khoan and Michael Sullivan Collection
February 15–July 15, 2007
SAAM Foster Galleries


This exhibition features sixty-nine Chinese paintings from the twentieth century collected by the eminent art historian and critic Michael Sullivan and his wife, Khoan Sullivan. After graduating with a degree in architecture from Cambridge University in 1939, Michael Sullivan worked for the International Red Cross in wartime China, where he met Khoan, a budding scientist, who later became his wife.

Sullivan's background in architecture and his competency in drawing led him to befriend many artists who had either returned from studying abroad or who would later go abroad, including Zhang Daqian, Lin Fengmian, Pang Xunqin and Wu Zuoren. Khoan played an equally important role in widening their circle of friends. These artists painted Khoan, as well as painted for her.

Difficult times fostered lifelong friendships, and many artists gave their work to the Sullivans as tokens of friendship. The relationship between the Sullivans and the artists will be given special attention in this exhibition.

Another major aspect of the show will be Chinese landscape painting in the twentieth century. The genre was denigrated in the early decades of the century because critics noted that landscape painting did not address social needs. Nevertheless, many artists continued to paint landscapes, saw new possibilities, and set themselves free from traditional constraints and formulas. As many of these works were produced under the most difficult of circumstances, they represent the deep passion and dedication of the artists. The quality of the paintings is exceptionally high.

These works shaped Sullivan’s understanding of modern Chinese art and his writings on the subject, to which scholars and students are profoundly indebted.

–Josh Yiu, Foster Foundation Assistant Curator of Chinese Art

Cottage Among the Trees, 1948, Lin Fengmian, 1900–1991, ink and gouache on paper, 66.8 x 67.5 cm, Collection of Michael Sullivan

 
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