Fine Arts


Painting, Watercolour, Plastic Arts, Woodcuts, Etching, Drawing.



22 subcategories
Altars

ALTARS

Armours

ARMOURS

Book Illumination

BOOK ILLUMINATION

Carvings

CARVINGS

Ceramic

CERAMIC

Drawing

DRAWING

Enamel

ENAMEL

Engravings

ENGRAVINGS

Fresco and Wallpainting

FRESCO AND WALLPAINTING

Goldsmith Works

GOLDSMITH WORKS

Handicraft

HANDICRAFT

Jewelry

JEWELRY

Mosaics

MOSAICS

Painting

PAINTING

Plastic Arts

PLASTIC ARTS

Posters

POSTERS

Prints

PRINTS

Relief

RELIEF

Sculpture

SCULPTURE

Silverwork

SILVERWORK

Textile Works

TEXTILE WORKS

Watercolour

WATERCOLOUR

14,179 photos
Li Bai, also known as Li Bo, of the High Tang period, 701-762.
He was one of the two leading figures of Chinese poetry.
#030702 8

Li Bai, also known as Li Bo, of the High Tang period, 701-762. He was one of th...

Young nobleman on horseback

From China, Yuan dynasty, dated the 27th year of Zhiyuan 1290 CE
Qian Xuan (about 1235-1300) was a scholar-official from Wuxing, Zhejiang Province. After the Mongol conquest of China in 1279, he became a yimin ('leftover subject'). Yimin were officials who preferred retirement from public life to serving the alien Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Like many of his compatriots, he turned to artistic pursuits to support himself. A literati painter, Qian painted landscapes, historical figures and flowers.
Yimin painters revived past styles of painting to remind them of China's glorious past (fugu - 'return to the past'). The nobleman's costume is painted in the fine linear style reminiscent of Gu Kaizhi (about 345-406). The flat use of colour and bare background add to the sense of restraint and detachment typical of Yuan painting.
297 mm x 756 mm
OA 1954.12-11.05 (Chinese Painting Add. 286)
#03070211

Young nobleman on horseback From China, Yuan dynasty, dated the 27th year of...

Monk,pilgrim,accompanied by a tiger (Xuanzang).        
China,Donhuang,T'ang Dynasty,end 9th CE                
Ink and colour on paper, 49,6 x 29,4 cm
#03070216

Monk,pilgrim,accompanied by a tiger (Xuanzang). China,Donhuang,T'ang Dyn...

Prince Shotoku Taishi, Japan, Kamakura period, early 14th.
He is shown as a 16-year old youth holding a censer and praying for the recovery of his sick father the Emperor Yomei.At his feet sit two smaller figures in the court dress of the Kamakura period. The prince was one of the outstanding figures of Japanese history and was instrumental in establishing Buddhism in Japan. Prince Shotoku was sometimes seen as a reincarnation of Shaka (the historical Buddha) and many paintings and statues of him were produced at that time for devotional purposes.
JA,JP ADD370 (1961.4-8.01)
#03070218

Prince Shotoku Taishi, Japan, Kamakura period, early 14th. He is shown as a 16-...

Liubo players found in eastern China, Han dynasty, 1st-2nd century. The figures in this group are gambling. They are playing Liubo, a game thought to be popular among both mortals and immortals. The board is marked with divination symbols, and the game pieces show the animals of the four directions: the White Tiger (West), the Green Dragon (East), the Vermilion Bird (South) and the Tortoise, with a snake coiled around its body, known as the Dark Warrior (North). It is an ancient Chinese belief that the world one passed into after death was similar to the living world. Therefore, to maintain one's status in the next world, a tomb should be provided with all the things one had used in this life.
OA, 1933.11-14.1
#03070226

Liubo players found in eastern China, Han dynasty, 1st-2nd century. The figures...

'Fascination of Nature' from China, Yuan dynasty, 1321. The subject of this partly exposed handscroll is animals and insects feeding off each other. The colophons tell us of the deeper significance of the subject matter: that beauty and brightness of the natural world cover up the confusion and disorder caused by the fight for survival. It reflects the dilemma faced by many Chinese of the period, whether to work for the Mongols and survive, or to remain loyal to the fallen imperial dynasty and starve.
OA, 1998.11-11.02
#03070234

'Fascination of Nature' from China, Yuan dynasty, 1321. The subject of this part...

A basket of flowers, Ding family of the Jinchang pavillion, Suzhou, 1690. The inscription on this print identifies the Ding family as coming from [near] the Jinchang pavillion. The Jinchang pavillion was near the Chang gate, in north-western Suzhou. This is the area where the district of Taohuawu was located, which had many hundreds of print workshops in the early Qing dynasty. Each print is of an auspicious subject accompanied by a verse which is a pun on the motifs depicted.The basket is an attribute of Lan Caihe, one of the Eight Immortals. It represented a receptacle of riches and was a motif which was often used to evoke harmony. In this case, it comes with the wish that one's luck would be as fragrant and as plentiful as the flowers in the basket. The magnolia, wild apple and peony are all symbols of spring, and so this print would presumably have been used during the Chinese New Year. When the magnolia and wild apple are depicted together, it means, 'May your halls be rich and honoured'. The peony was also known as fugui hua, the flower of riches and honour.
OA, 1906.11-28.3
#03070238

A basket of flowers, Ding family of the Jinchang pavillion, Suzhou, 1690. The in...

Copy of an idol venerated in the Temple of the Five Hundred Genii in Canton, China. The idol is an effigy of early traveller
Marco Polo (1254-1324), who spent 12 years at the court of
Kublai Khan (1214-1294),Mongolian ruler of China.
Wood, gilded.
See also 40-08-03/20
#03070244

Copy of an idol venerated in the Temple of the Five Hundred Genii in Canton, Chi...

Barbarian trader from Central Asia with horn of plenty.
Painted terracotta figurine.
Tang Dynasty, China; 7th-8th century CE.
#03070245

Barbarian trader from Central Asia with horn of plenty. Painted terracotta figu...

Monkeys
Hanging scroll, silk embroidery.
Song Dynasty, China; 10th century CE.
#03070248

Monkeys Hanging scroll, silk embroidery. Song Dynasty, China; 10th century CE.

Country doctor applying a painful cure of moxibustion (traditional Chinese medical therapy utilizing special 
herbs)  to a man's back.
Hanging scroll, silk embroidery.
Song Dynasty, China; 10th century CE.
#03070249

Country doctor applying a painful cure of moxibustion (traditional Chinese medic...

On the River at Qing Ming Festival.
This painting is considered one of the most valuable in Chinese art history for its high level of technical quality and the liveliness with which it portrays the myriad details of urban life. It is generally interpreted as portraying the city environs of Kaifeng, the Northern Song capital, and some of the surrounding countryside.
Handscroll, ink and colors on silk.
Northern Song Dynasty, China; 12th century CE.
#03070250

On the River at Qing Ming Festival. This painting is considered one of the most...