A new exhibition of Chinese paintings opened last week called Senses and Sensibilities. It is the product of a graduate-level art history class at the University of Kansas that was taught by Museum Director Marc Wilson and Professor Marsha Haufler. The students were here last week to help install the exhibition. They were quite excited to see the labels they had written for each work of art.
I took a short break today to visit the exhibition and was extremely pleased. The exhibition focuses on the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The room is divided into areas that assist you as you experience each sense.
One area is devoted to "Sensations and Memories of the Garden." This area includes delicate paintings of peonies, bamboo, trees and my favorite, Lotus by Chen Chun (see detail above). This scroll painting depicts the life cycle of a lotus plant. It begins with early buds then progresses into beautiful full blooms of pink lotus flowers. The flowers begin to bend and wilt with fewer and fewer blooms until the stems are almost bare.
Other areas of the room are dedicated to Wind and Water as well as Music and Writing. As I read the label of one scroll, it expressed the use of music to cultivate relationships. In Chinese, there is a saying "understand the music," which is when true friends can understand each other without using words.
It was a lovely way to spend a few minutes. I wish I could have spent much more time there. When I left, I felt as if I had been in a beautiful garden. This exhibition is on view through August 24.