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Materials Lab Workshop: Art by the Book—Chinese Brush Painting Instruction (English) [AT CAPACITY]

A woodblock print shows a sparrow perched on a branch. The painting is executed in black ink and delicate gradations of color.
Hu Zhengyan 胡正言, Chinese, Bird on a Flowering Branch, from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Calligraphy and Painting (Shizhuzhai shuhua pu), after 1633–before 1703. One page from a woodblock-printed book mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on paper. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Francis H. Burr Memorial Fund, 1940.165.41.

Workshop

In-Person
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

This event is at capacity.

This event requires registration; see further details below.

Beginning in the 13th century, Chinese woodblock-printed painting manuals (huapu 畫譜) introduced artists and connoisseurs to traditional painting methods, explaining both basic principles and specific techniques like brushwork and composition. This workshop accompanies the installation Art by the Book, on view in Gallery 2600, which explores the impact of painting manuals in East Asia.

In this workshop, offered in English on April 16 and in Chinese on April 23, join us first for a tour of the installation of painting manuals led by its curator, Yuhua Ding, the Kemper Assistant Curator of Collections and Academic Affairs at the Davis Museum, Wellesley College, and former Gregory and Maria Henderson Curatorial Fellow in East Asian Art at the Harvard Art Museums. Then we’ll move to the Materials Lab, where master brush painter Qingxiong Ma will guide you in making your own brush painting, inspired by 17th- and 18th-century manuals.

The hands-on session will then take place in the Materials Lab on the Lower Level.

$15 materials fee. Registration is required and space is limited. Registration will open on this form beginning on Thursday, April 6. Materials fee must be paid to confirm registration. Please email am_register@harvard.edu or call 617-495-1440 to join the waitlist. Minimum age of 14; no previous experience required.

Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museums.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.