Forging the New: East Asian Painting in the Twentieth Century

During the 19th and 20th centuries, every aspect of East Asian society was transformed by modernization, extreme social, political, and technological change, and the introduction of Western learning. Artists were pulled in many, sometimes contradictory, directions: Some continued the revered traditions of their nations’ pasts; others embraced newly introduced Western artistic media, formats, subjects, and styles; and still others blended the legacies of their forebears with non-Asian influences. Drawn from the permanent collection and augmented with a few choice loans and promised gifts, Forging the New features more than 75 paintings, ceramics, and textiles from China, Korea, and Japan.