The Colors of Mount Taihang

Wang Hui

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wang Hui was born to a family of professional painters who gave him his early training. In his late teens, Wang was discovered by the prominent scholar-painters Wang Jian and Wang Shimin—both former pupils of the towering Dong Qichang—who trained him using their own significant collections of old master paintings. Wang Hui’s early education had prepared him to be a professional painter—a fine existence but one of low status. Under the elder Wangs’ tutelage, he jumped into a different social stratum, where he rubbed shoulders with the most respected men in the realm and eventually painted for the emperor himself. This painting, one of Wang’s early breakthroughs as a landscapist, is inscribed by his mentor Wang Shimin.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art