The latest installations of Asian art explore allusions to music in Chinese painting, as well as the role of architecture in South Asian painting.

The engrossing visual world depicted in many Chinese paintings often contains references to sound, whether music, singing, or leaves rustling in the wind. Artistic representations of instruments like the zither (qin) and the flute (changdi) illustrate the perennial importance of music in Chinese culture, long valued as a ritual and court activity as well as a means of personal expression and self-cultivation.

South Asian painters included architectural spaces in their works to serve varied purposes. Some of the buildings shown are real locations, such as the Taj Mahal, while others are imagined yet illustrate types of architecture, spaces, and materials found in different parts of the vast Indian subcontinent. The 18th- and 19th-century paintings on view represent public and private areas at courts throughout India, evoking the grandeur of royal spectacles or the pleasures of quiet moments. 

This display is on view in the museum’s second-floor Asian art galleries through May 2024.