Art of the Natural World: Resonances of Wild Nature in Chinese Sculptural Art

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Richard Rosenblum

Museum of Fine Arts Publications, Boston, 2001, English

Nonfiction, Art and Cultural History

ISBN: 9780878466238

From the Publisher. Prized for over a millennium by Chinese literati, scholars’ rocks—stones sculpted by the elements into evocative miniature landscapes—have long been objects of contemplation and inspiration. This volume, a meditation on the philosophy and spirit of Chinese natural art in stone, wood, metal, and ceramic, is a commentary on the art of nature and the nature of art.

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Diana Balmori

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A classic. It is the only book I have found about an art form (in this case, garden stones) that is not by a scholar but by an artist in a similar discipline. I could mention a few others, but none are as perceptive as this. After reading it just as I was starting work in China, I felt that the only way to read about an art form was to read something by an artist in an allied field. It is my vade mecum (reference manual) and in my eyes the ideal book about an art form.

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