| Amid the spacious and magnificently | | | | twisting and turning of images, lending |
| wooded campus with old growth trees, we | | | | a softness to the works. These pieces |
| approached the red brick, eclectic | | | | had such a naturalistic look with an |
| Victorian, late 19th Century | | | | uncanny resemblance to early |
| University Fine Arts Museum building, | | | | photographic negatives, with darks and |
| AKA, "Old Gym." We had | | | | lights being reversed. I bonded with a |
| arrived--destination Vanderbilt | | | | Western Han Dynasty bronze tripod vessel |
| University, Nashville TN, five millennia | | | | used to cook meat. Heavy , substantial |
| of Chinese art. | | | | and well designed, I wondered what kinds |
| As avid University Museum buffs, this | | | | of meals it cooked in its time. |
| was a new "site." Joseph Mella, museum | | | | This exhibit included bronze vessels, |
| director, kindly lead us through the | | | | carvings in jade, Buddhist images, |
| exhibit --Beauty and Power: Chinese Art | | | | lacquer pieces, ceramic ware, arts of |
| from the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts | | | | the tomb, scholarly paintings and |
| Collection. | | | | ancestral portraits. Joseph Mella gave a |
| The wood floored, high ceilinged gallery | | | | very complete description of the genesis |
| held 66 pieces dating from within the | | | | of the present collection with detailed |
| Neolithic period (6000-2000 B.C.E.) to | | | | accounts of many of the patrons who made |
| Qing Dynasty pieces (1616-1911). | | | | the collection possible through generous |
| Perched on a platform above eye level | | | | gifts over the past 35 years. One |
| was a life sized Buddhist sculpture. | | | | strikingly elegant piece was called |
| This Bodhisattva (a Buddhist | | | | Vessel with incised Lilies. This Ding |
| designation for one who postpones | | | | white porcelain vase was made for the |
| Nirvana until all sentient beings have | | | | Royal Family from the Northern Song |
| been saved) was made of clay with | | | | Dynasty. It was donated in 1999 and, as |
| painted and gilded decoration. Gazing | | | | one of the collection highlights, is |
| with eyes from the 17th Century, its | | | | valued at $200,000. |
| serene face and meditative lotus pose | | | | We returned the following day to spend |
| captured our attention and "held us." | | | | more time encountering the beauty and |
| Pieces which let us travel further back | | | | the power of the pieces and felt awed to |
| in time were two jade ritual funerary | | | | have been in touch with "glimpses" of |
| objects from Neolithic gravesites. A | | | | past Chinese life, through its art. The |
| green "bi Disk" was of flat circular | | | | gallery offers a quiet setting to |
| form with a smaller concentric opening. | | | | experience works. This exhibit closed |
| A second piece was in the form of a | | | | September 22 and was in conjunction with |
| four sided cylinder. Referred to as a | | | | a lecture on September 20, 2007 entitled |
| "cong" this object for the dead had an | | | | Sino-Tibetan Tankas for the Ming Court, |
| incised surface and a most perfectly | | | | given by Marsha Haufler, Professor of |
| formed hollow shaft interior. What was | | | | Art History at the University of Kansas. |
| this tomb piece used for? Suggestion was | | | | A new exhibit entitled More Than One: |
| that it was a protective object, used in | | | | New Contemporary Prints and Multiples |
| the afterlife. We mused on the | | | | from the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts |
| significance of using jade. | | | | Collection will run from October 4 - |
| Eugene was inspired by a group of four | | | | December 7, 2007 |
| Qing dynasty scrolls. The free brush | | | | Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery |
| work of paint on the long and narrow | | | | is located at 23rd and West End |
| black paper showed the use of | | | | Avenues, Nashville, Tn. |
| "chiaroscuro " to shade out the | | | | |