Castiglione – painter to imperial China

Castiglione – painter to imperial China

An exhibition of breathtaking reproductions of the work of one of imperial China’s most eminent and prolific painters is coming to Auckland’s George Fraser Gallery at the end of September.

The Art of Giuseppe Castiglione, Painter for Three Chinese Emperors will feature 10 full-size reproductions of the work of Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione (1688 -1766), who had the distinction of being a painter in the courts of three emperors of the Qing dynasty.

Put together by art and history students from the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts, it will feature some of the most renowned and culturally engaging artworks of China’s Qing dynasty.

Lecturer in Chinese history Melissa Inouye says an Arts education is about understanding the beauty and complexity of human endeavour and being able to convey its significance to others.

“Art embodies this beauty and complexity. The University partnering with the gallery to harness the students’ energy and creativity just seems natural,” she says.

Castiglione’s style was a unique blend of European and Chinese compositional elements, techniques and themes, and his paintings were all done on silk. Unlike Western painting, where mistakes can be reworked, brushwork on silk is almost impossible to remove and therefore requires careful and precise painting.

“Then, as now, talented people from different but also overlapping cultures learned from each other and applied this new understanding to make something beautiful,” says Dr Inouye.

These paintings long resided in the imperial palace in Beijing and were moved to Taiwan in the mid-20th century, where the priceless originals are now housed in the Taiwan National Palace Museum.

The students behind the exhibition came together for the Foundation Internship, the result of a collaboration between the Faculty of Arts and the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation.

The exhibition will open on Wednesday 28 September at the George Fraser Gallery at 25a Princes Street and run until 8 October. It will be open from 11am until 4pm daily.

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