The exhibition presents a selection of later Chinese, Korean, and Japanese figure paintings drawn from the Art Museums' permanent collection and from several local private collections. The paintings range in subject matter from civil officials, historical figures, and beautiful women to amateur poets, Taoist immortals, and Buddhist monks. The principal subjects of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting are landscapes, figures, and the flora and fauna of nature.

Although the landscape, with its towering mountains and rushing streams, was the most important subject of later East Asian painting, it was never the only focus. Indeed, before the tenth century in China, and before the fifteenth century in Korea and Japan, the human figure claimed pride of place as the painter's principal subject. The goal of the figure paintings on display was never the celebration of the human form, as in Western art, but the presentation of paragons of wisdom and virtue whose noble deeds and lofty attainments might inspire emulation. Portraits of ancestors and likenesses of historical personages found favor, especially in China, while genre paintings rose to popularity in Korea and Japan. Such genre scenes recorded all aspects of daily life, from street scenes and domestic interiors to theatrical performances and ceremonial processions. Paragons of Wisdom and Virtue is organized by Robert D. Mowry, curator of Chinese art. Press Release