Innovators and Influencers: Chinese Women Artists of the Past Millennium

Women have long created visually appealing objects for their friends, families, and communities, using a wide variety of techniques, styles, and media. This exhibition features paintings and textiles made or inspired by women in China over the past four centuries. The works do not fit neatly into a single category, as the artists who created them pursued their own personal paths, in turn opening new aesthetic opportunities for those who followed in their footsteps. While the names and works of too many female artists have been lost, extant paintings and other objects like the ones collected here convey the richness these women imparted to their contemporaries and later generations. Visitors can explore this rich tapestry of works and discover the indelible contributions many of these women, innovators and quiet influencers, made to Chinese and world art history.