Title: China Humanities Seminar – Unearthing Wu Daozi (c. 686 – c. 760)
Lecturer: Wu Hung (University of Chicago)
Date: Tuesday, 13 April 2021 (4:00pm to 5:45pm ET)
Organized by: Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Worshipped by later folk artists as the God of Painting, Wu Daozi (c. 686 – c. 760) was also praised by Tang art historian Zhang Yanyuan as someone who “did not look back and will have no successors.” But alas this Sage of Painting (Hua Sheng) left no work to us (imagine if we could only read about Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, or know Du Fu and Li Bo only by reputation). Can archaeology remedy this unfortunate situation as it has done for so many other fields from classical philosophy to ancient science? This talk suggests that a set of newly discovered imperial tomb murals (so new that they are still being conserved in a museum lab) may allow us to approach Wu’s style more closely than ever before, and also leads us to problematize the concept of authorship in Tang painting.
Wu Hung is the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Art History and the College at the University of Chicago.
This is an invitation to the eighth talk in the Harvard University China Humanities Seminar series for AY2020–2021, to be held next Tuesday, April 13th at 4:00-5:45 pm (ET). To attend the talk, please register HERE. After registering, you will immediately receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom link to the talk.
Please note that Professor Wu’s talk will be recorded and archived on the MHC and EALC websites. If you do not feel comfortable being recorded, please disable your video. The Q&A session will not be recorded.
This event is generously sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center and the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.
