Imperial Illusions: Crossing Pictorial Boundaries in the Qing Palaces

Kleutghen, Kristina. Imperial illusions: crossing pictorial boundaries in the Qing palace. Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2015. 400 p. ISBN : 978-0-2959-9410-9

In the Forbidden City and other palaces around Beijing, Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736-1795) surrounded himself with monumental paintings of architecture, gardens, people, and faraway places. The best artists of the imperial painting academy, including a number of European missionary painters, used Western perspectival illusionism to transform walls and ceilings with visually striking images that were also deeply meaningful to Qianlong. These unprecedented works not only offer new insights into late imperial China’s most influential emperor, but also reflect one way in which Chinese art integrated and domesticated foreign ideas.

In Imperial Illusions, Kristina Kleutghen examines all known surviving examples of the Qing court phenomenon of “scenic illusion paintings” (tongjinghua), which today remain inaccessible inside the Forbidden City. Produced at the height of early modern cultural exchange between China and Europe, these works have received little scholarly attention. Richly illustrated, Imperial Illusions offers the first comprehensive investigation of the aesthetic, cultural, perceptual, and political importance of these illusionistic paintings essential to Qianlong’s world.

Plus d’information

Accompanying the book is a website from the Mellon Art History Publication Initiative (AHPI) that includes a great media gallery including images of some of the works featured in the book, video tours of some sites where the paintings were installed, and content excerpts for free download.

Site personnel de Kristina Kleutghen

Compte rendu

• Matteini, Michele. Caa.reviews, 3 December 2015. URL : http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/2643 (consulté le 8 décembre 2015)

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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