This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: 118 paintings and 213 objects from the neolithic era through the 18th century were borrowed from the National Palace Museum. Included were paintings, calligraphy, jades, bronzes, ceramics, lacquerware, and other decorative arts, nearly two-thirds of which had never been exhibited in the United States before, and some works classified as national treasures. Several pieces were shown only in Washington. Works on silk or paper were rotated periodically during the show to limit their exposure to light.

An audio tour was narrated by Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery, and Marilyn Wong Gleysteen. A video program was shown continuously in the small auditorium adjacent to the exhibition. A series of Sunday lectures relating to Chinese art and culture was held in conjunction with the show, and several films examining contemporary Chinese culture were presented as part of a New Taiwanese Cinema series.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Marilyn Wong Gleysteen was curatorial consultant. The coordinator for the National Gallery was D. Dodge Thompson, chief of exhibitions.

Sponsor: The exhibition was supported in part by The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., The Starr Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Transportation assistance was provided by China Airlines.

Related publication: Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, by Wen C. Fong and James C.Y. Wyatt. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art with National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1996.

Attendance: 179,389

Catalog: Splendors of Imperial China: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, by Maxwell K. Hearn. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art with National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1996.

Brochure: Splendors of Imperial China: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Other Venues: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 19–May 19, 1996
Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–August 25, 1996
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, October 14–December 8, 1996