Art History Endowed Lecture: Rocks as Art

In China, for well over a millennium, selected natural rocks known as Scholar's Rocks have been admired for their aesthetic and spiritual qualities. Like animate beings, these stones possess vital energy and breath. Collected by emperors and scholar-officials, large rocks placed in gardens served as focal points to engender thoughts about perfecting oneself and gaining immortality, and for contemplation about nature and travel through mountains. In miniature form, rocks on a scholar's desk brought the cosmos within hand's reach. Join Jan Stuart, the Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art at the National Museum of Asian Art, for a lecture that will explore the cultural meanings of rocks and the artistic criteria by which they were judged, as well as how they were displayed through contemporary times. This program is hosted by Emory Art History, and is free and open to the public. Image: Chinese Scholar's Rock (17th-19th century), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, G