Description
Of the approximately 150 Chinese paintings in this collection guide, the majority were
originally collected by UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus James Cahill and the Cahill family.
The Cahill family collections, known historically as the Ching Yüan Chai Collection,
are arguably among the finest in the western United States, representing virtually every
period of Chinese painting over the last 900 years. The collections consist of works from
the Sung, Yüan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties, including major figure paintings and
bird-and-flower paintings. The greatest strength, however, is landscape paintings.
Considered the highest category of painting in China, the landscape embodies the ideals of
the Confucian scholar. This is the area of Chinese art in which we find the most daring
experiments, the greatest developments, and the most intense art historical scrutiny.
Restrictions
Copyright resides with the Regents of the University of California. For permission to
reproduce images from the collection of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum,
please address inquiries to Rights and Reproductions, fax number: 510-642-4889.