177 pp 87 tipped in plates." A great storehouse of the finest Chinese art -- the Imperial Palace Museum collections in Peking -- has been unavailable to Western eyes for many years. Now, in this volume, two major areas of Chinese art -- its refined and spiritual painting and its exquisite ceramics -- are presented in a panoramic sweep extending from the third century B.C. to the masters who lived on into our own times. The colorplates are accompanied by individual commentaries sketching the lives of the artists and the significance of individual pieces. The author provides many fascinating biographical details and translates graceful poems and inscriptions that are usually lost to the Western reader. This volume provides an excellent introduction to Chinese art for the layman as well as a superb collection of new material for the scholar."

art treasures peking museum