This lecture explores the evolution of landscape imagery found on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. The nonlinear development of this motif from the Yuan to Qing dynasties will be illustrated with images of numerous works from international collections. 

This lecture explores the evolution of landscape imagery found on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. The nonlinear development of this motif from the Yuan to Qing dynasties will be illustrated with images of numerous works from international collections. Landscape decoration on Chinese porcelain profoundly shaped the ways the natural environment of China was imagined for centuries, and influenced the work of ceramicists, around the world. In the mid to late Qing dynasty, landscapes on porcelain were transformed from generalized and stylized images to depictions of specific sites, a development which may have been influenced by European ceramics.

Dr. John Johnston is an art historian specializing in Chinese and Vietnamese ceramics and Buddhist art. Since 2016, he has served as an Assistant Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts, HKBU. Previously, he was Curator of Asian Art at American museums and was a Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Dr. Johnston has published 3 books – Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Walter F. Brown Collection (2014), 5,000 Years of Chinese Jade (2011) and The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan (2008).

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