Untitled

Artist Shang-yi Wang (Chinese, 1904-1972)

Date1971

Mediumink on paper

Dimensionsimage: 28 1/2 in. × 14 in. (72.4 × 35.6 cm)
frame: 35 5/8 × 17 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (90.5 × 45.1 × 3.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist

Label TextBorn in 1905, Shang-yi Wang was a contemporary Chinese artist whose works included both landscapes and calligraphy, two traditional Chinese art forms. This is one of Wang’s calligraphic works. In China, the practices of painting and calligraphy developed simultaneously but were not regarded with the same prestige until the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Calligraphy was the dominant form of artistic expression for the majority of early Chinese history and shows the beauty, power, and simple expression of the word. The Chinese language is particularly expressive, because each sign is logographic, or depicting a word, and the meaning of each symbol can be somewhat ambiguous. This ambiguity leaves room for both artistic expression and interpretation. Calligraphy is done almost exclusively in black ink, with a brush. The Chinese characters in this untitled piece read “Kalamazoo Art Center,” along with the artist’s signature. Shang-yi Wang, who passed away in 1972 at the age of 67, instilled a love of art in his son, longtime Kalamazoo resident Dr. Paul Wang. Dr. Wang, an artist and art collector, has work in the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts' permanent collection as well. This piece represents the larger purpose of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts: to form a place that represents the backgrounds of artists from around the world, and to shed light on the cultural significance and importance of visual art forms globally. [Collection Highlight]

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