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China: 5,000
Years is the result of a collaboration between the
Guggenheim Museum and the Ministry of Culture and the
National Administration for Cultural Heritage of the
People's Republic of China. About 500 works of art were
borrowed from over fifty institutional lenders in
seventeen provinces and regions in China. These include
many major recent archaeological discoveries and range
in date from the Neolithic period to the present. In
the Guggenheim Museum uptown are displayed the
traditional arts of China, while modern art is
presented in the Guggenheim Museum SoHo.
 Selected to
demonstrate technical innovation and conceptual
transformation, the traditional works of art are
organized into seven major categories: jade; bronze; grave goods,
including low-fired ceramics; high-fired
ceramics, including porcelain; sculpture;
and painting and calligraphy. Important examples of
lacquerware and textiles are also on display.
Significant technical developments in each of these
groups are illustrated by works of great aesthetic
value, which also demonstrate a shift in conceptual
focus over time from the supernatural to the human and
finally to the natural world.
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