Curator of Chinese Art
Asian Art Department Head
Department: Asian Art

Current MIA Projects

Organizing a traveling exhibition on China’s First Emperor, the Terracotta Army and the Qin culture (fall 2012)

Education

• PhD, The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
• MA, Southwest University, China

Background/Work History

• Minneapolis Institute of Arts since June 2011
• Senior Curator of Chinese Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Lecturer, Department of Chinese Studies, Beijing International Studies University

Specialty/Area of Interest

Chinese art with particular emphasis on ancient painting, bronze, jade, Buddhist and Daoist sculpture

Honors and Professional Associations

• Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Art History and Film Studies, The University of Sydney, Australia, 2010–11
• Conjoint Professor, Chinese Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of New South Wales, Australia, 2010–11
• Professorial Visiting Fellow, Department of Art History and Theory, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Australia, 2006–9
• Winner of the Melbourne University Prize of Art Association of Australia & New Zealand for Best Large Catalogue 2004 (Fantastic Mountains)
• Winner of the Sydney University Power Institute Prize of Art Association of Australia & New Zealand for Best Book 2004 (The Asian Collections: Art Gallery of New South Wales, co-author)
• Winner of the University of Western Australia Prize of Art Association of Australia & New Zealand for Best Small Catalogue 2006 (The Poetic Mandarin)

Selected Exhibitions and Projects

• “Homage to the Ancestors: Ritual Art from the Chu Kingdom,” 2011
• “The First Emperor: China’s Entombed Warriors,” 2010–11
• “The Lost Buddhas: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from Qingzhou,” 2008
• “Mountains and Streams: Chinese Paintings from the National Gallery of Victoria Collection,” 2007
• “Translucent World: Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City,” 2007
• “Modern Chinese Prints: From WE to ME,” 2006
• “The Poetic Mandarin: Chinese Calligraphy from the James Hayes Collection,” 2005
• “Fantastic Mountains: Chinese Landscape Painting from the Shanghai Museum,” 2004
• “Masks of Mystery: Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Sanxingdui,” 2001
• “Fragrant Space: Chinese Flower and Bird Painting of the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the Guangdong Provincial Museum,” 2000
• “Lion among Painters: Chinese Master Chang Dai-chien,” 1998

Selected Publications

• Homage to the Ancestors: Ritual Art from the Chu Kingdom (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2011)
• The First Emperor: China’s Entombed Warriors (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2010)
• The Lost Buddhas: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from Qingzhou (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2008)
• Translucent World: Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2007)
• The Poetic Mandarin: Chinese Calligraphy from the James Hayes Collection (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2005)
• Fantastic Mountains: Chinese Landscape Painting from the Shanghai Museum (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004)
• The Asian Collections: Art Gallery of New South Wales (co-author) (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2003)
• Masks of Mystery: Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Sanxingdui (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2001)
• Fragrant Space: Chinese Flower and Bird Painting of the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the Guangdong Provincial Museum (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000)
• Lion Among Painters: Chinese Master Chang Dai-chien (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1998)
• “Tang Dynasty Changsha Ceramics,” in Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds (Washington D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery & Smithsonian Institution, 2011)
• “Homage to the Ancestors,” Apollo (March 2011)
• “Inheritance and Innovation: An Archaeological Perspective of Qin Art,” Arts of Asia (November/December 2010)
• “Stylistic and Iconographic Innovations in Sixth-Century Qingzhou Buddhist Sculpture,” Arts of Asia (October 2008)
• “Predator and Prey in Translucent Stone,” Orientations (January/February 2008)
• “Self Portrait and the Representation of Spatial Time in Wu Zhen’s Fishman Handscroll),” in Great Classics of Ancient Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (Shanghai: Shanghai Museum, 2008)
• “Reciprocity: A Social Historical Perspective of Qing Mandarin’s Calligraphy,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Couplets of the Qing Dynasty (Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008)
• “The Subversive Compositional Schema in Qing Landscape Painting,” in Turmoil, Representation and Trends: Modern Chinese Painting, 1796–1949 (Taiwan: Chang Foundation & Kaohsiung Museum of Arts, 2008)
• “Translucent World: Representations of Nature in Chinese Jade,” Arts of Asia (June 2007)
• “Fantastic Mountains: Where Man Meets Nature in Chinese Landscape Painting,” Oriental Art (No. 3, 2005)
• “Three Eremitic Pictures and a Song of Despair,” Orientations (September 2004)
• “Encountering Immortals in Great Mountains: The Sixth Century Baekje Bronze Censer Excavated in Buyeo, Korea,” in Baekje Incense Burner and Ancient East Asia (Korea: Buyeo National Museum, 2003)
• “Sakyamuni and Laojun Seated Side by Side: Catching a Glimpse of the Northern Dynasties’ Buddhist / Daoist Relationship from a Popular Iconography,” in Ancient Taoist Art from Shanxi Province (Hong Kong: Museum of The University of Hong Kong, 2003)
• “The False Face of an Ancient Society: Bronze Masks from Sanxingdui,” Oriental Art (March 2002)
• “Images for the Temple: Imperial Patronage in the Development of Tang Daoist Art,” Artibus Asiae (No. 2, 2002)
• “Origins of Daoist Iconography,” Ars Orientalis (No. 31, 2001)
• “The Discovery of Mass: A Footnote to the Stylistic and Iconographic Innovation in Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” Orientations (July 2000)
• “The Symbolism of Flowers and Birds in Chinese Painting,” Oriental Art (May 2000)
  
• “Cliff Sculpture: Iconographic Innovations of Tang Daoist Art in Sichuan Province,” Orientations (September 1997)

Contact

yliu@artsmia.org

July 2012