A tiny art gallery on the far west end of Sixth Street was abuzz with voices speaking in hushed, reverent tones early Thursday morning. From the miniscule lobby, one could see walls filled with priceless silk scrolls depicting nature scenes in muted colors.
The Lotus Gallery, known for displays of Asian art and antiques, is currently the proud home of a collection of Chinese masterpieces valued at more than $15 million. Despite the frailty of the silks and priceless value of the collection, the exhibit is more accessible than most local artwork. Visitors are not greeted at the door by a bevy of armed guards and a metal detector; the art is not hidden behind bulletproof glass cases.
"Every time these works are on display, the originals get a bit of damage, but she [the mother of the art collector] was too anxious to wait for the proper cases to be built," said Feng Wang, event coordinator for the Lotus Gallery. For this reason, extra care is being taken to control the temperature in the gallery. Even human breath can have a devastating effect on the valuable works.
The value of these paintings is increased by the scarcity of Chinese art after the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a political upheaval in the late 1960s launched by Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, which resulted in the loss of many of China's cultural treasures.
Tony Dai, the owner of the collection, has high hopes for the tour of what have come to be known as the "Chinese National Treasures." He feels that people from every cultural heritage can benefit from Chinese art.
"[One of the artists] met Picasso in Brazil, and Picasso said to him, 'Why come to study Western art when we are trying to learn from the East?'" said Dai.
Dai has another, more personal reason for sharing the collection with the world. In 1997, his mother, Mei-Ling, fell ill after a move to Australia. She took up a meditation practice known as Falun Gong, which heals through the principles of "truthfulness, compassion and tolerance." Unfortunately, practitioners of Falun Gong in China, including the 70-year-old granddaughter of one of the artists on display, are currently being persecuted for their beliefs. To raise awareness of Chinese art and the persecution of followers of Falun Gong, the Dai family decided to pack up their prized art collection and travel the globe.
Among those featured in the exhibit are world-renowned artists Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong, as well as some paintings by royals from the Qing Dynasty. Styles range from traditional Chinese to a combination of Western and Eastern art by Liang Zhaohe and feline features by "King of Cats," Chen Liantao. In all of the paintings, empty space is a central theme.
"The space is half empty, to allow for more imagination," explained Wang.
The world tour has only visited three other U.S. cities. Previously it was in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City, where lines were backed up onto the streets to get in.
"I am Chinese and have heard about these since age 3, but this is the first time that I have seen them," said Wang. "They are very famous. Many have the reproductions, but these - these are the real thing."
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