Where the Truth Lies: The Art of Qiu Ying

(Los Angeles—January 10, 2020) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Where the Truth Lies: The Art of Qiu Ying, the first exhibition on the great Ming dynasty painter ever organized outside of Asia. Few artists in Chinese history have proven as enigmatic as Qiu Ying (c. 1494–c.1552), whose life and art reveal a series of paradoxes. Though one of the most famous artists of the Ming period, almost nothing is known about his life. Qiu Ying is said to have been illiterate, yet surviving evidence demonstrates elegant writing; and though he is said to have had few followers, he remains one of the most copied painters in Chinese history.

Featuring a total of 65 works, 45 of which are by Qiu Ying, Where the Truth Lies brings forth the largest gathering of paintings by the artist ever assembled in the U.S. In addition to masterworks by Qiu Ying, the exhibition includes paintings by 17 other artists including his predecessors and teachers, his daughter Qiu Zhu, and followers from the early 16th through the mid-20th century. Where the Truth Lies is curated by Stephen Little, the Florence and Harry Sloan Curator of Chinese Art and head of Chinese, Korean, and South & Southeast Asian art at LACMA.

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