4 years ago today, the high-profile sale of a Ming Dynasty artwork brought the world not only into contact with the most remarkable painting of a stone ever made, but also the depth of the Chinese relationship with the natural world. Called Ten Views of Lingbi Rock, the painting sold for $77 million at auction, the highest ever for a Chinese classical painting. READ all about the painting… (2020)

In 1610, the professional painter Wu Bin (c. 1543–c. 1626) completed a painting of a stone after spending a month examining it. The commission for the painting was from the prominent official, calligrapher, and collector Mi Wanzhong (1570–1628). The scroll contains ten near-life-size renditions of one particular stone that Mi acquired sometime between 1608 and 1610.

Mi Wanzhong actually wr

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