| Summary: | Director Philip Haas (Angels and Insects and Up at the Villa), and artist David Hockney invite you to join them on a magical journey through China via a marvelous 72-foot long 17th-century Chinese scroll entitled The Kangxi Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour (1691-1698), scroll seven. As Hockney unrolls the beautiful and minutely detailed work of art, he traces the Emperor Kangxi�a�™s second tour of his southern empire in 1689. Painted by Wang Hui (1632-1717) and assistants, it was executed before Western perspective was introduced into Chinese art. Hockney contrasts the more fluid spatial depictions of this scroll with a later scroll painted by Xu Yang and assistants, The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour (1764-1770), scroll four. It illustrates the same tour, but now taken by the Qianlong emperor, grandson of the Kangxi emperor. Influenced by Western perspective, the Qianlong scroll presents the emperor in a single tableau, whereas the Kangxi scroll depicts a continuous travel narrative filled with details of daily life in the towns and countryside along the route. Reference is also made to the use of perspective in Capriccio: Plaza San Marco Looking South and West (1763) by Italian painter Canaletto (1697-1768).Hockney�a�™s charming and fascinating narration helps bring the bustling streets and waterfronts of three hundred years ago to life. Hockney spins a dazzling discourse on eastern and western perceptive and their relationship to his own artistic vision. His trip through one of China�a�™s most magnificent artworks is a joyous adventure for all!
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