In recent months, a retrospective exhibition honoring the late Mi Jingyang (1936–2023)
swept through Shanghai and Beijing to packed crowds and glowing praise. More than just a
showcase of his rich and colorful ink works, the exhibition reignited public interest in a figure who stood at the unique crossroads of artist, connoisseur and cultural steward.
To call Mi Jingyang a painter alone would be like calling Leonardo da Vinci just a draftsman.
Over nearly seven decades, Mi played an outsized role in the preservation, authentication
and global promotion of Chinese painting. His career began in 1956 at Rongbaozhai (榮寶
齋), the storied Beijing-based art house that traces its legacy back centuries. There, he
mastered the exacting craft of traditional woodblock printing and was soon seconded to the
Palace Museum to assist in the restoration of Song and Yuan masterpieces – a role that
fine-tuned his eye for historical authenticity.
As China opened its doors to the world in the late 20th century, Mi became a tireless
ambassador for Chinese painting. He helped organize landmark international exhibitions in
Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, showcasing works by iconic 20th-century masters
such as Dong Shouping, Wu Guanzhong and Cheng Shifa.
His efforts earned him a reputation as a visionary curator with a rare mix of scholarship and strategic savvy. One of the Four Talents of the Capital, Beijing, Wu Huan once put it.
“Aside from Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong, nearly every modern Chinese master whose work has achieved international acclaim owes something to Mi Jingyang’s advocacy.”
Art, for Mi, was never abstract. It was personal. He married into a family steeped in artistic excellence – his father-in-law was none other than Chen Shaomei, one of Republican China’s most celebrated painters. Chen’s style synthesized the rugged elegance of Guo Xiand Li Tang with the lyrical refinement of Ma Yuan, Xia Gui, Tang Yin, and Qiu Ying. His
courtly ladies were so admired that some called him the heir to Tang Bohu. In 1930, Chen
won a silver medal at Belgium’s centennial international exposition, making his name spoken in the same breath as those of Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi.
It’s no wonder that Mi, growing up in such an environment, developed not only a discerning eye but also an artist’s soul. While he humbly called himself a “Sunday painter,” his
flower-and-bird ink paintings, influenced by Wang Xuetao, won accolades far beyond
hobbyist circles. Exhibited in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, his artworks are now held in numerous public and private collections. They exude a refined elegance and a meditative stillness – a kind of visual haiku that bridges East and West.
Mi’s judgement as an art authenticator was revered. Appointed by China’s Ministry of Culture as a national-level appraisal consultant, he advised major auction houses and museums. His evaluations carried weight not just because of his technical accuracy, but because of his unimpeachable integrity. In a rapidly commercializing art world, Mi Jingyang remained an anchor of credibility.
In his later years, Mi turned to teaching, writing, and reflection. His memoir, Forty Years at Rongbaozhai, remains a rare insider’s chronicle of China’s evolving art market and
institutional dynamics. Through it, readers gain insight not just into works of art, but into the art of staying true to one’s ideals amid shifting tides.
Mi passed away in 2023 at the age of 87. Two years later, Shanghai’s Duo Yun Xuan Art
House mounted a major retrospective of his ink works, accompanied by the posthumous
publication of The Collected Works of Mi Jingyang’s Color-Ink Paintings. It was a celebration not only of his brushwork, but of a life lived in service to beauty, history, and truth.
In an era in which art is increasingly valued by clicks, prices and spectacle, Mi Jingyang’s life offers a timely reminder: the true value of art lies not in its trendiness, but in its ability to carry the soul of a culture across generations.
So, the next time you stand in front of a Monet, a Hokusai or a Qi Baishi, think of Mi Jingyang, the man who spent his life making sure the old masters still had a voice in our modern world.
I once asked his son, Mi Chuan, how he would sum up his father’s legacy. He told me
simply: “I just hope people remember my father – not only as an art authenticator or a gallery owner, but as a truly gifted painter in his own right.
Jeffrey Sze is chairman of Habsburg Asia (partially owned by the Habsburg family) and general partner of both Archduke United Limited Partnership Fund and Asia Empower LPF. He specializes in high-end art transactions and in real-world asset tokenization transactions using blockchain technology. In 2017, hw secured a cryptocurrency exchange license in Switzerland.
