Orientations Magazine in its March/April 2025 edition spotlights artist Arnold Chang’s (b.1954) current exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art—Landscapes by Arnold Chang: A Retrospective and Recent Acquisitions. This issue features a scholarly article by art historian Michael J. Hatch, titled “The Idealism of Arnold Chang’s Global Landscapes,” as well as an illuminating “Interview with Artist Chang and Exhibition Curator Clarissa von Spee.”
Orientations Magazine March/April 2025 Edition
Michael J. Hatch’s article delves into the roots of Arnold Chang’s artistic approach which draws heavily on the idealist and formalist legacy of Chinese literati painting, the world’s oldest continuous tradition of landscape art. Hatch argues that, to fully appreciate Chang’s work, one must be visually fluent in the historical styles of canonical Chinese painters who, like Chang, prioritize a rigorous study of masterworks over direct observation of the natural environment. In this tradition, an artist’s personal style emerges by synthesizing the brushwork of past masters—a disciplined process of self-cultivation that demands both dedication and access to authentic classical paintings. As art historian Kim Wishart aptly notes, Chang’s creations are “landscapes of the interior, not of nature”. (Hatch, 2025)
Artist Arnold Chang was painting Mapping the Universe. ©Image Courtesy of the Artist
Hatch also points out that the distance between Chang’s painted landscapes and actual geographic settings is not the only point of dislocation for contemporary viewers. Because Chang is Asian American yet works in a style readily identified as traditional Chinese, his ink-and-wash landscapes are often interpreted through the lens of diasporic culture or as an exploration of intersectional identities. From this perspective, his American practice of a classical Chinese art form dissolves presumed boundaries that associate artistic style with national origin. Another dialectic raised by Hatch is that: while Chang embraces the categorization of “traditionalist”, he also encourages viewers to acknowledge him as “a contemporary artist making very personal artistic decisions based on aesthetic principles that are grounded in my own life experience”. In reassessing Chang’s work within the framework of contemporary global landscape art, Hatch suggests that Chang’s practice offers an alternative pathway for understanding landscape idealism as a counterbalance to the postcolonial and ecocritical discourses on the history of landscape art. (Hatch, 2025)
Landscapes by Arnold Chang: A Retrospective and Recent Acquisitions, Exhibition View © Image Courtesy of the Artist
To learn more about Arnold Chang’s art in a global context, explore Michael J. Hatch’s article alongside the interview between Chang and curator Clarissa von Spee. We also invite you to visit his current exhibition at The Cleveland Museum of Art, on view until November 9, 2025, where you can experience how Chang builds on traditional literati ink painting while engaging with contemporary forces such as abstract expressionism and photography.
About Michael J. Hatch:
Michael J. Hatch is an Associate professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2024, Penn State University Press published his book Networks of Touch: A Tactile History of Chinese Art, 1790-1840.
About Orientations:
Launched in 1969 and published bi-monthly in Hong Kong for a global audience, Orientations has become an authoritative resource on the arts of East and Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East. The magazine offers a comprehensive view of these vibrant regions, covering the latest scholarly research, market insights, and current events.
