China Institute Gallery in New York celebrates 60 years
For six decades, China Institute Gallery in New York has quietly informed the way Americans see Chinese art. Since opening in 1966 as the first nonprofit gallery in the United States devoted exclusively to Chinese art, it has introduced generations of audiences to extraordinary works spanning thousands of years, presenting pioneering exhibitions that brought masterpieces to the United States for the first time or featured works that had never before been seen outside China.
This fall, as China Institute of America celebrates its Centennial and the Gallery marks its 60th anniversary, a new exhibition looks back at that remarkable legacy. China Institute Gallery at 60, 1966-2026: Selections from Three Millennia of Chinese Art, presents both a celebration of Chinese artistic achievement and a reflection on the institution that helped shape the study and appreciation of Chinese art in the United States. On view from September 10, 2026 – January 3, 2027, the exhibition presents highlights from many of China Institute Gallery’s acclaimed exhibitions. A fully illustrated catalogue to be published in November will accompany the exhibition.
Bringing together approximately 85 exceptional works borrowed from more than 30 museums and private collections, the exhibition spans three millennia—from the 11th century BCE to the 21st century—and traces the breadth, continuity, and enduring vitality of China’s artistic traditions. Drawn from many of the Gallery’s most influential exhibitions, China Institute Gallery at 60 features magnificent jades, ritual bronze vessels, paintings and calligraphy, architectural drawings, Buddhist sculpture, ceramics, and early clay burial figures, demonstrating the continuity of values and aesthetic sensibility that have shaped Chinese culture across the centuries.
Loans from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Brooklyn Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, Princeton University Art Museum, Smith College Museum of Art, Fairfield University Art Museum, Buffalo Museum of Science, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and private collections underscore the Gallery’s longstanding relationships with leading scholars, collectors, and museums and its reputation as one of the country’s foremost presenters of Chinese art.
Curated by scholars Dr. Annette Juliano, Dr. Alfreda Murck, and Dr. David Ake Sensabaugh—all longtime collaborators with China Institute Gallery, the exhibition reveals the Gallery’s own history through the works that have defined its exhibitions over six decades. Together, these objects chart the evolution of scholarship, collecting, and cultural exchange, illustrating how Chinese art has been interpreted, exhibited, and appreciated in the United States since the Gallery’s founding.
Among the highlights in China Institute Gallery at 60 are: a rare four-handle glazed jar from the 8th or 9th century Tang dynasty; a bronze winged feline from the Eastern Zhou dynasty 4th-3rd century BCE; a bronze wine pouring vessel from the Shang Dynasty, 13th -11th century BCE; a jade figurine of a foreigner, Tang dynasty, mid-7th to early 8th century; a porcelain sculpture of Guanyin, a bodhisattva of compassion who protects mariners, early 17th century; a round fan painting of wintry landscape from the Southern Song Dynasty, mid-12th century; and an ink on paper work by Liu Dan (b. 1953), who is one of the foremost practitioners of contemporary Chinese ink painting.
“For 60 years, China Institute Gallery has demonstrated that art is one of the most powerful ways to deepen understanding between cultures,” said China Institute Acting Director Xige Xia. “In many ways, this is an exhibition of exhibitions, offering a refreshing perspective on 60 years of the Gallery’s history through works that recall some of its defining exhibitions and the evolving scholarship, ideas, and conversations they inspired. Each object therefore invites us to read two intertwined stories: the story of Chinese art, and the story of how Chinese art came to be understood in America. This dual perspective also reflects the enduring mission of the Gallery.”
China Institute at 60 includes work from exhibitions curated by Willow Weilan Hai, who served as Director and Chief Curator of China Institute Gallery for more than three decades and retired in 2025 as Senior Vice President of China Institute of America. Over the course of her remarkable career, Hai elevated the Gallery to international prominence through a succession of ambitious, scholarly exhibitions that introduced American audiences to many of China’s greatest artistic and archaeological treasures. As a trained archaeologist, she forged enduring partnerships with leading museums throughout China, securing extraordinary loans and organizing numerous exhibitions that presented works never before seen in the United States. Under her leadership, China Institute Gallery became recognized as one of the nation’s foremost venues for the presentation and study of Chinese art, combining rigorous scholarship with exhibitions that deepened cross-cultural understanding and advanced the field of Chinese art history.
“China Institute Gallery at 60: 1966–2026 is the story of an institution whose exhibitions have helped define the field itself,” Xige said. “By tracing the Gallery’s history, the exhibition also tells the larger story of how Chinese art has come to be collected, studied, exhibited, and understood in the United States.”
About China Institute of America
Founded in New York City in 1926 by American educators John Dewey, Paul Monroe, and Chinese scholars Hu Shi and Kuo Ping-Wen, China Institute of America is an internationally renowned U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to deepening the world’s understanding of China through programs in art, business, cuisine, culture, and education. In 2026, China Institute of America celebrates its 100-year anniversary. This Centennial marks a historic achievement, and ushers in an exciting and ambitious era.
About China Institute Gallery
China Institute Gallery is renowned for its intimate, first-class thematic exhibitions, which are accompanied by in-depth scholarly catalogues. Since 1966, the Gallery has presented more than 100 exhibitions showcasing both historical and contemporary works across a wide range of media and art forms. Covering 5,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic period to present day, China Institute Gallery is the only non-commercial exhibition space solely dedicated to Chinese art in New York and the United States. The Gallery’s commitment to education through catalogues and art programming makes Chinese art available to audiences far beyond the Gallery’s doors. China Institute Gallery celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026, reaffirming the gallery’s leadership in landmark historical exhibitions while expanding the gallery’s commitment to the vibrant world of contemporary Chinese art.
China Institute of America is located at 40 Rector Street, New York, NY 10006.
To learn more, please visit chinainstitute.org.
