This exhibition features paintings of flowers and plants by Chinese artists of the 15th to early 19th centuries, including works by leading masters of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) such as Hsu Wei (1551-1593) and Hsia Ch'ang (1388-1470). In China, which has the most numerous and diversified varieties of any temperate region, flowers were the subject of literature and art from earliest times. The installation was organized by the Museum's Department of East Asian Art both to highlight the beauty and meaning of the works of art included and to salute the continued success of the Philadelphia Flower Show (on view at the Pennsylvania Convention Center from February 25 through March 3, 1996).