North Wing

Stone and Scene

February 7, 2026 – October 4, 2026

In Asia, the practice of deep meditation focusing on a “viewing stone” or “scholar’s stone” stretches back for centuries. This fascinating exhibition pairs, for the first time, a diverse collection of viewing stones (on loan from collectors throughout Southern California) with paintings selected from The Hilbert Collection.

Some of the arrangements in the gallery acknowledge the shared similarities of paintings and stones. Others pose questions about the reasons for their juxtaposition.

The paintings reflect the stones – and vice versa – in many ways, says curator Richard Turner, noted artist and emeritus faculty member of Chapman University’s art department. “You’ll see similarities in form, composition and color,” he says. “Some stones resemble the mountain ranges depicted in a painting’s California landscape; others might call to mind a desert scene or tumbled rocks on a Pacific shore. Some even resemble living creatures like frogs or lizards.”

This is the first exhibition that has ever paired viewing stones with paintings from a museum’s collection, according to Turner.

This exhibition also had a unique installation philosophy – it’s meant to be experienced as if the visitor were in someone’s home, viewing the stones and paintings as they are lived with. Thus there are no wall labels for each artwork. Paintings can be identified in a printed key on the information table in the gallery.

Displaying viewing stones paired with paintings is inspired by ancient Asian practices, where interesting stones were collected by scholars and enthusiasts, taken home and displayed as meditation objects, often placed on writing desks or tables.

In Japan, this is often practiced by presenting viewing stones in a tokonoma, which is an alcove in a traditional Japanese home used for displaying ikebana (flower arrangements), bonsai (miniature trees) and/or stones, accompanied by an art scroll. The arrangements of objects in a tokonoma are typically thematic and seasonal. This exhibition includes a full-sized tokonoma on loan from the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.