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Hyperallergic published an excerpt from Will Heinrich’s book From Darkness to Darkness, centered on a critic’s planned visit to see Six Persimmons, an ancient Chinese ink painting attributed to Muqi Fachang. The source frames the piece as a chapter from a forthcoming or newly published book, not as a report on a newly announced exhibition; the excerpt supplied here ends before the museum visit and review are completed.
Hyperallergic has published an excerpt from art critic Will Heinrich’s book From Darkness to Darkness, using a planned trip to see Six Persimmons—a 13th-century Chinese ink painting attributed to Muqi Fachang—to explore the critic’s work and private life. The supplied excerpt describes the painting’s rare loan to San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum and the critic’s preparations for the visit, but ends before he sees the work.
The excerpt, titled “Six Persimmons,” is identified by Hyperallergic as a chapter from From Darkness to Darkness, published by Thousand Horsemen Press in summer 2026. The editor’s note says the book is available online and through independent booksellers. The article credits Heinrich as the author and says the excerpt appears with the publisher’s permission.
In the chapter, the central character, Jonah, is an art critic who selects exhibitions for a newspaper’s fall preview. He asks his editor to let him cover the painting’s San Francisco presentation, describing it as an unusual opportunity because the work rarely travels. The newspaper has no travel budget, so Jonah arranges to go using credit card points and stays with his cousin.
The source describes the painting as a still life of persimmons attributed to Muqi Fachang, a Chinese artist active in the 13th century. It says the work had been acquired by a Japanese monastery when it was already nearly 300 years old and had been kept mostly rolled up and out of view since the early 16th century. The excerpt also recounts Jonah’s journey from New York and his conversations with his cousin, but the text provided stops before the visit to the Asian Art Museum.
A Rare Painting Shapes the Chapter
The account links an art-world event—a rare public presentation of Six Persimmons—to a personal narrative about how work, family life and age affect the way a critic experiences travel. Jonah once saw travel as a chance to escape routine; on this trip, he finds it closer to an errand, though still a welcome one. That contrast gives the excerpt its central human interest without establishing what he ultimately thinks of the painting.
The reported history of the work also helps explain why a trip to see it mattered to the character. A painting described as having spent centuries in a monastery and being shown outside that setting only rarely carries different expectations for visitors than a work regularly displayed in a museum. The source presents the loan as unusual, but does not provide dates for the exhibition or details about its attendance or reception.
For readers, the publication is also a preview of Heinrich’s book and a window into the practical conditions of arts criticism. Jonah’s editor is receptive to the assignment but says the paper’s travel funds have been exhausted amid the cost of reporting on the war in Ukraine. He decides to make the trip anyway, reflecting the personal expense that can accompany specialized cultural coverage.
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From Fall Preview to San Francisco
The chapter opens with Jonah’s routine assignment: compiling a list of roughly 100 upcoming museum shows for a newspaper’s annual fall preview. At first, the work is exhausting. Over time, it becomes automatic, to the point that he cannot readily recall which exhibitions interested him after submitting the piece.
Six Persimmons stands out. The story places the exhibition during the period when Jonah’s child, Orly, is six. He asks to cover the painting because of its reported rarity and because he has experience with Asian art. His editor cannot pay for the trip, but offers a hotel night; Jonah instead plans to stay with a cousin and books a low-cost flight using points.
The narrative then follows the trip from New York to San Francisco. Jonah recalls an earlier visit tied to a brief romance, contrasting that younger experience with the more subdued feelings of his present journey. The chapter also includes a conversation with his cousin about protests over Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks. That exchange is part of the personal narrative; the excerpt does not make it a central claim about the exhibition or the painting.
Exhibition Details Are Missing
The supplied material does not give the exhibition’s opening or closing dates, the painting’s exact travel schedule, or the circumstances of its loan beyond the account in the chapter. It also does not include the passage describing Jonah’s arrival at the Asian Art Museum, his encounter with the painting, or his assessment of it. Readers therefore cannot determine from this excerpt how the visit shaped the eventual review.
The text presents the painting’s attribution to Muqi Fachang and its historical custody as reported details, but the excerpt does not cite museum records or a curator’s statement. It does not say whether the attribution is disputed, how the work is dated, or what conservation or display conditions accompanied the loan. The description of the exhibition as a rare opportunity is part of the source’s account; no comparative loan history is supplied.
The supplied source also begins a sentence about an artist Jonah visits in Chinatown and ends mid-thought. The rest of the chapter and the full book may provide more information, but that material is not included here.
The Full Chapter Adds the Visit
The immediate next step for readers is to consult the full “Six Persimmons” chapter or Heinrich’s book, From Darkness to Darkness, which the editor’s note says was published in summer 2026 and is available online and through independent booksellers. The excerpt provided here does not state whether Hyperallergic will publish additional chapters or whether a separate exhibition review appeared.
For a fuller account of the museum presentation, readers would need exhibition dates and information from the Asian Art Museum, along with the remainder of Heinrich’s chapter. Until those details are available in the material at hand, the confirmed development is the publication of the book excerpt and its account of a critic preparing for a rare chance to see the painting.
Key Questions
What is “The Zen Mona Lisa” about?
It is the title of a Hyperallergic article presenting an excerpt from Will Heinrich’s book From Darkness to Darkness. The excerpt follows an art critic named Jonah as he plans a trip to see Six Persimmons, a Chinese ink painting attributed to Muqi Fachang.
What is Six Persimmons?
The source describes it as a still life of persimmons, attributed to Muqi Fachang, a Chinese artist active in the 13th century. It says the painting was held by a Japanese monastery and kept mostly rolled up and out of view from the early 16th century.
Where was the painting shown?
The excerpt says it was making a rare visit to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The supplied text does not provide exhibition dates or further loan details.
Did the excerpt include the critic’s review of the painting?
No. The supplied passage covers Jonah’s preparations and the beginning of his time in San Francisco, then ends before he visits the museum and describes seeing the work.
When was Heinrich’s book published?
Hyperallergic’s editor’s note says From Darkness to Darkness was published by Thousand Horsemen Press in summer 2026 and is available online and through independent booksellers.
Source: hyperallergic.com
