NEW YORK.- The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents "When the Manchus Ruled China: Painting under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)", on view through August 18, 2002. The most comprehensive exhibition of Qing dynasty painting ever mounted in the West, this selection of more than 60 works will focus on painting under the brilliant reigns of the Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) and Qianlong (r. 1736-95) emperors-a period when the Manchus embraced Chinese cultural traditions and the court became a leading patron in the arts. On view will be major works by the three principal groups of artists working during the Qing: the traditionalists, who sought to revitalize painting through the creative reinterpretation of past models; the individualists, who practiced a deeply personal form of art that often carried a strong message of political protest; and the courtiers, the officials and professional artists that served at the Manchu court. The works will be drawn primarily from the Museum's outstanding collection of 17th- and 18th-century painting, supplemented by select loans from local private collections.