Chinese Landscapes from the Ashmolean Collection
(from 9th Feb until 21st Jul 2013)Explore the continued tradition of Chinese landscape painting in this complement to the Xu Bing show.
View of mountains
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Description
There is a long inscription on this painting, which reads: ‘Landscape painting was a great achievement of the Northern and Southern Song [dynasties, AD 960-1279]. Landscapes in the Northern Song show their ‘bone’, when those in the Southern Song show their spirit. These landscape paintings show the mountains and rivers as they naturally appear, but are also a representation of the culture of the time. Dong Qichang [1555-1636] said when Mi Fu [1051-1107] painted the mountains in Nanxu, Li Tang [1066-1150] painted the mountains in the central area, and Ma Yuan [c.1160-1225] and Xia Gui [active 1195-1224] painted the mountains in Qiantang, the inspiration they got from mountains and rivers cannot be compared [to each other].
My home is in the mountains of Jieyang, but I travel north and south, and see mountains on my way; I see them and feel them, so both the northern and the southern mountains are included in my mind. Occasionally my spirit comes and I paint, but I cannot visit the landscape I painted; I memorize them, dream of them, and think of them countless times. I feel that the best and happiest thing is when people praise the landscapes that I paint.'
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
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1973
Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279)
- Artist/maker
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Shiwan shanren (1897 - 1996) (artist)
- Associated people
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Dong Qichang (1555 - 1636) (named on object)
- Material and technique
- ink and colour on paper
- Dimensions
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frame 86.5 x 132.5 x 2.5 cm (height x width x depth)
mount 83 x 129 cm sight size (height x width)
painting 59 x 84 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented in honour of the forthcoming 70th birthdays of Jose Mauricio and Angelita Trinidad Reyes, 1995.
- Accession no.
- EA1995.244
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Further reading
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 September-1 December 1996, Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Vainker, Shelagh (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1996), no. 80 on p. 62, p. 9, illus. p. 62 fig. 80
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
The long inscription refers to the great Northern Song (960-1127) calligraphers and the late Ming painting theorist Dong Qichang (1555-1636), and indicates that this is a landscape in Sichuan province. The darkness and contours of the hills are reminiscent of the paintings of Gong Xian (1619-89), while the short repeated vertical and horizontal brushstrokes reinforced the formulaic aspects of the painting.
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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