Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

This is the second of five volumes of a Republican era (1911-1949) edition of The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. This particular page opening illustrates the 11th century painter Guo Xi’s method for painting trees. Guo Xi is one of China’s most famous artists. He also wrote about landscape painting in an essay that provides instruction as well as comments on theory. He grew up on the edge of north China’s majestic Taihang mountain range, where Xu Bing lived during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and later, for several months, while he was a student. This edition previously belonged to the famous linguist and scholar of Chinese poetry and painting, Dr Arthur Waley (1889-1966).