Page 142 - Collecting and Displaying China's Summer Palace in the West

Yuanmingyuan in Eighteenth-century France 127
on Rugu hanjin (茹WXY, no. 11 of “40 Views”) and is the closest of the images to
the original version. The second reworks Yuedi yunju (月地\], no. 16 of the
“40 Views”) but leaves out important details. In the third painting, based on Shuimu
mingse (^木 `, no. 22 of the “40 Views”), the sense of modeling in light and shadow
is particularly strong in the exaggerated forms of the landscape. The fourth paint -
ing is based on the view entitled Xinghua chunguan (ab春館, no. 9 of the “40 Views”).
The rendering of the Xinghua chunguan is the most bizarre of the four paintings
in Bertin’s album (see Figure 8.2). Buildings from the original composition have
been rearranged and new constructions added. The surrounding landscape has been
completely transformed; rocks and mountains are turned into exaggerated, surreal

Figure 8.2 Anonymous Chinese painters. After Xinghua chunguan (ab春館, Apricot
flower spring lodge, no. 9 of the Series 40 Views of the Yuanmingyuan),
painting no. 4 in the album Paysages chinois tirés des jardins de l’empereur,
et autres (Chinese landscapes taken from the gardens of the emperor and
others), late eighteenth century, watercolor on paper, approx. 68 68 cm
(26 ⁄8 26 ⁄8 in.). Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France.
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