Page 449 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)
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livelihood and to associate himself with the rank- The degree to which this painted image evokes
ing professional master in Suzhou, Zhou Chen specific aspects of the reality of nature allies it
(cat. 295). Clearing After Snow on a Mountain with much of Song dynasty (960-1279) painting,
Pass is not dated, but the clear influence of Zhou when naturalistic values held sway over abstract
Chen here would suggest that it was painted ones. Yet Tang Yin's painting is very nearly as
toward the end of the first decade of the sixteenth compelling when considered solely as brush
century. The monumental composition is con- strokes of varying intensities and textures orga-
servative in its dynamically organized and com- nized into shapes which divide the format into
plex structure and represents a revival of the visually stimulating patterns. Tang's ability to
twelfth-century mode of Li Tang. From that same pursue pictorial and abstract goals simultaneously
source comes the characteristic brush schemata at such a high level of technical and descriptive
known as ax-cut strokes, which here texture and competence is virtually unmatched during the
facet the surfaces of rocks and cliffs. middle Ming era and places him on a par with
Despite those references to past styles and atti- Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), the great Yuan
tudes, however, the painting is very much up to dynasty master who was one of the first to meld
date in its strong emphasis on the frontal picture calligraphy and painting into one aesthetic whole.
plane. The size and prominent placement of the At upper left is a colophon inscribed by the
artist's inscription insist on the primacy of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1735-1795) in 1755. A
two-dimensional arrangement of shapes, just as second colophon, on the mounting, was written
the construction of hills and mountains as a series by the official Zhang Ruogui in 1774, when this
of flat, overlapping stages carries little visual painting was presented to him by the emperor.
implication of continuous spatial recession. While H.R.
the sense of deep pictorial space, monumentality,
and awesomeness that characterized landscapes of
the Northern Song era have been lost, the visual
impact of Tang's picture is more immediate, more
intimate, and also more revealing of a distinct 3OO
creative personality at work. H. R.
Qiu Ying
died 1552
PASSING A SUMMER DAY
IN THE SHADE OF BANANA PALMS
299 Chinese
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Tang Yin 279.1 x 99 (109% x 39^
1470-1523 National Palace Museum, Taipei
MYNAH BIRD ON OLD TREE BRANCH
Qiu Ying's normally tight and disciplined brush-
Chinese work is here somewhat relaxed and, as in calligra-
hanging scroll; ink on paper phy, more overtly focused on the process by
121 x 26.7 (47% x loVz) which the forms are created. Pictorial space is
inscription with signature of the artist; two limited, and the rocks and trees are arranged so as
colophons
to create a shallow stage for the two scholars and
Museum of Art and History, Shanghai their attendant. Textured surfaces and linear
In mountain hollows all is silent, patterns play especially important roles in this
Sequestered from the sounds of man, painting, for the sound of music is suggested,
The roosting mynah calls indirectly but effectively, by the vigorous and
rhythms
of arcing bamboo, angular fronds,
To announce the end of the spring rain. crystalline rock.
Tang Yin
The subject as well as the manner of its presen-
High on an elongated, vine-entangled tree tation here embody values and attitudes held dear
branch perches a cawing mynah, its head raised by literati of the middle Ming period. Making
and beak open. Free-flowing ink and the lack of music was considered to be a complete experience
crisp details suggest a moisture-laden atmosphere only in the presence of a sympathetic and
for this highly focused vignette of nature. While a knowledgeable listener, and the two gentlemen-
formal stability is achieved by keeping the forms amateurs shown here were further linked by their
within the frontal picture plane and largely along appreciation of the ancient bronze vessels and
the central vertical axis, the immediacy of a fleet- scrolls laid out for later contemplation. Though
ing moment in time and space is yet captured the setting is rustic, the scene is unobtrusively
through the precarious placement of the bird and elegant, revealing lives of privilege, sophistica-
through the spontaneous execution itself. tion, and — most prized of all — privacy.
448 CIRCA 1492
