Mountain Landscape exemplifies the revered style of landscape brush painting that was first developed and perfected during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). It was painted around 1663 during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) by a well-known Chinese artist named Kuncan (c.1612-1675). Kuncan, also known as Shiqi, was a Chan (Zen) Buddhist monk painter who used both religion and nature as inspirational models throughout his paintings. Mountain Landscape, a 41 5/8 x 11 1/8 inch hanging scroll, is painted on paper using ink and light color. The painting is located in Gallery 113 of the Dayton Art Institute and its acquisition number is 1976.277.
The viewer begins his/her journey at the bottom of Mountain Landscape, passing over rocks and shrubs while contemplating the quiet repose of nature. The viewer’s eye then meanders through the trees to a small figure that has assumed a sitting or kneeling position. The figure appears to be in a meditative state, drawing inspiration and peace from its natural surroundings. An enclosed hut lies a short distance from the figure, a mere speck in the vast wilderness. To the left of the hut, a group of trees remain shrouded in mist, adding a mysterious, ethereal quality to the painting. A towering mountain looms in the background, engulfing the tranquil scene below. Streams of languid waterfalls cascade from the mountain’s crevices, providing a sharp contrast to the mountain’s severe overhanging rock. A small village lies nestled on the side of the mountain, partially concealed by a mixture of firs and jagged leafless trees. The viewer’s journey of the painting ends with an expansive range of jutting mountains, which seemingly fade into the distant heavens. The upper right corner of the painting p...
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...on to China’s tumultuous history. The Qing Dynasty began when the Manchurians, foreigners from the north, overthrew the weakened Ming dynastic rulers in 1644. Kancun, a young man during the fall of the Ming Dynasty, was deeply troubled by the Manchurians’ political and economic takeover. This resentment was shared by other literati painters and led to the forming of a group of artists known as the Individualists. In the book Art Beyond the West, the Individualists are described as “Ming loyalists who resented the hegemony of the new, foreign dynasty” (M. Kampen-O’Riley 141). As a result, they sought to distance themselves from its corrupt influence by escaping to mountain sanctuaries. Mountain Landscape personifies Kuncan’s disappointment in modern civilization while also depicting his revered love for nature and the strength he received from life’s natural forces.
At the left-bottom corner of the painting, the viewer is presented with a rugged-orangish cliff and on top of it, two parallel dark green trees extending towards the sky. This section of the painting is mostly shadowed in darkness since the cliff is high, and the light is emanating from the background. A waterfall, seen originating from the far distant mountains, makes its way down into a patch of lime-green pasture, then fuses into a white lake, and finally becomes anew, a chaotic waterfall(rocks interfere its smooth passage), separating the latter cliff with a more distant cliff in the center. At the immediate bottom-center of the foreground appears a flat land which runs from the center and slowly ascends into a cliff as it travels to the right. Green bushes, rough orange rocks, and pine trees are scattered throughout this piece of land. Since this section of the painting is at a lower level as opposed to the left cliff, the light is more evidently being exposed around the edges of the land, rocks, and trees. Although the atmosphere of the landscape is a chilly one, highlights of a warm light make this scene seem to take place around the time of spring.
The first segment, Winter, archives the earliest years of the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1450. The social hierarchy of early Ming was based upon the ownership of land (Brook, p. 79). One way to describe the increasing power ...
There is a lot of repetition of the vertical lines of the forest in the background of the painting, these vertical lines draw the eye up into the clouds and the sky. These repeated vertical lines contrast harshly with a horizontal line that divides the canvas almost exactly in half. The background, upper portion of the canvas, is quite static and flat, whereas the foreground and middle ground of the painting have quite a lot of depth. This static effect is made up for in the immaculate amount of d...
... study for the overall concept they appear rather as abstract patterns. The shadows of the figures were very carefully modeled. The light- dark contrasts of the shadows make them seem actually real. The spatial quality is only established through the relations between the sizes of the objects. The painting is not based on a geometrical, box like space. The perspective centre is on the right, despite the fact that the composition is laid in rows parallel to the picture frame. At the same time a paradoxical foreshortening from right to left is evident. The girl fishing with the orange dress and her mother are on the same level, that is, actually at equal distance. In its spatial contruction, the painting is also a successful construction, the groups of people sitting in the shade, and who should really be seen from above, are all shown directly from the side. The ideal eye level would actually be on different horizontal lines; first at head height of the standing figures, then of those seated. Seurats methods of combing observations which he collected over two years, corresponds, in its self invented techniques, to a modern lifelike painting rather than an academic history painting.
This places the reader in recognisable landscape which is brought to life and to some extent made clearer to us by the use of powerful, though by no means overly literary adjectives. Machado is concerned with presenting a picture of the Spanish landscape which is both recognisable and powerful in evoking the simple joys which it represents. Furthermore, Machado relies on what Arthur Terry describes as an `interplay between reality and meditation' in his description of landscape. The existence of reality in the text is created by the use of geographical terms and the use of real names and places such as SOrai and the Duero, while the meditation is found in...
Thomas Moran’s painting captures the essence of the true spirit of the Yellowstone Canyon and overwhelms any viewers who go up to it. With a size of 7’ by 12’ and a mastery display of vivid colors with hues of orange and yellow contrasted with the dark cold colors of the shadows, anyone would be overwhelmed. Under the cool shade, the path extending in front invites the viewer to join the tiny figures in the distance who seem to overlook the grand valley of the canyon below. The view from where those people are in the distance could be quite breathtaking, and this adds to the painting’s value. Moran captured the public and the government’s fascinations with the beauties of America’s Wild West. Moran’s mastery of composition within landscape
Cao Xueqin’s Story of the Stone is a classic in Chinese literature, showcasing the life and exploits of the wealthy Jia clan during the feudal era. Through Cao’s depiction, the reader is afforded a glimpse into the customs and lifestyle of the time. Chinese mode of thought is depicted as it occurred in daily life, with the coexisting beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism. While the positive aspects of both ideologies are presented, Cao ultimately depicts Taoism as the paramount, essential system of belief that guides the character Bao-yu to his eventual enlightenment.
The two artworks I decided to discuss are A thousand peaks and myriad ravines by Wang Hui for the Chinese artwork and View of Kojima Bay by Ike Taiga as the Japanese artwork. Both these share a few similarities including the subject of the artwork being the landscape and naturalism. In A thousand peaks and myriad ravines by Wang Hui you can notice very clear detailing and lining from the top trees of the mountains to the very small fishers and scholars portrayed towards the bottom and center of the artwork. Primarily, this artwork emphasizes the detail. The portrait is mostly taken up by the mountains and that around it. The range of colors used in this hanging scroll consist of the grey scale and a golden bronze done with a very thin brush.
From the piece of artwork “Rain at the Auvers”. I can see roofs of houses that are tucked into a valley, trees hiding the town, black birds, clouds upon the horizon, hills, vegetation, a dark stormy sky and rain.
Chapter 4: China's Qing Dynasty & Its Collapse." East-Asian-History Home. Penn State. Web. 06 Apr. 2011..
Joe operates a successful commercial landscaping and tree trimming business, and client's keeps his operation extremely busy. Although Joe employees at least 50 workers, with landscaping being seasonal, he experiences a high turnover. In addition to landscaping and tree trimming, equipment rental is also available to the clients, which adds an additional division to the business. With $250,000 of capital, and past year's revenues of $500,000, Joe is looking for guidance to take his business to the next level.
Claude-Joseph Vernet’s oil on canvas painting titled Mountain Landscape with an Approaching Storm was created in 1775, and it is currently located in the European Art Galleries (18th- 19th Century North) 2nd Floor at the Dallas Museum of Art. It is a large-scale painting with overall dimensions of 64 1/2 x 103 1/4 in. (1 m 63.83 cm x 2 m 62.26 cm) and frame dimensions of 76 1/8 x 115 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (1 m 93.36 cm x 2 m 92.74 cm x 12.07 cm). Vernet creates this piece by painting elements from nature and using organic shapes in order to create atmospheric effects, weather and different moods. This piece primarily depicts a landscape with a rocky mountainous terrain and villagers scrambling to an upcoming storm.
...u wavered between an essentialist reduction of their nature to those aspects of it that the Chinese found particularly shameful and a more favorable appreciation of their intelligence and flexibility. Likewise, some Xiongnu customs, such as their preference of the young over the elderly, are depicted as simple reversals of Chinese customs. The description of the political organization of the Xiongnu, for example, gives an impression of efficient government rather than backward tyranny. In fact, its sophisticated combination of centralized control and decentralized administration seemed well suited to provoke the admiration of Sima Qian’s Chinese readers, many of whom were critical of the unwieldy governmental bureaucracy of the Han. His descriptions of the Xiongnu underlined the limits of the expansion of Han civilization in the steppe regions of northern Asia.
The early nineteenth century was the beginning of the Qing Dynasty’s downfall. During this century multiple issues, including economic pressures, corruption, domestic rebellions and foreign wars, challenged ...
...rivers of paint rush across the dark black ground, creating writhing intertwining shapes that suggest figures in a landscape setting, but without any specificity whatsoever.