Traveling through Snow-Covered Mountains

Yao Yanqing, a native of Wuxing in Zhejiang Province, followed in the footsteps of his fellow townsmen Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) and Tang Di (1287–1355) in adopting the landscape idiom of Li Cheng (919–967) and Guo Xi (ca. 1000–ca. 1090). During the Northern Song (960–1127), the Li-Guo style had enjoyed state sponsorship, with court artists creating idealized visions of majestic pines and mountains presiding over hierarchically ordered landscapes; these could be interpreted as images of enlightened rule engendering a prosperous and stable domain. Understandably, this style was preferred for Yuan court commissions and for works produced for northern patrons serving as officials in the south.

This painting no longer bears an artist’s signature or seals, but its stylistic idiosyncracies identify it unmistakably as the work of Yao Yanqing. Mountain forms are delineated through a schematic alternation of densely textured fissures and stark white areas that resemble pathways. Prominent black dots intended to indicate cavities sit on the painting’s surface. In evoking the earlier master’s style, Yao reduced Guo Xi’s highly descriptive and richly varied texture strokes and contour lines to a limited repertoire of calligraphic mannerisms.