| This
oval-shaped painting is an example of one of the two fan
formats used in Chinese painting. This round or oval fan type is made of silk
and was originally mounted on a rigid frame. Often this type of fan would have
a poem on one side and a related painting on the reverse. (Quatrain
on Late Spring and Couplet on Pond
Scenery are examples of such poems.) Fans, as in the case of this one,
were often removed from their frames and mounted onto pages or leaves in a book-like
format called an album. The fan format challenges
the artist to create a small painting within a curved composition. This
painting, Viewing Plum Blossoms by Moonlight by Ma Yuan (active ca. 1190–1225),
is well suited to the highly focused composition of the fan format, and exemplifies
the intimate and contemplative vision of a small corner of the natural world.
Here, a gentleman is shown meditating on the short-lived
and fragile plum blossoms set against a moonlit sky. Related
Activity
Next
Menu |
