Wang Jian learned to paint from Dong Qichang, and he proudly carried forth Dong’s championing of particular landscape styles. The style of the late Yuan-dynasty painter Huang Gongwang (1269–1354) was a favorite for Dong and his followers, as it allowed for virtuoso displays of technique, especially the sensitive layering of subtly varied tonalities of ink to build up landscape forms. This painting demonstrates Wang’s mastery of the manner—each finely applied layer of rich, silvery ink is legible despite the density of the composition.
On view from August 12, 2023–January 7, 2024
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清 王鑑 倣黃公望秋山圖 軸
Title:Landscape in the style of Huang Gongwang
Artist:Wang Jian (Chinese, 1609–1677/88)
Period:Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Date:dated 1657
Culture:China
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions:Image: 45 5/8 x 22 1/8 in. (115.9 x 56.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 103 1/4 x 29 in. (262.3 x 73.7 cm) Overall with rollers: 103 1/4 x 32 1/2 in. (262.3 x 82.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse, 1972
Accession Number:1972.278.4
Signature:
Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (5 columns in semi-cursive script)
The mountain mists wind about and the roads cross too; Recently I built a rush hut, narrow but still beautiful. With my own hands I planted pines and firs, all old and large. For a whole year I have not trodden the gates and streets of the town.
In the winter of dingyou [1657], imitating Dachi’s [Huang Gongwang’s] painting of “Autumn Mountains.” Wang Jian[1]
He Yuanyu 何瑗玉 (early 19th cent.) 蘧庵癖愛不假不市 端溪何氏蘧庵所藏一時無兩
Unidentified 沽上黃濬源子林氏所藏名人字畫之章
[1] Trans. Roderick Whitfield and Wen Fong. In Pursuit of Antiquity: Chinese Paintings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse. Exhibition catalogue. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1969, cat. no. 11, p. 99.
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse , New York (until 1972; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Paintings of the 15th–18th Century from the Collection of Earl Morse," November 19, 1970–January 4, 1971.
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. "Chinese Painting from the Sung Dynasty through the Chien Lung Period," December 7, 1973–January 25, 1974.
Jerusalem. Israel Museum, Bezalel National Museum. "In Pursuit of Antiquity: Chinese paintings from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse," October 15, 1974–November 15, 1974.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "When the Manchus Ruled China: Painting under the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)," February 2–August 18, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Great Waves: Chinese Themes in the Arts of Korea and Japan I," March 1–September 21, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Painting, Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," August 28, 2004–February 20, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Art of the Chinese Album," September 6, 2014–March 29, 2015.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Streams and Mountains without End: Landscape Traditions of China," August 26, 2017–January 6, 2019.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Learning to Paint in Premodern China," February 18, 2023–January 7, 2024.
Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, p. 13, cat. no. A1-056.
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