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Landscapes after old masters

Dong Qichang Chinese
dated 1630
Not on view
This album demonstrates Dong Qichang's interpretation of the entire spectrum of Song and Yuan styles using a set of contrasting brushstroke methods, which could also be used for depicting actual landscapes. The great theorist and painter took as his point of departure the works of the Yuan master Ni Zan (1306–1374), whose paintings were regarded as calligraphic abstractions of earlier Song styles. In the first two leaves, Dong contrasts—in what he regards as the early and late styles of Ni Zan's art—an "earthen" landscape (round, parallel, "hemp-fiber" brushstrokes) with a "rocky" one (angular, oblique, "folded-ribbon" brushstrokes). In successive leaves, Dong juxtaposes various "earthen" and "rocky" themes in order to evoke different paradigmatic styles of the Northern Song period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 明　董其昌　山水圖　冊
  • Title: Landscapes after old masters
  • Artist: Dong Qichang (Chinese, 1555–1636)
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Date: dated 1630
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Album of eight leaves; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image (each): 9 5/8 x 6 5/16 in. (24.4 x 16 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Edward Elliott Family Collection, Gift of Douglas Dillon, 1986
  • Object Number: 1986.266.5a–k
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

Audio

Cover Image for 7690. Landscapes

7690. Landscapes

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More Artwork

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Poem, Dong Qichang Chinese, Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on gold paper, China
Poem
Dong Qichang
17th century or later
Landscapes and poems, Dong Qichang Chinese, Album of eight double leaves; ink, gold, and color on gold-flecked paper and ink on satin, China
Landscapes and poems
Dong Qichang
early 17th century
Poem by Wang Wei, Dong Qichang Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China
Poem by Wang Wei
Dong Qichang
after 1632
Excerpt from Xie Huilian’s Prose Poem “On Snow”, Dong Qichang Chinese, Handscroll; ink on satin, China
Excerpt from Xie Huilian’s Prose Poem “On Snow”
Dong Qichang
Letter to Chen Jiru (1558-1635), Dong Qichang Chinese, Album leaf; ink on ruled paper, China
Letter to Chen Jiru (1558-1635)
Dong Qichang

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