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Scholar-recluse in blue-green landscape

1633
Not on view
Between the ages of ten and twenty, Chen Hongshou studied painting in Hangzhou with the professional artist Lan Ying (1585–1664), with whom he must have trained by copying Song and Song-style pictures in the local Zhejiang tradition. In his mature years, however, Chen played on the mannerisms and formal distortions of contemporary Song imitations, turning the debased features of this worn-out tradition into elements of a new archaism infused with a highly personal sense of ironic melancholy.

In this monumental landscape Chen alludes to the antique blue-and-green style in his use of flat planes of color, patterned foliage, and boldly contoured trees and rocks. Yet the exaggerated landscape forms and stylized banks of mist accentuate the unreality of the archaic conventions, emphasizing the isolation of the sensitively drawn gentleman and his attendant, whose presence gives the scene a troubling psychological edge.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 明　 陳洪綬　樹下高士圖　軸
  • Title: Scholar-recluse in blue-green landscape
  • Artist: Chen Hongshou (Chinese, 1598/99–1652)
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Date: 1633
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 92 3/4 x 30 5/8 in. (235.6 x 77.8 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 126 5/8 x 34 5/8 in. (321.6 x 87.9 cm)
    Overall with rollers: 126 5/8 x 37 5/8 in. (321.6 x 95.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse, 1972
  • Object Number: 1972.278.1
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
Blue and Green Landscape with Figure, Chen Hongshou Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Blue and Green Landscape with Figure
After Chen Hongshou
20th century
Landscapes, Figures, and Flowers, Chen Hongshou Chinese, Album of twelve leaves; ink and color on paper, China
Landscapes, Figures, and Flowers
Chen Hongshou
dated 1618–22
Dung-Chen, Brass, copper, cloisonné, Chinese
Dung-Chen
Chinese
1368–1644
Hawk at sunrise, Jeong Hong-Rae 정홍래 鄭弘來 Korean, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Korea
Hawk at sunrise
Attributed to Jeong Hong-Rae 정홍래 鄭弘來
second half 18th century–first half 19th century
Calligraphy, Chen Hongshou Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on green paper, China
Calligraphy
Chen Hongshou

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