Rocky Landscape with Pines
A native of Suzhou, Zhang Xun maintained a peripatetic existence, supporting himself through tutoring and painting. Contemporaries note that he was widely learned, good at literary compositions, and an excellent calligrapher; in painting, he followed tenth-century prototypes, painting bamboo in the outline drawing method and landscapes in the manner of Juran (active ca. 960–95).
Adhering strictly to tenth-century models, this landscape in the Juran mode is uncompromisingly austere and abstract. Written when Zhang was about fifty, the poem echoes the melancholy of the uninhabited landscape:
On the rocky [landscape] pine blossoms fall and bloom again.
The mountain Ailanthus, useless [for its timber], has grown
to full size.
No cart has ever reached this woodcutter's path.
Now with hair gray, I have passed fifty years in vain.
Adhering strictly to tenth-century models, this landscape in the Juran mode is uncompromisingly austere and abstract. Written when Zhang was about fifty, the poem echoes the melancholy of the uninhabited landscape:
On the rocky [landscape] pine blossoms fall and bloom again.
The mountain Ailanthus, useless [for its timber], has grown
to full size.
No cart has ever reached this woodcutter's path.
Now with hair gray, I have passed fifty years in vain.
Artwork Details
- 元 張遜 石上松花圖 軸
- Title: Rocky Landscape with Pines
- Artist: Zhang Xun (Chinese, ca. 1295–after 1349)
- Period: Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
- Date: before 1346
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 35 3/4 × 16 3/4 in. (90.8 × 42.5 cm)
Overall with mounting: 76 5/8 × 22 3/4 in. (194.6 × 57.8 cm)
Overall with knobs: 76 5/8 × 26 1/8 in. (194.6 × 66.4 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Gift of Oscar L. Tang Family, 2008
- Object Number: 2008.673
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
China
ca. 1319
Unidentified artist
mid-12th century
Ni Zan
dated 1372
Guo Xi
ca. 1080
Emperor Huizong
early 12th century
Related Content
Publications
Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.
Free to download
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.