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Landscape with Trees in the Manner of Ni Zan (1301–1374)

Dong Qichang Chinese
ca. 1622–25
Not on view
Dong Qichang revived the tenets of the scholar-painter: to follow the ancient models and to apply the principles of calligraphy to painting. In proposing a "great synthesis" of all ancient landscape idioms, Dong turned landscape forms into calligraphic abstractions. The most desirable element in painting, according to Dong, was brushwork rather than representation: "If one considers the wonders of brush and ink, real landscape can never equal painting."

This painting is an interpretation of the Yuan master Ni Zan's (1306–1374) art. Dong Qichang regarded Ni's painting as a calligraphic abstraction of the tenth-century master Dong Yuan's style and used Dong Yuan's "hemp-fiber" texture strokes to re-create Ni Zan's brush landscape idiom.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 明 董其昌 倣倪瓚山水圖 軸
  • Title: Landscape with Trees in the Manner of Ni Zan (1301–1374)
  • Artist: Dong Qichang (Chinese, 1555–1636)
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Date: ca. 1622–25
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 45 1/2 × 18 in. (115.6 × 45.7 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 94 7/8 × 27 1/2 in. (241 × 69.9 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 94 7/8 × 31 1/2 in. (241 × 80 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
  • Object Number: 1989.363.99
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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