Landscapes

Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Not on view

A brilliant scholar whose official career was cut short by his inadvertent involvement in an examination scandal in 1499, Tang Yin spent his life pursuing the diversions of an eccentric scholarly playboy; his adventures eventually entered popular legend. While most of his paintings reflect a pleasure-loving existence, this melancholy album explores the themes of struggle, sadness, and the refuge of solitude.

While most of his fellow painters in the Suzhou area adopted the calligraphic styles of the Yuan scholar-artists, Tang was able to use the more descriptive ink-wash idiom of the Southern Song masters, particularly that of Li Tang (ca. 1070s–ca. 1150s), to portray realistic scenery. This series of leaves shows extraordinary subtlety in portraying the changing effects of weather and season as well as poetic and psychological moods.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

明　唐寅　詩畫　卷
Title: Landscapes
Artist: Tang Yin (Chinese, 1470–1524)
Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Culture: China
Medium: Eight album leaves mounted as a handscroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image (All leaves): 12 3/4 x 162 7/8 in. (32.4 x 413.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 13 1/16 x 306 5/16 in. (33.2 x 778 cm)
Image (Leaf 1): 12 3/4 x 17 in. (32.4 x 43.2 cm)
Image (Leaf 2): 12 3/4 x 17 in. (32.4 x 43.2 cm)
Image (Leaf 3): 12 3/4 x 16 7/8 in. (32.4 x 42.9 cm)
Image (Leaf 4): 12 3/4 x 16 3/4 in. (32.4 x 42.5 cm)
Image (Leaf 5): 12 3/4 x 16 7/8 in. (32.4 x 42.9 cm)
Image (Leaf 6): 12 3/4 x 16 13/16 in. (32.4 x 42.7 cm)
Image (Leaf 7): 12 3/4 x 16 7/8 in. (32.4 x 42.9 cm)
Image (Leaf 8): 12 3/4 x 16 7/8 in. (32.4 x 42.9 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Gift of Douglas Dillon, 1980
Object Number: 1980.81
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Tang Yin

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Ink bamboo, Tang Yin Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China — Ink bamboo
Tang Yin
early 16th century

Dung-Chen, Brass, copper, cloisonné, Chinese — Dung-Chen
Chinese
1368–1644

Illustrations of Uji Tea Production, Saitō Motonari Japanese, Handscroll of thirty-two sheets reformatted as a folding album (orihon), Japan — Illustrations of Uji Tea Production
Painting by Saitō Motonari
Preface by Nindō Sōen
1803

Letter to Xu Shangde, Tang Yin Chinese, Album leaf; ink on paper, China — Letter to Xu Shangde
Tang Yin

Pipa (琵琶 ), Wood, ivory, bone, silk, Chinese — Pipa (琵琶 )
Chinese
late 16th–early 17th century

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