Conversation in a cave
Although this painting bears the spurious signature of Xia Gui, the undisputed master of landscape painting in the Song Imperial Painting Academy, its motifs, brushwork, and palette relate it to the work of Ma Yuan, Xia's contemporary and the other leading
Song Academy master. Images of caves and grottoes have rich associations involving their role as possible access points to Daoist paradises. The use of such imagery here may imply an escapist wish to leave behind the cares of the mundane world.
Song Academy master. Images of caves and grottoes have rich associations involving their role as possible access points to Daoist paradises. The use of such imagery here may imply an escapist wish to leave behind the cares of the mundane world.
Artwork Details
- 南宋 佚名 洞天論道圖 團扇
- Title: Conversation in a cave
- Artist: Unidentified Artist
- Artist: After Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225)
- Period: Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
- Date: 13th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 9 3/4 × 9 15/16 in. (24.8 × 25.2 cm)
Mat: 15 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (39.4 × 39.4 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: From the Collection of A. W. Bahr, Purchase, Fletcher Fund, 1947
- Object Number: 47.18.30
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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