Small dwelling in a dense grove of trees
Chen Mei, an artist from Songjiang (in present-day Shanghai), worked for the Qing emperors in Beijing beginning in the 1720s, a time when European painting was fashionable at court. Though the specifics of his training are not well documented, some scholars believe that Chen studied with Jiao Bingzhen, who was taught by European artists and incorporated aspects of their visual culture into his work. This scroll suggests that Chen learned from those techniques as well. Though he executed the image using exclusively Chinese materials—brush, ink, and mineral and vegetable pigments—he layered ink and colors with close tonal values to create a diffuse, almost airbrushed effect that seems inspired by the play of light in European paintings.
Artwork Details
- 清 陳枚 寒林禽憩圖 軸
- Title: Small dwelling in a dense grove of trees
- Artist: Chen Mei (Chinese,active early 18th century)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: 1730
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 39 5/8 × 20 3/8 in. (100.6 × 51.8 cm)
Overall with mounting: 87 × 27 3/4 in. (221 × 70.5 cm)
Overall with knobs: 87 × 31 3/8 in. (221 × 79.7 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Matthew J. Edlund, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.627.1
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Attributed to Leng Mei (Chinese, active 1677–1742)
1793
ca. 1700
Lan Ying (Chinese, 1585–1664)
17th century
Wang Duo (Chinese, 1592–1652)
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Wang Duo (Chinese, 1592–1652)
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