1. ("Landscape in the Style of Li Tang," October 1996): This handscroll by Qiu Ying, one of the four masters of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), bears the red seal marks of many previous owners, including Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590), the artist's major patron. A professional artist, Qiu Ying was renowned for his unusual ability to paint in both an academic, highly refined style and in a more scholarly, calligraphic mode. Here, Qiu Ying created his own mixture of styles, while also basing his work on the antique model of of the Song dynasty painter Li Tang (circa 1070s - ca. 1150s). The painting is a panoramic landscape filled with public and private buildings, including business establishments and residences.
One of the most eye-catching structures is a typical Ming dynasty scholar's garden located to the left of a small wooden bridge, which a scholar crosses on his way from visiting the garden proprietor. The property is surrounded by a wall, a quintessential feature of Chinese garden architecture; bamboo, drawn in ink and colored with blue wash, grows inside the courtyard. Chinese scholars referred to bamboo as a "gentleman" and symbol of moral integrity, since its stalks always return upright, even after bending in a violent wind.
Beyond the scholar's garden (to the left), Qiu Ying depicted a tavern, with customers inside eating a meal. Farther to the left, a second garden is depicted with two scholars sitting on a terrace overlooking water. The red lacquer table visible inside one pavillion suggests the fine furnishings that most Ming garden owners enjoyed; its portrayal here is unusual, as many Ming artists downplayed the luxury of garden villas.
Best known for his precise, jewel-like landscapes, here Qiu Ying mostly used free, lively brushwork and soft colors. Later collectors who admired this painting noted the rarity of seeing a landscape by Qiu Ying with such a spontaneous style of brushwork.
2. Stephen Allee; Guests of the Hills: Travelers in Chinese Landscape Painting, 24-Aug-2008 - 22-Feb-2009
Traveling through Hills and Streams
By Qiu Ying (ca. 1494-1552)
China, Ming dynasty, mid-16th century
Handscroll; ink and color on paper
Purchase F1939.4
Skirting lakes and rivers, a level trail dotted with travelers stretches below a range of rocky mountains, punctuated at intervals with bridges and buildings. Beginning at right, a curving stream cascades over a water wheel and down a long sloping valley in front of the two-story country retreat of a gentleman living in retirement, his walled garden planted with bamboo. The mountains open to reveal a broad lake or river, where another scholar sits on a high ledge above two moored boats, gazing out over the expanse. Beyond a rocky outcropping, the trail forks around a cove fed by a large waterfall. One path leads back to an island pavilion surrounded by swirling currents, where two seated gentlemen relax on the stone terrace. The other path continues across a small bridge, behind some rocks, and along the far shore of a river. On the bank, a robed scholar attended by a porter engages a ferry, while another gentleman observes them from the open window of a nearby structure built on pilings above the stream. On the opposite shore, an open-sided pavilion sits among a grove of trees, its emptiness inviting one to come and enjoy the view.
International Image Interoperability Framework