Landscape

The poems on the upper sections of both of these paintings were inscribed by the 14th-century scholar Du Guandao at the beginning of the Ming dynasty. The landscapes may have been painted by him as well. The paintings are composed in such a manner that they can be viewed either together or separately. Water appears in the foreground of these paintings, with trees lined up along the shore. Behind the trees, fog covers the scene, and even further in the distance, softly rounded mountains rise across. Each of these motifs is depicted in a simple way, with many horizontal strokes spread throughout the paper.

The painting provides a sense of damp soft air hanging over the trees and mountains. This style was pioneered by the renowned scholarly artist Mi Fu and his son Mi Youren, who were active during the Northern Song Dynasty, from the 11th to the 12th century. Their style, known as the “Mi Landscape Style,” does not overemphasize technique; it focuses on creating a natural appearance. This style lent itself well with later generations of scholarly artists who sought to incorporate artistic expression in their work.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.