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Landscape after Ni Zan
Wang Yuanqi (Chinese, 1642–1715)
1707
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Painting: 80.6 x 43.8 cm (31 3/4 x 17 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 217.7 x 68.5 cm (85 11/16 x 26 15/16 in.)
- Culture
- China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Wang Yuanqi, an official in Emperor Kangxi’s (reigned 1662–1722) court, grew up in an artistic family. Like other mainstream painters of the Orthodox School, he followed a canon of earlier styles and artists endorsed by Ming calligrapher Dong Qichang (1555–1636).
Here, Wang drew inspiration from Ni Zan (1301–1374), a Yuan dynasty painter known for his simple compositions and spare use of ink. Master Ni seldom used color, but Wang added green and ochre washes to the trees, cottages, and hills in this landscape. Painting was a way for Wang to relieve the pressures of his official duties.
